BIBLE  MYTHS 

AND  THEIR 

PARALLELS  IN  OTHER  RELIGIONS 

BEING  A COMPARISON  OF  THE 


Old  and  New  Testament  Myths  and  Miracles 

WITH 

those  of  Heathen  Nations  of  antiquity 

CONSIDERING  ALSO 

THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  MEANING 
By  T.  W.  DOANE 


WITH  NUMEROUS  ILLUSTRA  TIONS 


FOURTH  EDITION 

"He  who  knows  only  one  religion  knows  none." — Prof.  Max  Muller. 

“ The  same  thing  which  is  now  called  Christian  Religion  existed  among  the 
Ancients.  They  have  begun  to  call  Christian  the  true  religion  which  existed  be- 
fore."— St.  Augustine. 

“Our  love  for  what  is  old,  our  reverence  for  what  our  fathers  used,  makes  us 
keep  still  in  the  church,  and  on  the  very  altar  cloths,  symbols  which  would  excite 
the  smile  of  an  Oriental , and  lead  him  to  wonder  why  we  send  missionaries  to  his 
land,  while  cherishing  his  faith  in  ours.” — James  Bonwick. 


NEW  YORK 

THE  TRUTH  SEEKER  COMPANY 

28  Lafayette  Place 


COPYRIGHT, 

BY  J.  W.  BOUTON, 

1882. 


INTRODUCTION, 


The  idea  of  publishing  the  work  here  presented  did  not  sug- 
gest itself  until  a large  portion  of  the  material  it  contains  had 
been  accumulated  for  the  private  use  and  personal  gratification  of 
the  author.  In  pursuing  the  study  of  the  Bible  Myths,  facts  per- 
taining thereto,  in  a condensed  form,  seemed  to  be  greatly  needed, 
and  nowhere  to  be  found.  Widely  scattered  through  hundreds  of 
ancient  and  modern  volumes,  most  of  the  contents  of  this  book 
may  indeed  be  found ; but  any  previous  attempt  to  trace  exclusively 
the  myths  and  legends  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  to  their 
origin,  published  as  a separate  work,  is  not  known  to  the  writer 
of  this.  Many  able  writers  have  shown  our  so-called  Sacred  Scrip- 
tures to  be  unhistorical,  and  have  pronounced  them  largely  legend- 
ary, but  have  there  left  the  matter,  evidently  aware  of  the  great 
extent  of  the  subject  lying  beyond.  As  Thomas  Scott  remarks, 
in  his  English  Life  of  Jesus : “ How  these  narratives  (i.  e.,  the 
New  Testament  narratives),  unhistorical  as  they  have  been  shown 
to  be,  came  into  existence,  it  is  not  our  business  to  explain  • and 
once  again,  at  the  end  of  the  task,  as  at  the  beginning  and 
throughout,  we  must  emphatically  disclaim  the  obligation.”  To 
pursue  the  subject  from  the  point  at  which  it  is  abandoned  by 
this  and  many  other  distinguished  writers,  has  been  the  labor  of 

the  author  of  this  volume  for  a number  of  years.  The  result  of 

[iiij 


iv 


INTRODUCTION. 


this  labor  is  herewith  submitted  to  the  reader,  but  not  without  a 
painful  consciousness  of  its  many  imperfections. 

The  work  naturally  begins  with  the  Eden  myth,  and  is  fol- 
lowed by  a consideration  of  the  principal  Old  Testament 
legends,  showing  their  universality,  origin  and  meaning.  Next 
will  be  found  the  account  of  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus,  with  his 
history  until  the  close  of  his  life  upon  earth,  showing,  in  con- 
nection therewith,  the  universality  of  the  myth  of  the  Virgin- 
born,  Crucified  and  Resurrected  Saviour. 

Before  showing  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  myth  (which 
is  done  in  Chapter  XXXIX.),  we  have  considered  the  Miracles 
of  Christ  Jesus , the  Eucharist , Baptism , the  Worship  of  the 
Virgin , Christian  Symbols , the  Birthday  of  Christ  Jesus , the 
Doctrine  of  the  Trinity , Why  Christianity  Prospered , and  the 
Antiquity  of  Pagan  Religions , besides  making  a comparison  of 
the  legendary  histories  of  Crishna  and  Jesus , and  Buddha  and 
Jesus.  The  concluding  chapter  relates  to  the  question,  What  do 
we  really  know  about  Jesus? 

In  the  words  of  Prof.  Max  Muller  ( The  Science  of  Re- 
ligion, p.  11) : “ A comparison  of  all  the  religions  of  the  world, 
in  which  none  can  claim  a privileged  position,  will  no  doubt 
seem  to  many  dangerous  and  reprehensible,  because  ignoring  that 
peculiar  reverence  which  everybody,  down  to  the  mere  fetish 
worshiper,  feels  for  his  own  religion,  and  for  his  own  god.  Let 
me  say,  then,  at  once,  that  I myself  have  shared  these  misgivings, 
but  that  I have  tried  to  overcome  them,  because  I would  not  and 
could  not  allow  myself  to  surrender  either  what  I hold  to  be  the 
truth,  or  what  I hold  still  dearer  than  truth,  the  right  of  testing 
truth.  Nor  do  I regret  it.  I do  not  say  that  the  Science  of  Re 
ligion  is  all  gain.  No,  it  entails  losses,  and  losses  of  many 
things  which  we  hold  dear.  But  this  I will  say,  that,  as  far  as 
my  humble  judgment  goes,  it  does  not  entail  the  loss  of  anythin 
that  is  essential  to  true  religion , and  that,  if  we  strike  the 
balance  honestly,  the  gain  is  immeasurably  greater  than  the  loss 


INTRODUCTION. 


V 


“ All  truth  is  safe,  and  nothing  else  is  safe  ; and  he  who  keeps 
back  the  truth,  or  withholds  it  from  men,  from  motives  of  expe- 
diency, is  either  a coward  or  a criminal,  or  both.” 

But  little  beyond  the  arrangement  of  this  work  is  claimed  as 
original.  Ideas,  phrases,  and  even  whole  paragraphs  have  been 
taken  from  the  writings  of  others,  and  in  most,  if  not  in  all  cases, 
acknowledged  ; but  with  the  thought  in  mind  of  the  many  hours 
of  research  this  book  may  save  the  student  in  this  particular  line 
of  study ; with  the  consciousness  of  having  done  for  others  that 
which  I would  have  been  thankful  to  have  found  done  for  myself ; 
and  more  than  all,  with  the  hope  that  it  may  in  some  way  help  to 
hasten  the  day  when  the  mist  of  superstition  shall  be  dispelled  by 
the  light  of  reason  ; with  all  its  defects,  it  is  most  cheerfully  com- 
mitted to  its  fate  by  the  author. 

Boston,  Mass.,  November,  1882. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/biblemythstheirp00doan_0 


CONTENTS 


PART  I. 

PAGE 

Introduction iii 

List  of  Authorities,  and  Books  Quoted  from xi 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man 1 

CHAPTER  II. 

The  Deluge 19 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  Tower  of  Babel 33 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Trial  of  Abraham’s  Faith 38 

CHAPTER  V. 

Jacob’s  Vision  of  the  Ladder 42 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Exodus  from  Egypt 48 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Receiving  the  Ten  Commandments 58 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Samson  and  his  Exploits 02 

vii 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Jonah  Swallowed  by  a Big  Fish 77 

CHAPTER  X. 

Circumcision 85 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Conclusion  op  Part  First 88 


PART  II. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Miraculous  Birth  op  Christ  Jesus Ill 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Star  of  Bethlehem 140 

CHAPTER  XIY. 

The  Song  op  the  Heavenly  Host 147 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Divine  Child  Recognized,  and  Presented  with  Gifts 150 

7< 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Birth-place  of  Christ  Jesus 154 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Genealogy  of  Christ  Jesus 160 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Slaughter  of  the  Innocents 165 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Temptation,  and  Fast  of  Forty  Days 175 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Crucifixion  op  Christ  Jesus 181 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Darkness  at  the  Crucifixion 206 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


PAGB 

CHx\PTER  XXII. 

“ He  Descended  into  Hell.” 211 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Resurrection  and  Ascension  of  Christ  Jesus 215 

CHAPTER  XXIY. 

The  Second  Coming  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  Millennium 233 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Christ  Jesus  as  Judge  of  the  Dead 244 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Christ  Jesus  as  Creator,  and  Alpha  and  Omega 247 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

The  Miracles  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  Primitive  Christians 278 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Christ  Crishna  and  Christ  Jesus 252 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Christ  Buddha  and  Christ  Jesus 289 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  Eucharist  or  Lord’s  Supper 305 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Baptism 316 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  Worship  of  the  Virgin  Mother 326 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Christian  Symbols 339 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

The  Birth-day  of  Christ  Jesus - 359 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

The  Trinity 368 


X 


CONTENTS, 


PA.GB 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Paganism  in  Christianity 384 

\ 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

Why  Christianity  Prospered 419 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  Antiquity  of  Pagan  Religions 450 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Explanation 466 

CHAPTER  XL. 

Conclusion 508 


681 


Appendix 


LIST 


OF 

AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED 

IN  THIS  WORK. 


Abbott  (Lyman) A Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge,  for  Popular  and 

Professional  Use ; comprising  full  information  on  Bibli- 
cal, Theological,  and  Ecclesiastical  Subjects.  Edited 
by  Rev.  Lyman  Abbott,  assisted  by  Rev.  T.  J.  Conant, 
D.  D.  New  York:  Harper  & Bros.,  1880. 

Acosta  (Rut.  Joseph  De).  . . .The  Natural  and  Moral  History  of  the  Indies,  by  Father 

Joseph  De  Acosta.  Translated  by  Edward  Grimston. 
London:  1604. 

JSschylus The  Poems  of  vEschylus.  Translated  by  the  Rev.  R. 

Potter,  M.  A.  New  York:  Harper  & Bros.,  1836. 

Allen  (Rev.  D.  0.) India,  Ancient  and  Modern,  by  David  0.  Allen,  D.  D., 

Missionary  of  the  American  Board  for  twenty-five  years 
in  India.  London:  Triibner  & Co.,  1866. 

Amberly  (Viscount).,, An  Analysis  of  Religious  Belief,  by  Viscount  Amberly, 

from  the  late  London  Edition.  New  York : D.  M.  Ben- 
nett, 1879. 

Asiatic  Researches Asiatic  Researches,  or  Transactions  of  the  Society  insti- 

tuted in  Bengal,  for  inquiring  in  the  History  and  An- 
tiquities, the  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Literature  of  Asia. 
London : J.  Swain,  1801. 

Baring-Gould  (Rev.  S.) Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages,  by  Rev.  S.  Baring- 

Gould,  M.  A.  Boston:  Roberts  Bros.,  1880. 

Legends  of  the  Patriarchs  and  Prophets,  and  other  Old 

Testament  Characters,  from  various  sources,  by  Rev.  S. 
Baring-Gould,  M.  A.  New  York:  Holt  & Williams, 
1872. 

The  Origin  and  Development  of  Religious  Belief,  by  S. 

Baring-Gould,  M.  A.,  in  2 vols.  New  York : D.  Apple- 
ton  & Co.,  1870. 


xi 


Xll 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


Barnabas The  General  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  a companion  and  fel- 

low-preacher with  Paul. 

Barnes  (Albert) Notes,  Explanatory  and  Practical,  on  the  Gospels,  bj 

Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  in  2 vols.  New  York  : Harper  & 
Bros.,  1860. 

Beal  (Samuel) The  Romantic  Legend  of  Sakya  Buddha,  from  the  Chi- 

nese Sanscrit  (being  a translation  of  the  Fo-pen-hing), 
by  Samuel  Beal.  London:  Trubner  & Co.,  Wo. 

Bell  (J.) Bell’s  New  Pantheon,  or  Historical  Dictionary  of  the 


Gods,  Demi-Gods,  Heroes,  and  Fabulous  Personages  of 
Antiquity  ; also  of  the  Images  and  Idols,  adored  in  the 
Pagan  World,  together  with  their  Temples,  Priests,  Al- 
tars, Oracles,  Fusts,  Festivals,  &c.,  in  2 vols.  London  : 
J.  Bell,  1790 

Bhagayat-Geeta The  Bhagavat-Geeta,  or  Dialogues  of  Crishna  and  Arjoon, 

in  18  Lectures,  with  notes.  Translated  from  the  orig- 
inal Sanscrit  by  Charles  Wilkes.  London:  C.  Nourse, 
1785. 


Blavatsry  (H.  P.) Isis  Unveiled  : A Master  Key  to  the  Mysteries  of  Ancient 

and  Modern  Science  and  Theology,  by  H.  P.  Blavatsky. 
in  2 vols.  New  York:  J.  W.  Bouton,  1877. 

Boxwick  (James) Egyptian  Belief  and  Modem  Thought,  by  James  Bonwick, 

F.  R.  G.  S.  London:  C.  Kegan  Paul  & Co.,  1878. 


Brjxton  (Daniel).  The  Myths  of  the  New  World : A Treatise  on  the  Symbol- 


ism and  Mythology  of  the  Red  Race  of  America,  by  Dan- 
iel Brinton,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  New  York  : L.  Holt  & Co.,  1868. 

Britannica  (Encyclo.) The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  Ninth  Edition. 

Buckley  (T.  A.) The  Great  Cities  of  the  Ancient  World,  in  their  Glory 

and  their  Desolation,  by  Theodore  A.  Buckley,  M.  A. 
London  : G.  Routledge  & Co.,  1852. 

Bulfinch  (Thomas) The  Age  of  Fable,  or  Beauties  of  Mythology,  by  Thomas 

Bulfinch.  Boston:  J.  E.  Tilton  & Co.,  1870. 

Bunce  (John  T.) Fairy  Tales:  Their  Origin  and  Meaning,  with  some  ac- 

count of  Dwellers  in  Fairy-land,  by  John  Thackary 
Bunce.  New  York:  D.  Appleton  & Co.,  1878. 

Bunsen  (Ernest  de) *.The  Keys  of  St.  Peter,  or  the  House  of  Rochab,  connect- 

ed with  the  History  of  Symbolism  and  Idolatry,  by  Er- 
nest de  Bunsen.  London:  Longmans,  Green  & Co., 
1867. 


The  Angel-Messiah  of  Buddhists,  Essenes,  and  Christians, 
by  Ernest  de  Bunsen.  London : Longmans,  Green  & 
Co.,  1880. 

The  Chronology  of  the  Bible,  connected  with  contempo- 
raneous events  in  the  history  of  Babylonians,  Assyrians, 
and  Egyptians,  by  Ernest  de  Bunsen.  London : Long- 
mans, Green  & Co.,  1874. 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


XI U 


Calmet Calmet’s  Dictionary  of  the  Holy  Bible  (Taylor’s).  Lon- 

don: 1798. 

Chadwick  (J.  W.) The  Bible  of  To-day:  A Course  of  Lectures  by  John  W. 


Chadwick,  Minister  of  the  Second  Unitarian  Church  in 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  New  York : G.  P.  Putnam  & Sons, 
1878. 


Chambers Chambers’  Encyclopgedia : A Dictionary  of  Universal 

Knowledge  for  the  People.  American  Revised  Edition. 
Philadelphia:  J.  Lippincott  & Co.,  1877. 

Cuampollion  (M.) Precis  du  syst^me  Hieroglyphique  des  Anciens  ligyptiens 


ou  recherches  sur  les  eiemens  premiers  dec  ette  ccri- 
ture  sacree,  &c.,  par  M.  Champollion  Le  Jeune.  Second© 
Edit.  Paris : 1828. 

Child  (L.  M.) The  Progress  of  Religious  Ideas  through  Successive  Ages, 

by  L.  Maria  Child,  in  3 vols.  New  York : C.  S.  Francis 
& Co.,  1855. 

Clement The  First  Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians. 


Colenso  (Rev.  J.  W.) The  Pentateuch  and  Book  of  Joshua  critically  examined, 

by  the  Right  Rev.  John  William  Colenso,  D.  D.,  Bishop 
of  Natal.  London:  Longmans,  Green  & Co.,  1863. 

Lectures  on  the  Pentateuch  and  Moabite  Stone,  by  the 

Right  Rev.  John  William  Colenso,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of 
Natal.  London:  Longmans,  Green  & Co.,  1873. 

Constantine  (The  Emperor).  .The  Emperor  Constantine’s  Oration  to  the  Holy  Congre- 


gation of  the  Clergy.  London:  Thos.  Coates,  1637. 

Conway  (M.  D.) The  Sacred  Anthology:  A Book  of  Ethnical  Scriptures, 

collated  and  edited  by  Moncure  D.  Conway.  London: 
Trubner  & Co.,  1874. 

Cory Cory’s  Ancient  Fragments  of  the  Phenician,  Carthage- 

nian,  Babylonian,  Egyptian,  and  other  Authors.  A 
new  and  enlarged  edition,  carefully  revised  by  E.  Rich- 
ard Hodges,  M.  C.  P.  London : Reeves  & Turner,  1876. 


CoulangeS  (F.  de) The  Ancient  City:  A Study  on  the  Religion,  Laws,  and 

Institutions  of  Greece  and  Rome,  by  Fustel  de  Cou- 
langes.  Translated  from  the  latest  French  Edition  by 
Williard  Small.  Boston : Lee  & Shepherd,  1874. 

Cox  (Rev.  G.  W.). The  Myths  of  the  Aryan  Nations,  by  George  W.  Cox,  M. 

A.,  late  Scholar  of  Trinity,  Oxford,  in  2 vols.  London : 
Longmans,  Green  & Co.,  1870. 

■ Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  by  Rev.  George  W.  Cox,  M.  A., 

Bart.  London:  C.  Kegan  Paul  & Co.,  1880. 

Darwin  (Charles) Journal  of  Researches  into  the  Natural  History  and 

Geology  of  the  Countries  visited  during  the  Voyage  of 
II.  M.  S.  Beagle  Round  the  World,  by  Charles  Darwin, 
M.  A.,  F.  R.  S.  2d  Edit.  London : John  Murray,  1845. 

- ■■■■  ■ The  Descent  of  Man,  and  Selection  in  Relation  to  Sex,  by 


XIV 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED, 


Charles  Darwin,  M.  A.  New  York : D.  Appleton  & 
Co.,  1876. 

Davies  (Edward) The  Myths  and  Rites  of  the  British  Druids  compared 

with  Customs  and  Traditions  of  Heathen  Nations,  by 
Edward  Davies,  Rector  of  Brampton.  London:  J. 
Booth,  1809. 


Davis  (J.F.) The  Chinese:  A General  Description  of  the  Empire  of 

China  and  its  Inhabitants,  by  John  Francis  Davis,  Esq. 
F.  R.  S.,  in  2 vols.  New  York:  Harper  Bros.,  1836. 
Delitch  (F.) .See  Kell  (C.  F.). 

Dill  away  (C.  K.) Roman  Antiquities  and  Ancient  Mythology,  by  Charles 

E.  Dillaway.  Boston:  Gould,  Kendall  & Lincoln,  1840. 

Draper  (J.  W.) History  of  the  Conflict  betwren  Religion  and  Science,  by 

John  W.  Draper,  M.  D.  8th  Edit.  New  York : D.  Ap- 
pleton & Co.,  1876. 

Dunlap  (S.F.) Vestiges  of  the  Spirit  History  of  Man,  by  S.  F.  Dunlap, 


Member  of  the  American  Oriental  Soc.,  New  Haven. 
New  York : D.  Appleton  & Co.,  1858. 

The  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  by  S.  F.  Dunlap  London: 
Williams  & Nortbgate,  1861. 

.Sod,  the  Son  of  the  Man,  by  S.  F.  Dunlap.  London : Will- 
iams & Northgate,  1861. 


Dupuis The  Origin  of  all  Religious  Worship,  translated  from  the 

French  of  Mons.  Dupuis.  New  Orleans:  1872. 

Eusebius..... The  Life  of  Constantine,  in  Four  Books,  by  Eusebius 

Pamphilius,  Bishop  of  Cesarea.  London : Thomas 
Coates,  1637. 

■ ■■■■■  ■ The  Ancient  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Eusebius  Pamphi- 

lius, Bishop  of  Cesarea  in  Palestine,  in  Ten  Books. 
London:  George  Miller,  1636. 


Farrar  (F.  W.). The  Life  of  Christ,  by  Frederick  W.  Farrar,  D.  D.,  F.  R. 

S.,  late  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  Albany  : 
Rufus  Wendell,  1876. 

Fergusson  (James) .Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  or  Illustrations  of  Mythology 

and  Art  in  India,  by  James  Fergusson.  London;  1868. 
Fisee  (John) Myths  and  Myth-Makers  ; Old  Tales  and  Superstitions  In- 

terpreted by  Comparative  Mythology,  by  John  Fiske, 
M.  A.,  LL.  B.,  Harvard  University.  Boston:  J.  R. 
Osgood  & C<5.,  1877. 


Frothingham  (0.  B.) The  Cradle  of  the  Christ:  A Study  in  Primitive  Christian- 


ity, by  Octavius  Brooks  Frothingham.  New  York : G. 
P.  Putnam  & Sons,  1877. 

Gaugooly  (J.  C.) Life  and  Religion  of  the  Hindoos,  by  Joguth  Chunder 

Gaugooly.  Boston:  Crosby,  Nichols  & Co.,  1860. 

Geikie  (C.) The  Life  and  Words  of  Christ,  by  Cunningham  Geikie, 

D.  D.,  in  2 vols.  New  York : D.  Appleton  & Co  , 1880. 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED, 


XV 


Gerbet  (L’Abbb) The  Lily  of  Israel,  or  the  Life  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 

Mary,  Mother  of  God.  From  the  French  of  the  Abbe 
Gerbet.  New  York : P.  J.  Kennedy,  1878. 

Gibbon  (Edward).  . . , The  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Em- 

pire, by  Edward  Gibbon,  Esq.,  in  6 vols.  Philadelphia : 
Claxton,  Remsen  & Hoffelfinger,  1876. 

Giles Hebrew  and  Christian  Records:  An  Historical  Enquiry 


concerning  the  Age  and  Authorship  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Giles,  in  2 vols.  Lon- 
don : Trtlbner  & Co.,  1877. 


Ginseurgh  (C.  D.) The  Essenes : Their  History  and  Doctrines  ; an  Essay,  by 

Charles  D.  Ginsburgh.  London : Longman,  Green,  Rob- 
erts & Green,  1864. 

Goldzhter  (I.) Mythology  among  the  Hebrews,  and  its  Historical  Devel- 


opment, by  Ignaz  Goldzhier,  Ph.  D.,  Member  of  the 
Hungarian  Academy  of  Sciences.  Translated  from  the 
German  by  Russel  Martineau.  London:  Longmans, 
Green  & Co.,  1877. 


Gori .......  .Etrurisclie  Alterth timer.  Mtirnburg:  G.  Lichtensleger, 

1770. 

Greg  (W.  R.) The  Creed  of  Christendom:  Its  Foundations  contrasted 

with  its  Superstructure,  by  William  Rathbone  Greg. 
Detroit : Rose-Belford  Pub.  Co.,  1878. 

Gross  (J.  B.) The  Heathen  Religion  in  its  Popular  and  Symbolical  De- 

velopment, by  Rev.  Joseph  B.  Gross.  Boston ; J.  P. 
Jewett  & Co.,  1866. 

Gutzlaff The  Journal  of  Two  Voyages  along  the  Coast  of  China 


(in  1831-2),  and  Remarks  on  the  Policy,  Religion,  &c., 
of  China,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gutzlaff.  New  York : John 
P.  Haven,  1833. 

Hardy  (R.  S.). .. ., ...The  Legends  and  Theories  of  the  Buddhists  compared 

with  History  and  Science,  with  Introductory  Notices  of 
tho  Life  of  Gautama  Buddha,  by  R.  Spence  Hardy, 
Hon.  M.  R.  A.  S.  London  : Williams  & Northgate,  1866. 

- Eastern  Monachism:  An  Account  of  the  Origin,  Laws, 

Discipline,  &c.,  of  the  Order  of  Mendicants  founded  by 
Gautama  Buddha,  by  R.  Spence  Hardy.  London: 
Williams  & Northgate,  1860. 

■■  - A Manual  of  Buddhism  in  its  Modern  Development 

Translated  from  the  Singalese  MSS.  by  R.  S.  Hardy. 
London : Williams  & Northgate,  1860. 


Hermas The  First  Book  of  Hermas,  Brother  of  Pius,  Bishop  of 

Rome,  which  is  called  his  Vision. 

Herodotus The  History  of  Herodotus,  the  Greek  Historian:  A New 

and  Literal  Version,  from  the  Text  of  Baekr,  by  Henry 
Cary,  M.  A.  New  York ; Harper  & Bros.,  1871. 


Xvi  AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 

Higgins  (Codfhky) The  Celtic  Druids,  by  Godfrey  Higgins,  Esq.,  F.  R.  A.  S. 


London:  Hunter  & Co.,  1827. 

Anacalypsis:  An  Enquiry  into  the  Origin  of  Languages, 
Nations,  and  Religions,  by  Godfrey  Higgins,  Esq.,  F.  R. 
S.,  F.  R.  A.  S.,  in  2 vols.  London : LoDgman,  Rees 
Orne,  Brown  & Longman. 


Hooykaas  (I.) See  Oort  (H.). 

Hue  (L’Abbe) Christianity  in  China,  Tartary  and  Thibet,  by  M.  L’Abbe 

Hue,  formerly  Missionary  Apostolic  in  China,  in  2 vols. 
London : Longman,  Brown  & Co.,  1857. 

Humboldt  (A.  de) Researches  concerning  the  Institutions  and  Monuments  of 


the  Ancient  Inhabitants  of  Mexico,  by  Alexander  de 
Humboldt,  in  2 vols.  (Translated  by  Helen  Maria 
Williams.)  London:  Longman,  Rees  & Co.,  1814. 

■■  "■■■■—  Political  Essay  on  the  Kingdom  of  New  Spain,  by  Alex- 

ander de  Humboldt,  in  2 vols.  (Translated  by  John 
Black.)  London:  Longman,  Hurst  & Co.,  1822. 

Hume  (David) Essays  and  Treaties  on  Yarious  Subjects,  by  David  Hume 

(author  of  Hume’s  History  of  England).  Boston: 
From  the  London  Edit.  J.  P.  Mendum. 

Huxley  (T.  H.) Evidence  as  to  Man’s  Place  in  Nature,  by  Thomas  H. 

Huxley,  F.  R.  S.,  F.  L.  S.  New  York : D.  Appleton  & 
Co.,  1873. 

Ignatius The  Epistle  of  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch  in  Syria,  to 

the  Ephesians. 

The  Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the  Magnesians. 

• The  Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the  Trallians. 

— The  Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the  Philadelphians. 


Infancy  (Aroc.) The  Gospel  of  the  Infancy  of  Jesus  Christ  (Apocryphal). 

Inman  (Thomas) .Ancient  Pagan  and  Modern  Christian  Symbolism  Exposed 


and  Explained,  by  Thomas  Inman,  M.  D.,  Physician  to 
the  Royal  Infirmary,  &c.  London:  18G9. 

— — — Ancient  Faiths  Embodied  in  Ancient  Names,  or  An  At- 

tempt to  Trace  the  Religious  Belief,  Sacred  Rites,  and 
Holy  Emblems  of  certain  Nations,  by  Thomas  Inman, 
M.  D.  London:  Trlibner  & Co.,  1872. 

..  Ancient  Faiths  and  Modern:  A Dissertation  upon  Wor- 

ship, Legends,  and  Divinities  in  Central  and  Western 
Asia,  Europe,  and  Elsewhere,  before  the  Christian  Era, 
' by  Thomas  Inman,  M.  D.  Loudon:  Trulmer  & Co. 
187G. 

Jameson The  History  of  Our  Lord  as  Exemplified  in  Works  of 

Art ; commenced  by  the  late  Mrs.  Jameson,  continued 
and  completed  by  Lady  Eastlake,  in  2 vols.  London  : 
Longmans,  Green  & Co.,  18G4. 

The  Rosicrucians : Their  Rites  and  Mysteries.  Second 


Jennings  (H.). 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


xvii 


Edit,  revised  by  Hargrave  Jennings.  London:  Catto 
, & Windus,  1879. 

Johnson  (Samuil) Oriental  Religions,  and  their  Relation  to  Universal  Re- 

ligion (India),  by  Samuel  Johnson.  Boston : J.  R.  Os- 
good, 1872. 

Josiphus  (Flavius) Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  in  Twenty  Books,  by  Flavius 


Josephus,  the  learned  and  authentic  Jewish  Historian 
and  celebrated  Warrior.  Translated  by  William  Whis- 
ton,  A.  M.  Baltimore:  Armstrong  & Berry,  1839. 

.The  Wars  of  the  Jews,  or  the  History  of  the  Destruction 
of  Jerusalem,  in  Seven  Books,  by  Flavius  Josephus. 
Baltimore:  1839. 

Flavius  Josephus  Against  Apion,  in  Two  Books.  Balti- 
more: 1839. 


Kbightley  (T.) The  Mythology  of  Ancient  Greece  and  Italy,  by  Thomas 

Keightley.  New  York : D.  Appleton  & Co.,  1843. 

Keil  (C.  F.) Biblical  Commentary  on  the  Old  Testament,  by  C.  F.  Keil, 


D.  D.,  and  F.  Delitch,  D.  D.,  Professors  in  Theology,  in 
3 vols.  Translated  from  the  German  by  Rev.  James 
Martin,  B.  A.  Edinboro’:  T.  & T.  Clarke,  1872. 


Kenrick  (J.) Ancient  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  by  John  Kenrick,  M. 

A.,  in  2 vols.  London : B.  Fellows,  1850. 

King  (C.  W.) The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains,  Ancient  and  Mediaeval, 

by  C.  W.  King,  M.  A.,  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge. London:  Bell  & Dudley,  1864. 

Kingsborough  (Lord) Antiquities  of  Mexico,  comprising  Fac-similes  of  Ancient 


Mexican  Paintings  and  Hieroglyphics,  preserved  in  the 
Royal  Libraries  of  Paris,  Berlin,  and  Dresden,  in  the 
Imperial  Library  of  Vienna,  &e.,  &c.,  together  with  the 
Monuments  of  New  Spain,  by  Lord  Kingsborough,  in 
7 vols.  London:  Robert  Havill  & Coyglen,  Son  & 
Co.,  1831. 


Knappert  ( J.) The  Religion  of  Israel,  a Manual : Translated  from  the 

Dutch  of  J.  Knappert,  pastor  at  Leiden,  by  Richard  A. 
Armstrong,  B.  A.  Boston  : Roberts  Bros.,  1878. 
Knight  (R.  P.) The  Symbolical  Language  of  Ancient  Art  and  Mythology. 


An  Enquiry,  by  Richard  Payne  Knight,  author  of  “ The 
Worship  of  Priapus,”  &c.  A new  Edit,  with  Introduc- 
tion, Notes  and  Additions,  by  Alexander  Wilder,  M.  D. 
New  York  : J.  W.  Bouton,  1876. 


Koran The  Koran,  commonly  called  the  A1  Coran  of  Mohammed ; 

translated  into  English  immediately  from  the  original 
Arabic,  by  Geo.  Sale,  Gent. 

Kunen  (A.) See  Oort  (H.). 

Lardner  (N.) The  Works  of  Nathaniel  Lardner,  D.  D.,  with  a Life,  by 

Dr.  Kipps,  in  10  vols.  London:  Wm.  Ball,  1838. 


B 


XV111 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


Leland  (Chas.  G.) Fusang : or  the  Discovery  of  America  by  Buddhist  Priests 

in  the  5th  Century,  by  Chas.  G.  Leland.  London : 
Triibner  & Co.,  1875. 

Lillie  (Arthur) Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism,  by  Arthur  Lillie.  London: 

Trubner  & Co.,  1881. 

Lubbock  (John) Pre-historic  Times,  as  Illustrated  by  Ancient  Remains,  and 


the  Manners  and  Customs  of  Modern  Savages,  by  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  F.  R.  S.  London:  Williams  & North- 
gate,  1865. 

Lundy  ( J.  P.) Monumental  Christianity,  or  the  Art  and  Symbolism  of  the 

Primitive  Church  as  Witness  and  Teachers  of  the  One 
Catholic  Faith  and  Practice,  by  John  P.  Lundy,  Presby- 
ter. New  York  : J.  W.  Bouton,  1876. 

Mahaffy  (J.  P.).  . Prolegomena  to  Ancient  History,  by  John  P.  Mahaffy,  A. 

M.,  M.  R.  I.  A.,  Fellow  and  Tutor  in  Trinity  College, 
and  Lecturer  in  Ancient  History  in  the  University  of 
Dublin.  London  : Longmans,  Green  & Co.,  1871. 

Mallet Northern  Antiquities  ; or  an  Historical  Account  of  the 

Manners,  Customs,  Religion  and  Laws  of  the  Ancient 
Scandinavians,  by  M.  Mallet.  Translated  from  the 
French  by  Bishop  Percy.  London  : H.  S.  Bohn,  1847. 


Marsh  (Herbert) A Course  of  Lectures,  containing  a Description  and  Syste- 

matic Arrangement  of  the  several  Branches  of  Divinity 
by  Herbert  Marsh,  D.D.  Cambridge  : W.  Hillard,  1812. 

Mary  (Apoc.) The  Gospel  of  the  Birth  of  Mary,  attributed  to  St.  Mat- 

thew, Translated  from  the  Works  of  St.  Jerome. 

Maurice  (Thomas) Indian  Antiquities  : or  Dissertations  on  the  Geographical 


Division,  Theology,  Laws,  Government  and  Literature 
of  Hindostan,  compared  with  those  of  Persia,  Egvp- 
and  Greece,  by  Thomas  Maurice,  in  6 vols.  London  : 
W.  Richardson,  1794. 

. The  History  of  Hindostan ; Its  Arts  and  its  Sciences,  as 

connected  with  the  History  of  the  other  Great  Empires 
of  Asia,  during  the  most  Ancient  Periods  of  the  World, 
in  2 vols.,  by  Thomas  Maurice.  London : Printed  by 
H.  L.  Galabin,  1798. 

Maurice  (F.  D.) The  Religions  of  the  World,  and  Their  Relation  to  Christi- 

anity, by  Frederick  Denison  Maurice,  M.  A.,  Professor 
of  Divinity  in  Kings’  College.  London : J.  W.  Parker, 
1847. 

Middleton  (C.) The  Miscellaneous  Works  of  Conyers  Middleton,  D.  D., 

Principal  Librarian  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  in 
4 vols.  (“  Free  Enquiry  ” vol.  I.,  “ Letters  from  Rome  ” 
vol.  III.).  London:  Richard  Manby,  1752. 

Montfaucon  (B.) L’Antiquite  Expliquee  ; par  Dom  Bernard  de  Montfaucon, 

Second  edit.  Paris:  1722. 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


XIX 


Moor  (Edward) Plates  illustrating  the  Hindoo  Pantheon,  reprinted  from 

the  work  of  Major  Edward  Moor,  F.  R.  S.,  edited  by 
Rev.  Allen  Moor.  M.  A.  London : Williams  & Nor- 
gate,  1816. 

Morton  (S.  G.) Types  of  Mankind:  or  Ethnological  Researches  based 

upon  the  Ancient  Monuments,  Paintings,  Sculptures, 
and  Crania  of  Races,  by  Samuel  George  Morton,  M.  D. 
Philadelphia  : Lippincott,  Grambo  & Co.,  1854. 

Muller  (Max) A History  of  Ancient  Sanscrit  Literature,  so  far  as  it  il- 

lustrates the  Primitive  Religion  of  the  Brahmins,  by 
Max  Muller,  M.  A.  London : Williams  & Norgate, 
1860. 

Introduction  to  the  Science  of  Religion : Four  Lectures  de- 
livered at  the  Royal  Institution,  with  Two  Essays  on 
False  Analogies,  and  the  Philosophy  of  Mythology,  by 
(F.)  Max  Muller,  M.  A.  London : Longmans,  Green  & 
Co.,  1873. 

Chips  from  a German  Workshop  ; by  Max  Muller,  M.  A., 

in  3 vols.  London : Longmans,  Green  & Co.,  1876. 

Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion,  as  Illus- 
trated by  the  Religions  of  India.  Delivered  in  the 
Chapel  House,  Westminster  Abbey,  by  (F.)  Max  Muller, 
M.  A.  London  : Longmans,  Green  & Co.,  1 878. 

Murray  (A.  S.) Manual  of  Mythology,  by  Alexander  S.  Murray,  Depart- 

ment of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  British  Museum, 
2d  Edit.  New  York  : Armstrong  & Co.,  1876. 

Nicodemus  (Apoc.) The  Gospel  of  Nicodemus  the  Disciple,  concerning  the 

Sufferings  and  Resurrection  of  Our  Master  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ. 

Oort  (H.) -. . . The  Bible  for  Learners,  by  Dr.  H.  Oort,  Prof,  of  Oriental 

Languages,  &c.,  at  Amsterdam,  and  Dr.  I.  Hooykaas, 
pastor  at  Rotterdam,  with  the  assistance  of  Dr.  A.  Kunen, 
Prof,  of  Theology  at  Leiden,  in  3 vols.  Translated 
from  the  Dutch  by  Philip  A.  Wieksteed,  M.  A.  Boston : 
Roberts  Bros.,  1878. 

Orton  (James) The  Andes  and  the  Amazon;  or  Across  the  Continent  of 

South  America,  by  James  Orton,  M.  A.,  3d  Edit.  New 
York  : Harper  & Bros.,  1876. 

Owen  (Richard) Man’s  Earliest  History,  an  Address  delivered  before  the 

International  Congress  of  Orientalists,  by  Prof.  Richard 
Owen.  Tribune  Extra,  No.  23.  New  York  Tribune 
Pub.  Co.,  1874. 

Peschel  (Oscar)  . . The  Races  of  Man,  and  their  Geographical  Distribution 

from  the  German  of  Oscar  Peschel.  New  York : P 
Appleton  & Co.,  1876. 


XX 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


Polycarp The  Epistle  of  Polycarp  to  the  Philippians,  translated  by 

Archbishop  Wake. 

Porter  (Sir  R.  K.) Travels  in  Georgia,  Persia,  Armenia,  Ancient  Babylonia, 

&c.,  by  Sir  Robert  Kir  Porter,  in  2 vols.  London : 
Longmans,  Hurst,  Rees,  Orra  & Brown,  1821. 

Prescott  (Wm.  H.) History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico,  with  a preliminary 


view  of  the  Ancient  Mexican  Civilization,  and  the  life 
of  the  conqueror,  Hernando  Cortez,  by  Wm.  H.  Prescott, 
in  3 vols.  Philadelphia:  J.  P.  Lippincott  & Co.,  1873. 

Prichard  (J.  C.) An  Analysis  of  the  Historical  Records  of  Ancient  Egypt, 

by  J.  C.  Prichard,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.  London : Sherwood, 
Gilbert  & Piper,  1838. 

An  Analysis  of  Egyptian  Mythology,  and  the  Philosophy 

of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  compared  with  those  of  the 
Indians  and  others,  by  J.  C.  Prichard,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S. 
London:  Sherwood,  Gilbert  & Piper,  1838. 

Priestley  (Joseph) A Comparison  of  the  Institutions  of  Moses  with  those  of 

the  Hindoos  and  other  Ancient  Nations,  by  Joseph  Priest- 
ley, LL.  D.,  F.  R.  S.  Northumberland : A.  Kennedy, 
1799. 

Protevangelion  Apoc The  Protevangelion,  or,  An  Historical  Account  of  the 

Birth  of  Christ,  and  the  perpetual  Virgin  Mary,  His 
Mother,  by  James  the  Lesser,  Cousin  and  Brother  to  the 
Lord  Jesus. 

Reber  (Geo.) The  Christ  of  Paul,  or  the  Enigmas  of  Christianity,  by 

Geo.  Reber.  New  York:  C.  P.  Somerby,  1876. 

Renain  (Ernest) Lectures  on  the  Influence  of  the  Institutions,  Thought 

and  Culture  of  Rome  on  Christianity,  and  the  Develop- 
ment of  the  Catholic  Church,  by  Ernest  Renan,  of  the 
French  Academy.  Translated  by  Charles  Beard,  B.  A. 
London:  Williams  & Norgate,  1880. 


Renouf(P.  Le  Page) Lectures  on  the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Religion  as  Illus- 

trated by  the  Religion  of  Ancient  Egypt,  by  P.  Le  Page 
Renouf.  London  : Williams  & Norgate,  1880. 

Reville  (Albert).  . . History  of  the  Dogma  of  the  Deity  of  Jesus  Christ,  by 

Albert  Reville.  London:  Williams  & Norgate,  1870. 


Rhys-Davids  (T.  W.) Buddhism  : Being  a Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Teachings  of 

Gautama,  the  Buddha,  by  T.  W.  Rhys-Davids,  of  the 
Middle  Temple,  Barrister-at-Law,  and  late  of  the  Cey- 
lon Civil  Service.  London : Soc.  for  Promoting  Chris- 
tian Knowledge. 

Scott  (Thomas) The  English  Life  of  Jesus,  by  Thomas  Scott.  Published 

by  the  Author.  London:  1872. 

Septchenes  (M.  Le  Clbrc  de)  . . The  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Greeks,  Illustrated  by  an 

Explanation  of  their  Mythology.  Translated  from  the 
French  of  M.  Le  Clerc  de  Septchenes.  London : 1788. 


AUTHORS  A.ND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


XXI 


Sharpe  (Samuel) Egyptian  Mythology  and  Egyptian  Christianity,  with  their 

Influence  on  the  Opinions  of  Modern  Christendom,  by 
Samuel  Sharpe.  London : J.  R.  Smith,  1863. 

Shih-King  (The) The  Shih-King,  or  Book  of  Poetry.  Translated  from  the 

Chinese  by  James  Legge.  London:  Macmillan  & Co., 
1879. 

Shobeil  (F.) Persia  ; containing  a description  of  the  Country,  with  an 

account  of  its  Government,  Laws,  and  Religion,  by 
Frederick  Shobeil.  Philadelphia:  John  Grigg,  1828. 

Smith Smith’s  Comprehensive  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  with 


many  important  Additions  and  Improvements.  Edited 
by  Rev.  Samuel  Barnum.  New  York:  D.  Appleton  & 
Co.,  1879. 

Smith  (George) Assyrian  Discoveries:  An  account  of  Explorations  and 

Discoveries  on  the  Site  of  Nineveh  during  1873  and 
1874,  by  George  Smith,  of  the  Department  of  Oriental 
Antiquity,  British  Museum.  New  York : Scribner, 
Armstrong  & Co.,  1876. 

The  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis;  containing  the  de- 
scription of  the  Creation,  the  Fall  of  Man,  the  Deluge, 
the  Tower  of  Babel,  the  Times  of  the  Patriarchs  and 
Nimrod ; Babylonian  Fables,  and  Legends  of  the  Gods, 
from  the  Cuneiform  Inscriptions,  by  George  Smith,  of 
the  British  Museum.  New  York : Scribner,  Armstrong 
& Co.,  1876. 

Socrates The  Ancient  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Socrates  Schoks- 

ticus,  of  Constantinople,  in  Seven  Books.  Translated 
out  of  the  Greek  Tongue  by  Meredith  Hanmer,  D.  D. 
London:  George  Miller,  1636. 


Spencer  (Herbert) The  Principles  of  Sociology,  by  Herbert  Spencer,  in  2 

vols.  New  York  ; D.  Appleton  & Co.,  1877. 

Squire  (E.  G.) The  Serpent  Symbol,  and  the  Worship  of  the  Reciprocal 

Principles  of  Nature  in  America,  by  E.  G.  Squire,  A. 
M.  New  York  : George  P.  Putnam,  1861. 

Stanley  (A.  P.) Lectures  on  the  History  of  the  Jewish  Church,  by  Arthur 


P.  Stanley,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  Westminster.  New  York: 
Charles  Scribner,  1863. 

In  a Sermon  preached  in  Westminster  Abbey  on  February 
28th,  1880,  after  the  funeral  of  Sir  Charlos  Lyell, 
entitled : “ The  Religious  Aspect  of  Geology.” 


Stbinthal  (H.) The  Legend  of  Samson:  An  Essay,  by  H.  Steinthal, 

Professor  of  the  University  of  Berlin.  Appendix  to 
Goldzhier’s  Hebrew  Mythology. 

Synchronology Synchronology  of  the  Principal  Events  in  Sacred  and 

Profane  History  from  the  Creation  to  the  Present  Time. 
Boston : S.  Hawes,  1870. 


XXII 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


Tacitus  (0.) The  Annals  of  Cornelius  Tacitus,  the  Roman  Historian. 

Translated  by  Arthur  Murphy,  Esq.  London : Jones  & 
Co.,  1831. 

The  History  of  Cornelius  Tacitus.  Translated  by  Arthur 

Murphy.  London:  Jones  & Co.,  1831. 

Treatise  on  the  Situation,  Manners,  and  People  of  Ger- 
many, by  Cornelius  Tacitus.  Translated  by  Arthur 
Murphy.  London:  Jones  & Co.,  1831. 

Taylor  (Charles) Taylor’s  Fragments : Being  Illustrations  of  the  Manners, 

Incidents,  and  Phraseology  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Intended  as  an  Appendix  to  Calmet’s  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible.  London:  W.  Stratford,  1801. 

Taylor  (Robert) The  Diegesis  : Being  a Discovery  of  the  Origin,  Evidences, 

and  Early  History  of  Chiristianity,  by  Rev.  Robert  Tay- 
lor, A.  B.  (From  the  London  Edit.)  Boston:  J.  P. 
Mendum,  1873. 

Syntagma  of  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion,  by 

Rev.  Robert  Taylor,  A.  B.,  with  a brief  Memoir  of  the 
Author.  (From  the  London  Edit.)  Boston ; J.  P.  Men- 
dum, 1876. 


Taylor  (Thomas) Taylor’s  Mysteries  ; A Dissertation  on  the  Eleusinian  acd 

Bacchic  Mysteries,  by  Thomas  Taylor.  Amsterdam. 
Thornton  (Thomas) A History  of  China,  from  the  Earliest  Records  to  the 


Treaty  with  Great  Britain  in  1842,  by  Thomas  Thorn- 
ton, Esq.,  Member  of  the  R.  A.  S.  London : William 
H.  Allen  & Co.,  1844. 

Tylor  (E.  B.) Researches  Into  the  Early  History  of  Mankind,  and  the 

Development  of  Civilization,  by  Edward  B.  Tylor.  2d 
Edit.  London:  John  Murray,  1870. 

Primitive  Culture ; Researches  into  the  Development  of 

Mythology,  Philosophy,  Religion,  &c.,  by  Edward  B. 
Tylor,  in  2 vols.  London:  John  Murray,  1871. 

Vishnu  Purana The  Vishnu  Purana,  A Systeih  of  Hindoo  Mythology  ana 

Tradition,  Translated  from  the  Original  Sanscrit,  by  H. 
H.  Wilson,  M.  A.,  F.  R.  S.  London:  1840. 

Volney  (C.  F.) New  Researches  in  Ancient  History,  Translated  from  the 

French  of  C.  F.  Volney,  Count  and  Peer  of  France. 
(From  the  London  Edit.)  Boston:  J.  P.  Mendum, 
1874. 

The  Ruins ; or,  Meditations  on  the  Revolutions  of  Em- 
pires, by  Count  de  Volney,  Translated  under  the  imme- 
diate inspection  of  the  Author.  (From  the  latest  Paris 
Edit.)  Boston:  J.  P.  Mendum,  1872. 


Wake  (C.  S.) See  Westropp. 

Westropp  (H.  M.), Ancient  Symbol  Worship.  Influence  of  the  Phallic  Idea 

in  the  Religions  of  Antiquity,  by  Ilodder  M.  Westropp 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKS  QUOTED. 


xxiii 


and  C.  S.  Wake,  with  Appendix  by  Alexander  Wilder, 
M.  D.  London:  Triibner  & Co.,  1874. 

Williams  (Monier) Indian  Wisdom ; or  Examples  of  the  Religious,  Philosoph- 

ical, and  Ethnical  Doctrines  of  the  Hindoos,  by  Monier 
Williams,  M.  A.,  Prof,  of  Sanscrit  in  the  University  of 
Oxford.  London : W.  H.  Allen,  1875.  < 

Hinduism;  by  Monier  Williams,  M.  A.,  D.  C.  L.,  Pub- 
lished under  the  Direction  of  the  Committee  of  Gen- 
eral Literature  and  Education  Appointed  by  the  Society 
for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge.  London : 1877. 


Wisdom  (Apoc.) The  Book  of  Wisdom,  Attributed  to  Solomon,  King  of 

Israel. 

Wise  (Isaac  M.) The  Martyrdom  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  A Historic  Treat- 

ise on  the  Last  Chapters  of  the  Gospel,  by  Dr.  Isaac 
M.  Wise.  Cincinnati. 


ADDITIONS  TO  THIRD  EDITION. 

Beausobres’  Histoire  Critique  de  Manichee  et  du  Manicheisme , Amsterdam,  1734  ; 
Baronius’  Annales  Ecclesiastici ; Hydes’  Historia  Religionis  Veterum  Persarum  ; Raw- 
linson’s  Herodotus  ; Lenormant’s  The  Beginnings  of  History  ; Hardwick’s  Christ  and 
other  Masters  ; Daille’s  Treatise  on  the  Right  Use  o f the  Fathers , London,  1841  ; Apol- 
lonius de  Tyana,sa  vie , ses  voyages , et  ses  prodiges , par  Philostrate,  Paris,  1862  ; Sir  John 
Malcom’s  History  of  Persia , in  2 vols.,  London,  1815;  Michaelis’  Introduction  to  the 
New  Testament , in  4 vols.  edited  by  Dr.  Herbert  Marsh,  London,  1828  ; Archbishop 
Wake’s  Genuine  Epistles  of  the  Apostolical  Fathers , London,  1719  ; Jeremiah  Jones’ 
Canon  of  the  Neva  Testament , in  3 vols.,  Oxford,  1793  ; Milman’s  History  of  Chris- 
tianity; Barrow’s  Travels  in  China , London,  1840;  Deane’s  Worship  of  the  Serpent , 
London,  1833  ; Baring-Gould’s  Lost  and  Hostile  Gospels , London,  1874  ; B.  F.  Westcott’s 
Survey  of  the  History  of  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testament , 4th  Edit.,  London,  1875  ; 
Mosheim’s  Ecclesiastical  History , in  6 vols.,  Amer.  ed.  1810  ; J.  W.  Rosses’  Tacitus  and 
Bracciolini , London,  1878 ; and  the  writings  of  the  Christian  Fathers,  Justin  Martyr,  St. 
Olement  of  Alexandria,  Irenaeus,  Origeu,  Tertullian  and  Minucius  Felix. 


BIBLE  MYTHS 


PART  I. 

THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  CREATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 

The  Old  Testament  commences  with  one  of  its  most  interest- 
ing myths,  that  of  the  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man.  The  story  is 
to  be  found  in  the  first  three  chapters  of  Genesis,  the  substance  of 
which  is  as  follows : 

After  God  created  the  “ Heavens  ” and  the  “ Earth,”  he  said  : 
“ Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light,”  and  after  calling  the 
light  Hay,  and  the  darkness  Night,  the  first  day’s  work  was  ended. 

God  then  made  the  “ Firmament,”  which  completed  the  second 
day’s  work. 

Then  God  caused  the  dry  land  to  appear,  which  he  called 
“ Earth,”  and  the  waters  he  called  “ Seas.”  After  this  the  earth 
was  made  to  bring  forth  grass,  trees,  &c.,  which  completed  the 
third  day’s  work. 

The  next  things  God  created  were  the  “ Sun,”1  “ Moon  ” and 


1 The  idea  that  the  sun,  moon  and  stars 
were  set  in  the  firmament  was  entertained  by 
most  nations  of  antiquity,  but,  as  strange  as  it 
may  appear,  Pythagoras,  the  Grecian  philoso- 
pher, who  flourished  from  540  to  510  b.  c. — as 
well  as  other  Grecian  philosophers— taught  that 
the  sun  was  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  uni- 
verse, with  the  planets  roving  round  it  in  a cir- 


cle, thus  making  day  and  night.  (See  Knight’s 
Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  p.  59,  and  note.) 
The  Buddhists  anciently  taught  that  the  uni- 
verse is  composed  of  limitless  systems  or 
worlds,  called  sakwalas. 

They  are  scattered  throughout  space,  and 
each  6akwala  has  a sun  and  moon.  (See 
Hardy:  Buddhist  Legends,  pp.  80  and  87.) 


2 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ Stars/’  and  after  he  had  set  them  in  the  Firmament , the  fourth 
day’s  work  was  ended.1 * 3 

After  these,  God  created  great  “ whales,”  and  other  creatures 
which  irdiabit  the  water,  also  “ winged  fowls.”  This  brought  the 
fifth  day  to  a close. 

The  work  of  creation  was  finally  completed  on  the  sixth  day/ 
when  God  made  “ beasts  ” of  every  kind,  “ cattle,”  “ creeping 
things,”  and  lastly  “ man,”  whom  he  created  “ male  and  female,” 
in  his  own  image.8 

“ Thus  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  finished,  and  all  the  host  of  them. 
And  on  the  seventh  4 day  God  ended  his  work  which  he  had  made : and  he  rested 
on  the  seventh  day,  from  all  his  work  which  he  had  made.  And  God  blessed  the 
seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it,  because  that  in  it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work 
which  God  created  and  made.” 


After  this  information,  which  concludes  at  the  third  verse  of 
Genesis  ii.,  strange  though  it  may  appear,  another  account  of  the 
Creation  commences,  which  is  altogether  different  from  the  one  we 
have  just  related.  This  account  commences  thus  : 


“ These  are  the  generations  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth  when  they  were 
ereal^'Tfi^TEe^ffa^^  (not  days)  that  the  Lord  God  made  the  earth  and  the 
heavens.”  j 

It  then  goes  on  to  say  that  “ the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the 
dust  of  the  ffronmL”5 *  which  appears  to  be  the  first  thing  he  made. 

/ After  planting  a garden  eastward  in  Eden/  the  Lord  God  put  the 
man  therein,  “ and  out  of  the  ground  made  the  Lord  God  to  grow 
every  tree  that  is  pleasant  to  the  sight,  and  good  for  food  ; the 
Tree  of  Life / also  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  and  the  Tree  of 


1 Origen,  a Christian  Father  who  flourished 
about  a.  d.  230,  says:  “What  man  of  sense 
will  agree  with  the  statement  that  the  first, 
second,  and  third  days,  in  which  the  evening  is 
named  and  the  morning , were  without  sun. 
moon  and  stars  ?”  (Quoted  in  Mysteries  of 
Adoni,  p.  176.) 

* “The  geologist  reckons  not  by  days  or  by 
years ; the  whole  six  thousand  years,  which 
were  until  lately  looked  on  as  the  sum  of  the 
world’s  age,  are  to  him  but  as  a unit  of  meas- 
urement in  the  long  succession  of  past  ages.” 
, (Sir  John  Lubbock.) 

“ It  is  now  certain  that  the  vast  epochs  of 
time  demanded  by  scientific  observation  are 
incompatible  both  with  the  six  thousand 
years  of  the  Mosaic  chronology,  and  the  six 
days  of  the  Mosaic  creation.”  (Dean  Stanley.) 

3  “ Let  us  make  man  in  our  own  likeness.” 

was  said  by  Ormuzd,  the  Persian  God  of  Gods, 

to  his  word.  (See  Bunsen’s  Angel  Messiah, 

p.  104.) 


4 The  number  seven  was  sacred  among  al- 
most every  nation  of  antiquity.  (bee  ch. 

5 According  to  Grecian  Mythology,  the  God 
Prometheus  created  men,  in  the  image  of  the 
gods,  out  of  day  (see  Bulfinch:  The  Age  of 
Fable,  p.  25;  and  Goldzhier:  Hebrew  Myths,  p. 
373),  and  the  God  Hephaistos  was  commanded 
by  Zeus  to  mold  of  day  the  figure  of  a maiden, 
into  which  Athene,  the  dawn-goddess,  breathed 
the  breath  of  life.  This  is  Pandora— the  gift  of 
all  the  gods— who  is  presented  to  Epimetheus. 
(See  Cox:  Aryan  Myths,  vol.  ii.,  p.  208.) 

6  “What  man  is  found  such  an  idiot  as  to  sup- 
pose that  God  planted  trees  in  Paradise,  in 
Eden,  like  a husbandman.”  (Origen  : quoted 
in  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  176.)  “ There  is  no 
way  of  preserving  the  literal  sense  of  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis,  without  impiety,  and  attrib- 
uting things  to  God  unworthy  of  him.”  (St. 
Augustine.) 

7  “ The  records  about  the  ‘ Tree  of  Life  ’ are 


THE  CREATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


3 


Knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  And  a river  went  out  of  Eden  to 
water  the  garden,  and  from  thence  it  was  parted,  and  became  into 
four  heads.”  These  four  rivers  were  called,  first  Pison,  second 
Gihon,  third  Hiddekel,  and  the  fourth  Euphrates.1 

After  the  “ Lord  God  ” had  made  the  “ Tree  of  Life,”  and  the 
44  Tree  of  Knowledge,”  he  said  unto  the  man  : 

“Of  every  tree  of  the  garden  thou  mayest  freely  eat,  but  of  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of  in  the  day  that  thou  eatest 

thereof  thou  shalt  surely  die”  Then  the  Lord  God,  thinking  that  it  would  not  be 
^lt“1^TTraTr1Trlt^  formed— out  of  the  ground—  “ every  beast  of  the 

field,  and  every  fowl  of  the  air  ; and  brought  them  unto  Adam  to  see  what 
he  would  call  them,  and  whatever  Adam  called  every  living  creature,  that  was 
the  name  thereof.” 

After  Adam  had  given  names  to  44  all  cattle,  and  to  the  fowls 
of  the  air,  and  to  every  beast  of  the  field,”  44  the  Lord  God  caused 
a deep  sleep  to  fall  upon  Adam,  and  he  slept,  and  he  (the  Lord 
God)  took  one  of  his  (Adam’s)  ribs,  and  closed  up  the  flesh  instead 
thereof. 

“ And  of  the  rib,  which  the  Lord  God  had  taken  from  man,  made  he  & wo- 
man, and  brought  her  unto  Adam.”  “ And  they  were  both  naked,  the  man  and 
his  wife,  and  they  were  not  ashamed.” 

After  this  everything  is  supposed  to  have  gone  harmoniously, 
until  a serpent  appeared  before  the  woman % — who  was  afterwards 
called  Eve — and  said  to  her : 

“ Hath  God  said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  every  tree  of  the  garden  ?” 

The  woman,  answering  the  serpent,  said  : 

“ We  may  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  garden:  but  of  the  fruit  of  the 
tree  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath  said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  it, 
lest  ye  die” 

Whereupon  the  serpent  said  to  her : 


the  sublimest  proofs  of  the  unity  and  continuity 
of  tradition,  and  of  its  Eastern  origin.  The  ear- 
liest records  of  the  most  ancient  Oriental  tradi- 
tion refer  to  a ‘ Tree  of  Life,''  which  was  guard- 
ed by  spirits.  The  juice  of  the  fruit  of  this  sa- 
cred tree,  like  the  tree  itself,  was  called  Soma 
in  Sanscrit,  and  Haoma  in  Zend;  it  was  re- 
vered as  the  life  preserving  essence.”  (Bun- 
sen: Keys  of  St.  Peter,  p.  414  ) 

1 “ According  to  the  Persian  account  of  Par- 
adise, four  great  rivers  came  from  Mount  Al- 
borj;  two  are  in  the  North,  and  two  go  towards 
the  South.  The  river  Arduisir  nourishes  the 
Tree  of  Immortality,  the  Holy  Horn.”  (Stiefel- 
hagen : quoted  in  Mysteries  of  Adoni  p.  149.) 
“ According  to  the  Chinese  myth,  the  waters  of 


the  Garden  of  Paradise  issue  from  the  fountain 
of  immortality,  which  divides  itself  into  four 
rivers."  (Ibid.,  p.  150,  and  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas, 
vol.  i.,  p.  210.)  The  Hindoos  call  their  Mount 
Meru  the  Paradise,  out  of  which  went  four 
rivers.  (Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.,  p.  357.) 

“ According  to  Persian  legend,  Arimanes, 
the  Evil  Spirit,  by  eating  a certain  kind  of  fruit, 
transformed  himself  into  a serpent,  and  went 
gliding  about  on  the  earth  to  tempt  human  be- 
ings. His  Devs  entered  the  bodies  of  men  and 
produced  all  manner  of  diseases.  They  en- 
tered into  their  minds,  and  incited  them  to 
sensuality,  falsehood,  slander  and  revenge. 
Into  every  department  of  the  world  they  intro- 
duced discord  and  death. 


4 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Ye  shall  not  surely  die  ” (which,  according  to  the  narrative,  was  the  truth). 


lie  then  told  her  that,  upon  eating  the  fruit,  their  eyes  would 
be  opened,  and  that  they  would  be  as  gods , knowing  good  from 
evil. 

The  woman  then  looked  upon  the  tree,  and  as  the  fruit  was 
tempting,  “she  took  of  the  fruit,  and  did  eat,  and  gave  also  unto 
her  husband,  and  he  did  eat.”  The  result  was  not  death  (as  the 
Lord  God  had  told  them),  but,  as  the  serpent  had  said,  “ the  eyes 
of  both  were  opened,  and  they  knew  they  were  naked,  and  they 
sewed  fig  leaves  together,  and  made  themselves  aprons.” 

Towards  evening  (i.  e.,  “in  the  cool  of  the  day”),  Adam  and 
his  wife  “ heard  the  voice  of  the  Lord  God  walking  in  the  gar- 
den,” and  being  afraid,  they  hid  themselves  among  the  trees  of  the 
garden.  The  Lord  God  not  finding  Adam  and  his  wife,  said  : 
“ Where  art  thou  ?”  Adam  answering,  said  : “ I heard  thy  voice 
in  the  garden,  and  I was  afraid,  because  I was  naked,  and  I hid 
myself.” 

The  “ Lord  God  ” then  told  Adam  that  he  had  eaten  of  the 
tree  which  he  had  commanded  him  not  to  eat,  whereupon  Adam 
said  : “ The  woman  whom  thou  gavest  to  be  with  me,  she  gave  me 
of  the  tree  and  I did  eat.” 

When  the  “ Lord  God  ” spoke  to  the  woman  concerning  her 
transgression,  she  blamed  the  serpent , which  she  said  “ beguiled 
her.  This  sealed  the  serpent’s  fate,  for  the  “ Lord  God  ” cursed 
him  and  said  : 


“Upon  thy  belly  shalt  thou  go,  and  dust  shalt  thou  eat  all  the  days  of  thy 
life.”1  

Unto  the  woman  the  “ Lord  God  ” said  : 

“1  will  greatly  multiply  thy  sorrow,  and  thy  conception;  in  sorrow  thou 
shalt  bring  forth  children,  and  thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband,  and  he  shall 
rule  over  thee.  ” 

Unto  Adam  he  said  : 

‘ ‘ Because  thou  hast  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  thy  wife,  and  hast  eaten  of 
the  tree,  of  which  I commanded  thee,  saying,  Thou  shalt  not  eat  of  it : cursed 
is  the  ground  for  thy  sake ; in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy  life. 
Thorns  also,  and  thistles  shall  it  bring  forth  to  thee;  and  thou  shalt  eat  the  herb 
of  the  field.  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  unto 
the  ground,  for  out  of  it  wast  thou  taken : for  dust  thou  art,  and  unto  dust  shalt  thou 
return.  ” 


1 Inasmuch  as  the  physical  construction  of 
the  serpent  never  could  admit  of  its  moving  in 
any  other  way,  and  inasmuch  as  it  does  not 
eat  dust , does  not  the  narrator  of  this  myth 


reflect  unpleasantly  upon  the  wisdom  of 
such  a God  as  Jehovah  is  claimed  to  be,  as 
well  as  upon  the  ineffectualness  of  his  first 
curse  ? 


V 


THE  CREATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


5 


The  “ Lord  God  ” then  made  coats  of  skin  for  Adam  and  his 
wife,  with  which  he  clothed  them,  after  which  he  said : 

“Behold,  the  man  is  become  as  one  of  us, 1 to  know  good  and  evil;  and  now, 
lest  he  put  forth  liis  hand,  and  take  also  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  eat,  and  live  for- 
ever ” (he  must  be  sent  forth  from  Eden). 

“ So  he  (the  Lord  God)  drove  out  the  man  (and  the  woman);  and  he  placed  at 
the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden,  Cherubims,  and  a flaming  sword  which  turned 
every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  Tree  of  Life.” 

Thus  ends  the  narrative. 

Before  proceeding  to  show  from  whence  this  legend,  or  legends, 
had  their  origin,  we  will  notice  a feature  which  is  very  prominent 
in  the  narrative,  and  which  cannot  escape  the  eye  of  an  observing 
reader,  i.  e.,  the  two  different  and  contradictory  accounts  of  the 
creation. 

The  first  of  these  commences  at  the  first  verse  of  chapter  first, 
and  ends  at  the  third  verse  of  chapter  second.  The  second  account 
commences  at  the  fourth  verse  of  chapter  second,  and  continues  to 
the  end  of  the  chapter. 

In  speaking  of  these  contradictory  accounts  of  the  Creation, 
Dean  Stanley  says  : 

“ It  is  now  clear  to  diligent  students  of  the  Bible,  that  the  first  and  second 
chapters  of  Genesis  contain  two  narratives  of  the  Creation,  side  by  side,  differing 
from  each  other  in  most  every  particular  of  time  and  place  and  order.”2 

Bishop  Colenso,  in  his  very  learned  work  on  the  Pentateuch, 
speaking  on  this  subject,  says : 

“ The  following  are  the  most  noticeable  points  of  difference  between  the  two 
cosmogonies  : 

“ 1.  In  the  first,  the  earth  emerges  from  the  waters  and  is,  therefore,  saturated 
with  moisture .3  In  the  second,  the  ‘whole  face  of  the  ground’  requires  to  be 
moistened .4 


1 “ Our  writer  unmistakably  recognizes  the 
existence  of  many  gods;  for  he  makes  Yah- 
weh  say:  ‘ See,  the  man  has  become  as  one  of 
us,  knowing  good  and  evil;’  and  so  he  evi- 
dently implies  the  existence  of  other  similar 
beings,  to  whom  he  attributes  immortality  and 
insight  into  the  difference  between  good  and 
evil.  Yahweh,  then,  was,  in  his  eyes,  the  god 
of  gods,  indeed,  but  not  the  only  god.”  (Bible 
for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  51.) 

2 In  his  memorial  sermon,  preached  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  after  the  funeral  of  Sir  Charles 
Lyell.  He  further  said  in  this  address:— 

“It  is  well  known  that  when  the  science  of 
geology  first  arose,  it  was  involved  in  endless 

schemes  of  attempted  reconciliation  with  the 
letter  of  Scripture.  There  was,  there  are  per- 
haps still,  two  modes  of  reconciliation  of 
Scripture  and  science,  which  have  been  each  in 


their  day  attempted,  and  each  have  totally  and 
deservedly  failed.  One  is  the  endeavor  to  wrest 
the  words  of  the  Bible  from  their  natural  mean- 
ing, and  force  it  to  speak  the  language  of  science." 
After  speaking  of  the  earliest  known  example, 
which  was  the  interpolation  of  the  word  “ not  " 
in  Leviticus  xi.  6,  he  continues  : “ This  is  the 
earliest  instance  of  the  falsification  of  Scripture 
to  meet  the  demands  of  science  ; and  it  has  been 
followed  in  later  times  by  the  various  efforts 
which  have  been  made  to  twist  the  earlier  chap- 
ters of  the  book  of  Genesis  into  apparent  agree 
ment  with  the  last  results  of  geology— represent- 
ing days  not  to  be  days,  morning  and  evening 
not  to  be  morning  and  evening,  the  deluge  not 
to  be  the  deluge,  and  the  ark  not  to  be  the 
ark.” 

3  Gen.  i.  9.  10. 

* Gen.  ii.  6. 


6 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“2.  In  the  first,  the  birds  and  the  beasts  are  created  before  man.* 1  In  the  sec- 
ond, man  is  created  before  the  birds  and  the  beasts.'1 

“3.  In  the  first,  ‘ all  fowls  that  fly  ’ are  made  out  of  the  waters*  In  the  sec 
ond  • the  fowls  of  the  air  ’ are  made  out  of  the  ground .4 

“4.  In  the  first,  man  is  created  in  the  image  of  God.5  In  the  second,  man  is 
made  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and  merely  animated  with  the  breath  of  life; 
and  it  is  only  after  his  eating  the  forbidden  fruit  that  ‘ the  Lord  God  said,  Be 
hold,  the  man  has  become  as  one  of  us,  to  know  good  and  evil.’6 

“5.  In  the  first,  man  is  made  lord  of  the  whole  earth.'1  In  the  second,  he  is 
merely  placed  in  the  garden  of  Eden,  ‘ to  dress  it  and  to  keep  it.’ 8 

“6.  In  the  first,  the  man  and  the  woman  are  created  together,  as  the  closing 
and  completing  work  of  the  whole  creation, — created  also,  as  is  evidently  im- 
plied, in  the  same  kind  of  way,  to  be  the  complement  of  one  another,  and, 
thus  created,  they  are  blessed  together ,9 

“ In  the  second,  the  beasts  and  birds  are  created  between  the  man  and  the 
woman.  First,  the  man  is  made  of  the  dust  of  the  ground;  he  is  placed  by  him- 
self in  the  garden,  charged  with  a solemn  command,  and  threatened  with  a curse 
if  he  breaks  it ; then  the  beasts  and  birds  are  made,  and  the  man  gives  names  to 
them,  and,  lastly,  after  all  this,  the  woman  is  made  out  of  one  of,  his  ribs,  but 
merely  as  a helpmate  for  the  man. 10 

“ The  fact  is,  that  the  second  account  of  the  Creation,11  together  with  the  story 
of  the  Fall,12  is  manifestly  composed  by  & different  wnter  altogether  from  him 
who  wrote  the  first. 13 

‘ ‘ This  is  suggested  at  once  by  the  circumstance  that,  throughout  the  first  nar- 
rative, the  Creator  is  always  spoken  of  by  the  name  Elohim  (God),  whereas, 
throughout  the  second  account,  as  well  as  the  story  of  the  Fall,  he  is  always 
called  Jehovah  Elohim  (Lord  God),  except  when  the  writer  seems  to  abstain,  for 
some  reason,  from  placing  the  name  Jehovah  in  the  mouth  of  the  serpent.14 
This  accounts  naturally  for  the  above  contradictions.  It  would  appear  that,  for 
some  reason,  the  productions  of  two  pens  have  been  here  united,  without  any 
reference  to  their  inconsistencies.”15 

Dr.  Kalisch,  who  does  liis  utmost  to  maintain — as  far  as  his 
knowledge  of  the  truth  will  allow — the  general  historical  veracity 
of  this  narrative,  after  speaking  of  the  first  account  of  the  Crea- 
tion, says  : 

“ But  now  the  narrative  seems  not  only  to  pause,  but  to  go  backward.  The 
grand  and  powerful  climax  seems  at  once  broken  off,  and  a languid  repetition 
appears  to  follow.  Another  cosmogony  is  introduced,  which,  to  complete  the  perplex- 
ity, is,  in  many  important  features,  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  former. 

“ It  would  be  dishonesty  to  conceal  these  difficulties.  It  would  be  weakmindedness 
and  cowardice.  It  would  be  flight  instead  of  combat.  It  would  be  an  ignoble  retreat, 
instead  of  victory.  We  confess  there  is  an  apparent  dissonance.”16 


1 Gen.  i.  20,  24,  26. 

2 Gen.  ii.  7,  9. 

3 Gen.  i.  20. 

4 Gen.  ii.  19. 
s Gen.  i.  27. 

e Gen.  ii.  7:  iii.  22. 
T Gen.  i.  28. 

8 Gen.  ii.  8, 15. 

® Gen.  i.  28. 


i®  Gen.  ii.  7,  8,  15,  22. 

” Gen.  ii.  4-25. 

*2 *  Gen.  iii. 
is  Gen.  i.  1-ii.  3. 

14  Gen.  iii.  1,3,  5. 

ifl  The  Pentateuch  Examined  vol.  ii.  pp  171- 

173. 

i*  Com.  on  Old  Test.  vol.  i.  p.  59. 


THE  CREATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


7 


Dr.  Knappert  says : 1 

“ The  account  of  the  Creation  from  the  hand  of  the  Priestly  author  is  utterly 
different  from  the  other  narrative,  beginning  at  the  fourth  verse  of  Genesis  ii. 
Here  we  are  told  that  God  created  Heaven  and  Earth  in  six  days,  and  rested  on 
the  seventh  day,  obviously  with  a view  to  bring  out  the  holiness  of  the  Sabbath 
in  a strong  light.” 

Now  that  we  have  seen  there  are  two  different  and  contradictory 
accounts  of  the  Creation,  to  be  found  in  the  first  two  chapters 
of  Genesis,  we  will  endeavor  to  learn  if  there  is  sufficient  reason  to 
believe  they  are  copies  of  more  ancient  legends. 

We  have  seen  that,  according  to  the  first  account,  God  divided 
the  work  of  creation  into  six  days.  This  idea  agrees  with  that  of 
the  ancient  Persians. 

The  Zend-Avesta — the  sacred  writings  of  the  Parsees — states 
that  the  Supreme  being  Ahuramazda  (Ormuzd),  created  the  universe 
and  man  in  six  successive  periods  of  time,  in  the  following  order  : 
First,  the  Heavens;  second,  the  Waters;  third,  the  Earth ; fourth, 
the  Trees  and  Plants  ; fifth,  Animals  ; and  sixth,  Man.  After  the 
Creator  had  finished  his  work,  he  rested.2 

The  A vesta  account  of  the  Creation  is  limited  to  this  announce- 
ment, but  we  find  a more  detailed  history  of  the  origin  of  the 
human  species  in  the  book  entitled  Bundehesli , dedicated  to  the 
exposition  of  a complete  cosmogony.  This  book  states  that 
Ahuramazda  created  the  first  man  and  women  joined  together  at 
the  back.  After  dividing  them,  he  endowed  them  with  motion  and 
activity,  placed  within  them  an  intelligent  soul,  and  bade  them  “ to 
be  humble  of  heart ; to  observe  the  law  ; to  be  pure  in  their  thoughts, 
pure  in  their  speech,  pure  in  their  actions.”  Thus  were  born 
Masliya  and  Mashyana,  the  pair  from  which  all  human  beings  are 
descended.3 

The  idea  brought  out  in  this  story  of  the  first  human  pair 
having  originally  formed  a single  androgynous  being  with  two 
faces,  separated  later  into  two  personalities  by  the  Creator,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  Genesis  account  (v.  2).  “Male  and  female  created 
he  them,  and  blessed  them,  and  named  their  name  Adam.” 
Jewish  tradition  in  the  Targum  and  Talmud,  as  well  as  among 
learned  rabbis,  allege  that  Adam  was  created  man  and  woman  at 
the  same  time,  having  two  faces  turned  in  two  opposite  directions, 
and  that  the  Creator  separated  the  feminine  half  from  him,  in 
order  to  make  of  her  a distinct  person.4 


1 The  Relig.  of  Israel,  p.  186.  3 Lenormant:  Beginning  of  Hist.  vol.  i.  p.  61. 

8 Von  Boblen:  Intro,  to  Gen.  vol.  ii.  p.  4.  4 See  Ibid.  p.  64;  and  Legends  of  the 

Patriarchs,  p.  31. 


8 


THE  CREATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


The  ancient  Etruscan  legend,  according  to  Delitzsch,  is  almost 
the  same  as  the  Persian.  They  relate  that  God  created  the  world 
in  six  thousand  years.  In  the  first  thousand  he  created  the  Heaven 
and  Earth  ; in  the  second,  the  Firmament ; in  the  third,  the  Waters 
of  the  Earth  ; in  the  fourth,  the  Sun,  Moon  and  Stars  ; in  the  fifth, 
the  Animals  belonging  to  air,  water  and  land  ; and  in  the  sixth, 
• Alan  alone.1 

Dr.  Delitzsch,  who  maintains  to  the  utmost  the  historical  truth 
of  the  Scripture  story  in  Genesis,  yet  says : 

“Whence  comes  the  surprising  agreement  of  the  Etruscan  and  Persian 
legends  with  this  section  ? How  comes  it  that  the  Babylonian  cosmogony  in 
Berosus,  and  the  Phoenician  in  Sauchoniathon,  in  spite  of  their  fantastical  oddity, 
come  in  contact  with  it  in  remarkable  details  ?” 

After  showing  some  of  the  similarities  in  the  legends  of  these 
different  nations,  he  continues  : 

“ These  are  only  instances  of  that  which  they  have  in  common.  Bov  such  an 
account  outside  of  Israel,  we  must,  however , conclude,  that  the  author  of  Genesis  i. 
has  no  vision  before  him,  but  a tradition .”2 * 

Yon  Bohlen  tells  us  that  the  old  Chaldoean  cosmogony  is  also 
the  same.9 

To  continue  the  Persian  legend ; we  will  now  show  that 
according  to  it,  after  the  Creation  man  was  tempted,  and  fell. 
Kalisch 4 and  Bishop  Colenso 5 tell  us  of  the  Persian  legend 
that  the  first  couple  lived  originally  in  purity  and  innocence. 
Perpetual  happiness  was  promised  them  by  the  Creator  if  they 
persevered  in  their  virtue.  But  an  evil  demon  came  to  them  in  the 
form  of  a serpent , sent  by  Ahriman,  the  prince  of  devils,  and  gave 
them  fruit  of  a wonderful  tree , which  imparted  immortality. 
Evil  inclinations  then  entered  their  hearts,  and  all  their  moral 
excellence  was  destroyed.  Consequently  they  fell,  and  forfeited 
the  eternal  happiness  for  which  they  were  destined.  They  killed 
beasts,  and  clothed  themselves  in  their  skins.  The  evil  demon 
obtained  still  more  perfect  power  over  their  minds,  and  called 
forth  envy,  hatred,  discord,  and  rebellion,  which  raged  in  the 
bosom  of  the  families. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  Mr.  George  Smith,  of  the  British 
Museum,  has  discovered  cuneiform  inscriptions,  which  show 
conclusively  that  the  Babylonians  had  this  legend  of  the  Creation  and 


1 “ The  Etruscans  believed  in  a ereation  of 

six  thousand  years,  and  in  the  successive  pro- 

duction of  different  beings,  the  last  of  which 

was  man.”  (Dunlap:  Spirit  Hist.  p.  357.) 


9 Quoted  by  Bishop  Colenso:  The  Penta- 
teuch Examined,  vol.  iv.  p.  115. 

* Intro,  to  Genesis,  vol.  ii.  p.  4. 

4 Com.  on  Old  Test.  vol.  i.  p.  63. 

6 The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  iv.  p.  152. 


THE  CREATION-  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


9 


Fall  of  Man,  some  1,500  years  or  more  before  the  Hebrews  heard 
of  it.1  The  cuneiform  inscriptions  relating  to  the  Babylonian 
legend  of  the  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man,  which  have  been  discovered 
by  English  archaeologists,  are  not,  however,  complete.  The  portions 
which  relate  to  the  Tree  and  Serpent  have  not  been  found,  but 
Babylonian  gem  engravings  show  that  these  incidents  were  evi- 
dently a part  of  the  original  legend.2  The  Tree  of  Life  in  the 
Genesis  account  appears  to  correspond  with  the  sacred  grove  of 
Anu,  which  was  guarded  by  a sword  turning  to  all  the  four  points 
of  the  compass.3  A 
representation  of  this 
Sacred  Tree,  with  “ at- 
tendant cherubim ,” 

copied  from  an  As 
Syrian  cylinder,  may  be 
seen  in  Mr.  George 
Smith’s  “ Chaldean 

Account  of  Genesis.”4 
Figure  No.  1,  which 
we  have  taken  from  the  same  work,5  shows  the  tree  of  knowl- 
edge, fruit,  and  the  serpent.  Mr.  Smith  says  of  it : 

“ One  striking  and  important  specimen  of  early  type  in  the  British  Museum 
collection,  has  two  figures  sitting  one  on  each  side  of  a tree,  holding  out  their 
hands  to  the  fruit,  while  at  the  hack  of  one  (the  looman ) is  scratched  a serpent. 
We  know  well  that  in  these  early  sculptures  none  of  these  figures  were  chance 
devices,  but  all  represented  events,  or  supposed  events,  and  figures  in  their 
legends ; thus  it  is  evident  that  a form  of  the  story  of  the  Fall,  similar  to  that  of 
Genesis,  was  known  in  early  times  in  Babylonia.”5 

This  illustration  might  be  used  to  illustrate  the  narrative  of 
Genesis , and  as  Friedrich  Delitzsch  has  remarked  (G.  Smith’s 
Chalddische  Genesis)  is  capable  of  no  other  explanation. 

M.  Renan  does  not  hesitate  to  join  forces  with  the  ancient 
commentators,  in  seeking  to  recover  a trace  of  the  same  tradition 
among  the  Phenicians  in  the  fragments  of  Sanchoniathon, 
translated  into  Greek  by  Philo  of  Byblos.  In  fact,  it  is  there 
said,  in  speaking  of  the  first  human  pair,  and  of  JE on, 
which  seems  to  be  the  translation  of  Havvdh  (in  Phenician 


1 See  Chapter  xi. 

2 Mr.  Smith  says,  “Whatever  the  primitive 

account  may  have  been  from  which  the  earlier 
part  of  the  Book  of  Genesis  was  copied,  it  is 
evident  that  the  brief  narration  given  in  the 

Pentateuch  omits  a number  of  incidents  and 

explanations— for  instance,  as  to  the  origin  of 


evil,  the  fall  of  the  angels,  the  wickedness  of 
the  serpent,  &c.  Such  points  as  these  are  in- 
cluded in  the  cuneiform  narrative.”  (Smith: 
Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  pp.  13,  14.) 

3  Smith:  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  p.  88. 

* Ibid.  p.  89. 

5 Ibid.  p.  91. 


10 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Uavdth)  and  stands  in  her  relation  to  the  other  members  of  the 
pair,  that  this  personage  “ has  found  out  how  to  obtain  nourishment 
from  the  fruits  of  the  tree.” 

The  idea  of  the  Edenic  happiness  of  the  first  human  beings 
constitutes  one  of  the  universal  traditions.  Among  the  Egyptians, 
the  terrestial  reign  of  the  god  lla,  who  inaugurated  the  existence 
of  the  world  and  of  human  life,  was  a golden  age  to  which  they 
continually  looked  back  with  regret  and  envy.  Its  “ like  has  never 
been  seen  since.” 

The  ancient  Greeks  boasted  of  their  “ Golden  Age,”  when 
sorrow  and  trouble  were  not  known.  Hesiod,  an  ancient  Grecian 
poet,  describes  it  thus  : 

“Men  lived  like  Gods,  without  vices  or  passions,  vexation  or  toil.  In 
happy  companionship  with  divine  beings,  they  passed  their  days  in  tranquillity 
and  joy,  living  together  in  perfect  equality,  united  by  mutual  confidence  and 
love.  The  earth  was  more  beautiful  than  now,  and  spontaneously  yielded  an 
abundant  variety  of  fruits.  Human  beings  and  animals  spoke  the  same 
language  and  conversed  with  each  other.  Men  were  considered  mere  boys  at  a 
hundred  years  old.  They  had  none  of  the  infirmities  of  age  to  trouble  them, 
and  when  they  passed  to  regions  of  superior  life,  it  was  in  a gentle  slumber. ” 

Iii  the  course  of  time,  however,  all  the  sorrows  and  troubles 
came  to  man.  They  were  caused  by  inquisitiveness.  The  story  is 
as  follows  : Epimetheus  received  a gift  from  Zeus  (God),  in  the 
form  of  a beautiful  woman  (Pandora). 

“ She  brought  with  her  a vase,  the  lid  of  which  was  (by  the  command  of 
God),  to  remain  closed.  The  curiosity  of  her  husband,  however,  tempted  him 
to  open  it,  and  suddenly  there  escaped  from  it  troubles,  weariness  and  illness 
from  which  mankind  wTas  never  afterwards  free.  All  that  remained  was  hope”  1 

Among  the  Thibetans,  the  paradisiacal  condition  was  more 
complete  and  spiritual.  The  desire  to  eat  of  a certain  sweet  herb 
deprived  men  of  their  spiritual  life.  There  arose  a sense  of  shame, 
and  the  need  to  clothe  themselves.  Necessity  compelled  them  to 
agriculture ; the  virtues  disappeared,  and  murder,  adultery  and 
other  vices,  stepped  into  their  place.2 

' The  idea  that  the  Fall  of  the  human  race  is  connected  with 
agriculture  is  found  to  be  also  often  represented  in  the  legends  of 
the  East  African  negroes,  especially  in  the  Calabar  legend  of  the 
Creation,  which  presents  many  interesting  points  of  comparison 
with  the  biblical  story  of  the  Fall.  The  first  human  pair  are 
called  by  a bell  at  meal- times  to  Abasi  (the  Calabar  God),  in  heaven; 
and  in  place  of  the  forbidden  tree  of  Genesis  are  put  agriculture 


* Murray’s  Mythology,  p.  208, 


2 Kalisch’s  Cora.  vol.  i.  p.  64. 


THE  CKEATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


11 


and  propagation,  which  Abasi  strict] y denies  to  the  first  pair.  The 
Fall  is  denoted  by  the  transgression  of  both  these  commands, 
especially  through  the  use  of  implements  of  tillage,  to  which  the 
woman  is  tempted  by  a female  friend  who  is  given  to  her.  From 
that  moment  man  fell  and  became  mortal , so  that,  as  the  Bible 
story  has  it,  he  can  eat  bread  only  in  the  sweat  of  his  face.  There 
agriculture  is  a curse,  a fall  from  a more  perfect  stage  to  a lower 
and  imperfect  one.1 * 

Dr.  Kalisch,  writing  of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  says: 

“ The  Paradise  is  no  exclusive  feature  of  the  early  history  of  the  Hebrews. 
Most  of  the  ancient  nations  have  similar  narratives  about  a happy  abode,  which  care 
does  not  approach , and  which  re-echoes  with  the  sounds  of  the  purest  bliss”* 

The  Persians  supposed  that  a region  of  bliss  and  delight  called 
Heden , more  beautiful  than  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  traversed  by 
a mighty  river , was  the  original  abode  of  the  first  men,  before  they 
were  tempted  by  the  evil  spirit  in  the  form  of  a serpent,  to  partake 
of  the  fruit  of  the  forbidden  tree  Horn .3 

Dr.  Delitzsch,  writing  of  the  Persian  legend,  observes : 

“Innumerable  attendants  of  the  Holy  One  keep  watch  against  the  attempts  of 
Ahriman,  over  the  tree  Horn,  which  contains  in  itself  the  power  of  the  resur- 
rection.4 

The  ancient  Greeks  had  a tradition  concerning  the  “ Islands  of 
the  Blessed,”  the  “Elysium,”  on  the  borders  of  the  earth,  abounding 
in  every  charm  of  life,  and  the  “ Garden  of  the  Hesperides,”  the 
Paradise,  in  which  grew  a tree  bearing  the  golden  apples  of  Immor- 
tality. It  was  guarded  by  three  nymphs,  and  a Serpent,  or  Dragon, 
the  ever-watchful  Ladon.  It  was  one  of  the  labors  of  Hercules  to 
gather  some  of  these  apples  of  life.  When  he  arrived  there  he 
found  the  garden  protected  by  a Dragon.  Ancient  medallions 
represent  a tree  with  a serpent  twined  around  it.  Hercules  has 
gathered  an  apple,  and  near  him  stand  the  three  nymphs,  called 
Hesperides.6  This  is  simply  a parallel  of  the  Eden  myth. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Faber,  speaking  of  Hercules , says : 

“On  the  Sphere  he  is  represented  in  the  act  of  contending  with  the  Serpent, 
the  head  of  which  is  placed  under  his  foot ; and  this  Serpent,  we  are  told,  is  that 
which  guarded  the  tree  with  golden  fruit  in  the  midst  of  the  garden  of  the  Hesper- 
ides. But  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides  was  none  other  than  the  garden  of  Para- 
dise; consequently  the  serpent  of  that  garden,  the  head  of  which  is  crushed  be- 
neath the  heel  of  Hercules,  and  which  itself  is  described  as  encircling  with  its 


i Goldziher:  Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  87. 

3 Com.  on  the  Old  Test.  yoI.  i.  p.  70. 

3 Ibid. 

« Ibid.  “ The  fruit  and  sap  of  this  ‘ Tree  of 


Life  ’ begat  immortality.”  (Bonwick:  Egyptian 
Belief,  p.  240.) 

5 See  Montfaucon  : L’Antiquite  Expliquee, 
vol.  i.  p.  211,  and  PI.  cxxxiii. 


1 2 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


folds  the  trunk  of  the  mysterious  tree,  must  necessarily  be  a transcript  of  that 
Serpent  whose  form  was  assumed  by  the  tempter  of  our  first  parents.  We  may 
observe  the  same  ancient  tradition  in  the  Phoenician  fable  representing  Ophion  or 
Ophioneus.  ”* 

And  Professor  Fergusson  says  : 

■“  Hercules'  adventures  in  the  garden  of  the  Hesperides,  is  the  Pagan  form  of 
the  myth  that  most  resembles  the  precious  Serpent-guarded  fruit  of  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  though  the  moral  of  the  fable  is  so  widely  different.”1 2 3 

The  ancient  Egyptians  also  had  the  legend  of  the  44  Tree  of 
Life.”  It  is  mentioned  in  their  sacred  books  that  Osiris  ordered 
the  names  of  some  souls  to  be  written  on  this  44  Tree  of  Life,”  the 
fruit  of  which  made  those  who  ate  it  to  become  as  gods.8 

Among  the  most  ancient  traditions  of  the  Hindoos , is  that  of  the 
4 Tree  of  Life” — called  Soma  in  Sanskrit — the  juice  of  which 
imparted  immortality.  This  most  wonderful  tree  was  guarded  by 
spirits.4 

Still  more  striking  is  the  Hindoo  legend  of  the  44  Elysium  ” or 
44  Paradise,”  which  is  as  follows  : 

“In  the  sacred  mountain  Meru,  which  is  perpetually  clothed  in  the  golden 
rays  of  the  Sun,  and  whose  lofty  summit  reaches  into  heaven,  no  sinful  man 
can  exist.  It  is  guarded  by  a dreadful  dragon.  It  is  adorned  with  many  celestial 
plants  and  trees,  aud  is  watered  by  four  rivers , which  thence  separate  and  flow  to 
the  four  chief  directions.”5 

The  Hindoos,  like  the  philosophers  of  the  Ionic  school  (Thales, 
for  instance),  held  water  to  be  the  first  existing  and  all-pervading 
principle,  at  the  same  time  allowing  the  co-operation  and  influence 
of  an  immaterial  intelligence  in  the  work  of  creation.6  A Yedic 
poet,  meditating  on  the  Creation,  uses  the  following  expressions : 

“Nothing  that  is  was  then,  even  what  is  not,  did  not  exist  then.”  “There 
was  no  space,  no  life,  and  lastly  there  was  no  time,  no  difference  between  day  and 
night,  no  solar  torch  by  which  morning  might  have  been  told  from  evening.” 
“ Darkness  there  was,  and  all  at  first  was  veiled  in  gloom  profound,  as  ocean 
without  light,.”7 

The  Hindoo  legend  approaches  very  nearly  to  that  preserved  in 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Thus,  it  is  said  that  Siva,  as  the  Supreme 
Being,  desired  to  tempt  Brahma  (who  had  taken  human  form,  and 
was  called  Swayambhura — son  of  the  self-existent),  and  for  this 
object  he  dropped  from  heaven  a blossom  of  the  sacred  fig  tree. 


1 Faber : Origin  Fagan  Idolatry,  vol.  i.  p. 
443;  in  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  237. 

2 Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  p.  13. 

3 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  159. 

4 See  Bunsen’s  Keys  of  St.  Peter,  p.  414. 


5 Colenso:  The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol. 
iv.  p.  153. 

6 Buckley:  Cities  of  the  Ancient  World,  p 
148. 

7 Mtiller:  Hist.  Sanskrit  Literature,  p.  559. 


THE  CREATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


13 


Swayambhura,  instigated  by  his  wife,  Satarupa,  endeavors  to  ob- 
tain this  blossom,  thinking  its  possession  will  render  him  immortal 
and  divine ; but  when  he  has  succeeded  in  doing  so,  he  is  cursed  by 
Siva,  and  doomed  to  misery  and  degradation.1  The  sacred  Indian 
fig  is  endowed  by  the  Brahmins  and  the  Buddhists  with  mysterious 
significance,  as  the  “ Tree  of  Knowledge  ” or  u Intelligence.”2 

There  is  no  Hindoo  legend  of  the  Creation  similar  to  the  Per- 
sian  and  Hebrew  accounts,  and  Ceylon  was  never  believed  to  have 
been  the  Paradise  or  home  of  our  first  parents,  although  such  stories 
are  in  circulation.3  The  Hindoo  religion  states — as  we  have 
already  seen — Mount  Meru  to  be  the  Paradise,  out  of  which  w^ent 
four  rivers. 

W e have  noticed  that  the  “ Gardens  of  Paradise  ” are  said  to 
have  been  guarded  by  Dragons , and  that,  according  to  the-  Genesis 
account,  it  was  Cherubim  that  protected  Eden.  This  apparent 
difference  in  the  legends  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  we  have  come  in 
our  modern  times  to  speak  of  Cherub  as  though  it  were  an  other 
name  for  an  Angel.  But  the  Cherub  of  the  waiter  of  Genesis,  the 
Cherub  of  Assyria,  the  Cherub  of  Babylon,  the  Cherub  of  the 
entire  Orient,  at  the  time  the  Eden  story  was  written,  was  not  at 
all  an  Angel,  but  an  animal,  and  a mythological  one  at  that.  The 
Cherub  had,  in  some  cases,  the  body  of  a lion,  with  the  head  of  an 
other  animal,  or  a man,  and  the  wings  of  a bird.  In  Ezekiel  they 
have  the  body  of  a man,  whose  head,  besides  a human  countenance, 
has  also  that  of  a Lion , an  Ox  and  an  Eagle . They  are  provided 
with  four  wings,  and  the  whole  body  is  spangled  with  innumerable 
eyes.  In  Assyria  and  Babylon  they  appear  as  winged  bulls  with 
human  faces,  and  are  placed  at  the  gateways  of  palaces  and  temples 
as  guardian  genii  wdio  watch  over  the  dwelling,  as  the  Cherubim 
in  Genesis  watch  the  “ Tree  of  Life.” 

Most  Jewish  writers  and  Christian  Fathers  conceived  the‘/ 
Cherubim  as  Angels.  Most  theologians  also  considered  them  as 
Angels,  until  Michaeiis  showed  them  to  be  a mythological  animal, 
a poetical  creation.4 


1 See  Wake:  Phallism  in  Ancient  Religions, 
pp.  46,  47;  and  Maurice:  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol. 
i.  p.  408. 

2 Hardwick  : Christ  and  Other  Masters, 
p.  215. 

3 See  Jacolliot’s  “Bible  in  India,”  which 

John  Fisk  calls  a “ very  discreditable  perform- 
ance,” and  “a  disgraceful  piece  of  charla- 
tanry ” (Myths,  &c.  p.  205).  This  writer  also 
states  that  according  to  Hindoo  legend,  the 
first  man  and  woman  were  called  “ Adima  and 
Heva,”  w'hich  is  certainly  not  the  case.  The 


“bridge  of  Adima”  which  he  speaks  of  as 
connecting  the  island  of  Ceylon  with  the  main- 
land, is  called  “Rama’s  bridge;”  and  the 
“ Adam’s  footprints  ” are  called  “ Buddha’s 
footprints.”  The  Portuguese,  who  called  the 
mountain  Pico  d'Adama  (Adam’s  Peak),  evi- 
dently invented  these  other  names.  (See  Mau- 
rice’s Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  i.  pp.  361,  382,  and 
vol.  ii.  p.  242). 

4  See  Smith’s  Bible  Die.  Art.  “Cherubim,” 
and  Lenormant’s  Beginning  of  History,  ch. 
iii. 


14 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


We  see  then,  that  our  Cherub  is  simply  a Dragon . 

To  continue  our  inquiry  regarding  the  prevalence  of  the  Eden- 
myth  among  nations  of  antiquity. 

The  Chinese  have  their  Age  of  Virtue,  when  nature  furnished 
abundant  food,  and  man  lived  peacefully,  surrounded  by  all  the 
beasts.  In  their  sacred  books  there  is  a story  concerning  a myste- 
rious garden , where  grew  a tree  bearing  “ apples  of  immortality,” 
guarded  by  a winged  serpent,  called  a Dragon.  They  describe  a 
primitive  age  of  the  world,  when  the  earth  yielded  abundance  of 
delicious  fruits  without  cultivation,  and  the  seasons  were  untroubled 
by  wind  and  storms.  There  was  no  calamity,  sickness,  or  death. 
Men  were  then  good  without  effort ; for  the  human  heart  was  in 
harmony  with  the  peacefulness  and  beauty  of  nature. 

The  “ Golden  Age  ” of  the  past  is  much  dwelt  upon  by  their 
ancient  commentators.  One  of  them  says : 

“All  places  were  then  equally  the  native  county  of  every  man.  Flocks 
wandered  in  the  fields  without  any  guide;  birds  filled  the  air  with  their  melo- 
dious voices;  and  the  fruits  grew  of  their  own  accord.  Men  lived  pleasantly 
with  the  animals,  and  all  creatures  were  members  of  the  same  family.  Ignorant 
of  evil,  man  lived  in  simplicity  and  perfect  innocence.” 

Another  commentator  says : 

“ In  the  first  age  of  perfect  purity,  all  was  in  harmony,  and  the  passions  did 
not  occasion  the  slightest  murmur.  Man,  united  to  sovereign  reason  within, 
conformed  his  outward  actions  to  sovereign  justice.  Far  from  all  duplicity  and 
falsehood,  his  soul  received  marvelous  felicity  from  heaven,  and  the  purest  de- 
lights from  earth.” 

Another  says : 

“ A delicious  garden  refreshed  with  zephyrs,  and  planted  with  odoriferous 
trees,  was  situated  in  the  middle  of  a mountain,  which  was  the  avenue  of  heaven. 
The  waters  that  moistened  it  flowed  from  a source  called  the  ‘ Fountain  of  Im- 
mortality.’ He  who  drinks  of  it  never  dies.  Thence  flowed  four  rivers.  A 
Golden  River,  betwixt  the  South  and  East,  a Red  River,  between  the  North  and 
East,  the  River  of  the  Lamb  between  the  North  and  West.” 

The  animal  Kaiming  guards  the  entrance. 

Partly  by  an  undue  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  partly  by  increas- 
ing sensuality,  and  the  seduction  of  woman , man  fell.  Then  pas- 
sion and  lust  ruled  in  the  human  mind,  and  war  with  the  animals 
began.  In  one  of  the  Chinese  sacred  volumes,  called  the  Chi-King, 
it  is  said  that : 

“All  was  subject  to  man  at  first,  but  a woman  threw  us  into  slavery.  The  wise 
husband  raised  up  a bulwark  of  walls,  but  the  woman,  by  an  ambitious  desire  of 
knowledge,  demolished  them.  Our  misery  did  not  come  from  heaven,  but  from  a 
woman.  She  lost  the  human  race.  Ah,  unhappy  Poo  See  ! thou  kindled  the  fire 


THE  CREATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


15 


that  consumes  us,  and  which  is  every  day  augmenting.  Our  misery  has  lasted 
many  ages.  The  world  is  lost.  Vice  overflows  all  things  like  a mortal  poison.”1 


Thus  we  see  that  the  Chinese  are  no  strangers  to  the  doctrine  of 


original  sin.  It  is  their  invariable  belief  that  man  is  a fallen  being  ; 
admitted  by  them  from  time  immemorial. 

The  inhabitants  of  Madagascar  had  a legend  similar  to  the 
Eden  story,  which  is  related  as  follows : 


“ The  first  man  was  created  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  was  placed  in  a gar- 
den, where  he  was  subject  to  none  of  the  ills  which  now  affect  mortality;  he 
was  also  free  from  all  bodily  appetites,  and  though  surrounded  by  delicious 
fruit  and  limpid  streams  yet  felt  no  desire  to  taste  of  the  fruit  or  to  quaff  the  water 
The  Creator,  had.  moreover,  strictly  forbid  him  either  to  eat  or  to  drink.  The 
great  enemy,  however,  came  to  him,  and  painted  to  him,  in  glowing  colors,  the 
sweetness  of  the  apple,  and  the  lusciousness  of  the  date,  and  the  succulence 
of  the  orange.” 


After  resisting  the  temptations  for  a while,  he  at  last  ate  of  the 
fruit,  and  consequently  fell .2 

A legend  of  the  Creation,  similar  to  the  Hebrew,  was  found  by 
Mr.  Ellis  among  the  Tahitians , and  appeared  in  his  “ Polynesian 
Researches.”  It  is  as  follows  : 

After  Taarao  had  formed  the  world,  he  created  man  out  of  arsea, 
red  earth,  which  was  also  the  food  of  man  until  bread  was  made. 
Taarao  one  day  called  for  the  man  by  name.  When  he  came,  he 
caused  him  to  fall  asleep,  and  while  he  slept,  he  took  out  one  of  his 
ivi , or  bones,  and  with  it  made  a woman,  whom  he  gave  to  the  man 
as  his  wife,  and  they  became  the  progenitors  of  mankind.  The 
woman’s  name  was  Ivi , which  signifies  a bone.3 

The  prose  Edda,  of  the  ancient  Scandinavians , speaks  of  the 
“ Golden  Age  ” when  all  was  pure  and  harmonious.  This  age 
lasted  until  the  arrival  of  woman  out  of  Jotunheiin — the  region  of 
the  giants,  a sort  of  “land  of  Hod” — who  corrupted  it.4 

In  the  annals  of  the  Mexicans , the  first  woman,  whose  name 
was  translated  by  the  old  Spanish  writers,  “ the  woman  of  our  flesh,” 
is  always  represented  as  accompanied  by  a great  male  serpent,  who 
seems  to  be  talking  to  her.  Some  writers  believe  this  to  be  the 
tempter  speaking  to  the  primeval  mother,  and  others  that  it  is  in- 
tended to  represent  the  father  of  the  human  race.  This  Mexican 
Eve  is  represented  on  their  monuments  as  the  mother  of  twins.6 


1 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  pp.  206-210. 
The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  iv.  pp.  152, 
153,  and  Legends  of  the  Patriarchs,  p.  38. 

2 Legends  of  the  Patriarchs,  p.  31. 

3 Quoted  by  Muller:  The  Science  of  Relig., 

p.  302. 


4 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  p. 
409. 

5 See  Baring  Gould’s  Legends  of  the  Patri- 
archs ; Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol,  p.  161,  and 
Wake’s  Phallism  in  Ancient  Religions,  p. 
41. 


16 


BIBLE  MYTH  . 


Mr.  Franklin,  in  liis  u Buddhists  and  Jeynes,”  says : 

“ A striking  instance  is  recorded  by  the  very  intelligent  traveler  (Wilson),  re- 
garding a representation  of  the  Fall  of  our  first  parents,  sculptured  in  the  magnifi- 
cent temple  of  Ipsambul,  in  Nubia.  lie  says  that  a very  exact  representation  of 
Adam  and  Eve  in  the  garden  of  Eden  is  to  be  seen  in  that  cave,  and  that  the 
serpent  climbing  round  the  tree  is  especially  delineated,  and  the  whole  subject  of 
the  tempting  of  our  first  parents  most  accurately  exhibited.”1 

Nearly  the  same  thing  was  found  by  Colonel  Coombs  in  the 
South  of  India . Colonel  Tod,  in  his  “ Hist.  Raj apou tana,  ” says : 


“A  drawing,  brought  by  Colonel  Coombs  from  a sculptured  column  in  a cave- 
temple  in  the  South  of  India,  represents  the  first  pair  at  the  foot  of  the  ambro- 
sial tree,  and  a serpent  entwined  among  the  heavily-laden  boughs,  presenting  to 
them  some  of  the  fruit  from  his  mouth.  The  tempter  appears  to  be  at  that  part 
of  his  discourse,  when 

‘ hie  words,  replete  with  guile, 

Into  her  heart  too  easy  entrance  won: 

Fixed  on  the  fruit  Bhe  gazed.’ 

“ This  is  a curious  subject  to  be  engraved  on  an  ancient  Vagan  temple”* 

So  the  Colonel  thought,  no  doubt,  but  it  is  not  so  very  curious 


after  all.  It  is 
the  same  myth 
which  we  have 
found— with  but 
sucli  small  vari- 
ations only  as 
time  and  circum- 
stances may  be 
expected  to  pro- 
duce — among 
different  nations, 
in  both  the  Old 
and  N ewW  orlds. 

Fig.  No.  2, 
taken  from  the 
feet  being,  and 
of  what  he  once 


(work  of  Mont- 
faucon,3  repre- 
sents one  of 
these  ancient 
Pagan  sculp- 
tures. Can  any 
one  doubt  that  it 
is  allusive  to  the 
myth  of  which 
we  have  been 
treating  in  this 
chapter? 

That  man 
was  originally 
created  a per- 
broken  remnant 
piece  of  mythol- 


u now  only  a fallen  and 
was,  we  have  seen  to  be  a 
ogy,  not  only  unfounded  in  fact,  but,  beyond  intelligent  question, 
proved  untrue.  Wliat,  then,  is  the  significance  of  the  exposure 
of  this  myth  ? What  does  its  loss  as  a scientific  fact,  and  as  a por- 
tion of  Christian  dogma,  imply  ? It  implies  that  with  it — although 
many  Christian  divines  who  admit  this  to  be  a legend,  do  not, 


1 Quoted  by  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  2 Tod’s  Hist.  Raj.,  p.  581,  quoted  by  Hig- 
p.  403.  gins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  404. 

8 L’Antiquite  Expliquee,  vol.  i. 


THE  CREATION  AND  FALL  OF  MAN. 


17 


or  do  not  profess,  to  see  it — must  fall  the  whole  Orthodox  scheme, 
for  upon  this  myth  the  theology  of  Christendom  is  built.  The 
doctrine  of  tlie  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Fall  of  man, 
his  total  depravity,  the  Incarnation,  the  Atonement , the  devil, 
hell,  in  fact,  the  entire  theology  of  the  Christian  church,  falls  to 
pieces  with  the  historical  inaccuracy  of  this  story,  for  upon  it  is 
it  built  / His  the  foundation  of  the  whole  structure l 

According  to  Christian  dogma,  the  Incarnation  of  Christ  Jesus 
had  become  necessary,  merely  because  he  had  to  redeem  the  evil  in- 
troduced into  the  world  by  the  Fall  of  man.  These  two  dogmas 
cannot  be  separated  from  each  other.  If  there  was  no  Fall,  there 
is  no  need  of  an  atonement,  and  no  Redeemer  is  required.  Those, 
then,  who  consent  in  recognizing  in  Christ  Jesus  a God  and  Re- 
deemer, and  who,  notwithstanding,  cannot  resolve  upon  admitting 
the  story  of  the  Fall  of  man  to  be  historical,  should  exculpate  them- 
selves from  the  reproach  of  inconsistency.  There  are  a great 
number,  however,  in  this  position  at  the  present  day. 

Although,  as  we  have  said,  many  Christian  divines  do  not,  or 
do  not  profess  to,  see  the  force  of  the  above  argument,  there  are 
many  who  do  ; and  they,  regardless  of  their  scientific  learning,  cling 
to  these  old  myths,  professing  to  believe  them,  well  knowing  what 
must  follow  with  their  fall.  The  following,  though  written  some 
years  ago,  will  serve  to  illustrate  this  style  of  reasoning. 

The  Bishop  of  Manchester  (England)  writing  in  the  “ Man- 
chester Examiner  and  Times,”  said  : 

“ The  very  foundation  of  our  faith,  the  very  basis  of  our  hopes,  the  very  nearest 
and  dearest  of  our  consolations  are  taken  from  us,  ichen  one  line  of  that  sacred 
volume,  on  which  we  base  everything,  is  declared  to  be  untruthful  and  untrust- 
worthy.” 

The  “ English  Churchman,”  speaking  of  clergymen  who  have 
“ doubts ,”  said,  that  any  who  are  not  throughly  persuaded  “ that 
the  Scriptures  cannot  in  any  particular  be  untrue ,”  should  leave 
the  Church. 

The  Rev.  E.  Garbett,  M.  A.,  in  a sermon  preached  before  the 
University  of  Oxford,  speaking  of  the  “ historical  truth”  of  the 
Bible,  said : 


1 Sir  William  Jones,  the  first  president  of 
the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  saw  this  when  he 
said  : “Either  the  first  eleven  chapters  of 
Genesis,  all  due  allowance  being  made  for  a 
figurative  Eastern  style,  are  true , or  the  whole 
fabric  of  ourreligion  is  false.”  (In  Asiatic  Re- 
searches, vol.  i.  p.  225.)  And  so  also  did  the 


learned  Thomas  Maurice,  for  he  says:  “If  the 
Mosaic  History  be  indeed  a fable,  the  whole 
fabric  of  the  national  religion  is  false,  since 
the  main  pillar  of  Christianity  rests  upon  that 
important  original  promise,  that  the  seed  of  the 
woman  should  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent.” 
(Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  i.  p.  29.) 


18 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ It  is  the  clear  teaching  of  those  doctrinal  formularies,  to  which  we  of  the 
Church  of  England  have  expressed  our  solemn  assent,  and  no  honest  interpretation 
of  her  language  can  get  rid  of  it 

And  that : 

“ In  all  consistent  reason,  we  must  accept  the  whole  of  the  inspired  autographs,  or 
reject  the  whole.  ” 

Dr.  Baylce,  Principal  of  a theological  university — St.  Aiden's 
College — at  Birkenhead,  England,  and  author  of  a “ Manual,” 
called  Baylee’s  “ Verbal  Inspiration ,”  written  “ chiefly  for  the 
youths  of  St.  Aiderts  College ,”  makes  use  of  the  following  words, 
in  that  work : 

“ The  ichole  Bible,  as  a revelation,  is  a declaration  of  the  mind  of  God  towards 
his  creatures  on  all  the  subjects  of  which  the  Bible  treats.” 

‘ ‘ The  Bible  is  God's  word,  in  the  same  sense  as  if  he  had  made  use  of  no  hu- 
man agent,  but  had  Himself  spoken  it .” 

“ The  Bible  cannot  be  less  than  verbally  inspired.  Every  word,  every  syllable, 
every  letter,  is  just  what  it  would  be,  had  God  spoken  from  heaven  without  any 
human  intervention.” 

“Every  scientific  statement  is  infallibly  correct,  all  its  history  and  narrations 
of  every  kind,  are  without  any  inaccuracy.  ’n 

A whole  volume  might  be  filled  with  such  quotations,  not  only 
from  religious  works  and  journals  published  in  England,  but  from 
those  oublished  in  the  United  States  of  America.1 2 


1 The  above  extracts  are  quoted  by  Bishop  regard  to  the  geological  antiquity  of  the  world, 

Coieneo,  in  The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  ii.  evolution,  atheism,  pantheism,  &c.  He  be- 

pp.  10-12,  from  which  we  take  them.  lieves— and  rightly  too— that,  “ if  the  account 

2 “ Cosmogony  ” is  the  title  of  a volume  of  Creation  in  Genesis  falls,  Christ  and  the 

lately  written  by  Prof.  Thomas  Mitchell,  and  apostles  follow : if  the  book  of  Genesis  is  erro- 

published  by  the  American  News  Co.,  in  which  neous,  so  also  are  the  Gospels 

the  author  attacks  all  the  modern  scientists  in 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  DELUGE.1 2 

After  “ man’s  shameful  fall,”  the  earth  began  to  be  populated 
at  a very  rapid  rate.  “ The  sons  of  God  saw  the  daughters  of  men 
that  they  were  fair ; and  they  took  them  wives  of  all  which  they 
chose.  . . . . There  were  giants  in  the  earth  in  those  days,3 

and  also  . . . mighty  men  . . . men  of  renown.” 

But  these  “ giants  ” and  “ mighty  men  ” were  very  wicked,  “ and 
God  saw  the  wickedness  of  man  . . . and  it  repented  the  Lord 

that  he  had  made  man  upon  the  earth*  and  it  grieved  him  at  his 
heart.  And  the  Lord  said  ; I will  destroy  man  whom  I have  created 
from  the  face  of  the  earth,  both  man  and  beast,  and  the  creeping 
thing,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air,  for  it  repenteth  me  that  I have 
made  them.  But  Noah  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  (for) 
Noah  was  a just  man  . . . and  walked  with  God.  . . . And 

God  said  unto  Noah,  The  end  of  all  flesh  is  come  before  me,  for  the 
earth  is  filled  with  violence  through  them,  and,  behold,  I will  de- 


1 See  ‘ ‘ The  Deluge  in  the  Light  of  Modern 
Science,”  by  Prof.  Wm.  Denton:  J.  P.  Men- 
dum,  Boston. 

2 “ There  were  giants  in  the  earth  in  those 
days.”  It  is  a scientific  fact  that  most  races  of 
men,  in  former  ages,  instead  of  being  larger , 
were  smaller  than  at  the  present  time.  There 
is  hardly  a suit  of  armor  in  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
don, or  in  the  old  castles,  that  is  large  enough 
for  the  average  Englishman  of  to-day  to  put  on. 
Man  has  grown  in  stature  as  well  as  intellect, 
and  there  is  no  proof  whatever— in  fact,  the  op- 
posite is  certain— that  there  ever  was  a race  of 
what  might  properly  be  called  giants , inhabit- 
ing the  earth.  Fossil  remains  of  large  animals 
having  been  found  by  primitive  man,  and  a 
legend  invented  to  account  for  them,  it  would 
naturally  be  that : “There  were  giants  in  the 

earth  in  those  days.”  As  an  illustration  we 
may  mention  the  story,  recorded  by  the  trav- 
eller James  Orton,  we  believe  (in  “ The  Andes 
and  the  Amazon”),  that,  near  Punin,  in  South 
America,  was  found  the  remains  of  an  extinct 


species  of  the  horse,  the  mastodon,  and  other 
large  animals.  This  discovery  was  made,  ow- 
ing to  the  assurance  of  the  natives  that  giants 
at  one  time  had  lived  in  that  country,  and  that 
they  had  seen  their  remains  at  this  certain  place. 
Many  legends  have  had  a similar  origin.  But 
the  originals  of  all  the  Ogres  and  Giants  to  be 
found  in  the  mythology  of  almost  all  nations 
of  antiquity,  are  the  famous  Hindoo  demons, 
the  Rakshasas  of  our  Aryan  ancestors.  The 
Rakshasas  were  very  terrible  creatures  indeed, 
and  in  the  minds  of  many  people,  in  India, 
are  so  still.  Their  natural  form,  so  the  sto- 
ries say,  is  that  of  huge,  unshapely  giants,  like 
clouds,  with  hair  and  beard  of  the  color  of  the 
red  lightning.  This  description  explains  their 
origin.  They  are  the  dark,  wicked  and  cruel 
clouds , personified. 

3  “And  it  repented  the  Lord  that  he  had 
made  man.”  (Gen.  iv.)  “God  is  not  a man 
that  he  should  lie,  neither  the  son  of  man  that 
he  should  repent .”  (Numb,  xxiii.  19.) 


[19] 


20 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


stroy  them  with  the  earth.  Make  thee  an  ark  of  gopher  wood, 
rooms  shalt  thou  make  in  the  ark,  (and)  a window  shalt  thou  make 
to  the  ark;  ....  And  behold  I,  even  I,  do  bring  a flood  of 
waters  upon  the  earth,  to  destroy  all  flesh,  wherein  is  the  breath  of 
life,  from  under  heaven,  and  every  thing  that  is  in  the  earth  shall 
die.  But  with  thee  shall  I establish  my  covenant ; and  thou  shalt 
come  into  the  ark,  thou,  and  thy  sons,  and  thy  wife,  and  thy  sons’ 
wives,  with  thee.  And  of  every  living  thing  of  all  flesh,  two  of 
every  sort  shalt  thou  bring  into  the  ark,  to  keep  them  alive  with 
thee ; they  shall  be  male  and  female.  Of  fowls  after  their  kind, 
and  of  cattle  after  their  kind,  of  every  creeping  thing  of  the  earth 
after  his  kind,  two  of  every  sort  shall  come  in  to  thee,  to  keep  them 
alive.  And  take  thou  unto  thee  of  all  food  that  is  eaten,  and  thou 
shalt  gather  it  to  thee ; and  it  shall  be  for  food  for  thee  and  for 
them.  Thus  did  Noah , according  to  all  that  God  commanded 
him.”1 

When  the  ark  was  finished,  the  Lord  said  unto  Noah  : 


“ Come  tliou  and  all  thy  house  into  the  ark.  ...  Of  every  clean  beast 
thou  shalt  take  to  thee  by  sevens , the  male  and  his  female;  and  of  beasts  that  are 
not  clean  by  two,  the  male  and  his  female.  Of  fowls  also  of  the  air  by  sevens, 
the  male  and  the  female.”2 

Here,  again,  as  in  the  Eden  myth,  there  is  a contradiction.  We 
have  seen  that  the  Lord  told  Noah  to  bring  into  the  ark  “ of  every 
living  thing,  of  all  flesh,  two  of  every  sort”  and  now  that  the  ark 
is  finished,  w'e  are  told  that  he  said  to  him  : “ Of  every  clean 

beast  thou  shalt  take  to  thee  by  sevens”  and,  “ of  fowls  also  of  the 
air  by  sevens.”  This  is  owing  to  the  story  having  been  written  by 
two  different  writers — the  Jehovistic,  and  the  Elohistic — one  of 
which  took  from,  and  added  to  the  narrative  of  the  other.3  The 
account  goes  on  to  say,  that : 


“Noah  went  in,  and  his  sons,  and  his  wife,  and  his  sons’ wives  with  him, 
into  the  ark.  ...  Of  dean  beasts,  and  of  beasts  that  are  not  dean,  and  of 
fowls,  and  of  every  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth,  there  went  in  two  and  two, 
unto  Noah  into  the  ark,  the  male  and  the  female,  as  God  had  commanded  Noah .”4 

We  see,  then,  that  Noah  took  into  the  ark  of  all  hinds  of 
beasts,  of  fowls , and  of  every  thing  that  creepeth,  two  of  every  sort, 
and  that  this  was  “ as  God  had  commanded  Noah.”  This  clearly 
shows  that  the  writer  of  these  words  knew  nothing  of  the  command 


1 Gen.  iv.  2 Gen.  vi.  1-3. 

3 See  chapter  xl. 

4 The  image  of  Osiris  of  Egypt  was  by  the 

priests  shut  up  in  a sacred  ark  on  the  17th  of 


Athyr  (Nov.  13th),  the  very  day  and  month  on 
which  Noah  is  said  to  have  entered  his  ark. 
(See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  165,  and 
Bunsen's  Angel  Messiah,  p.  22.) 


THE  DELUGE. 


21 


to  take  in  clean  beasts , and  fowls  of  the  air,  by  sevens.  N e are 
further  assured,  that,  “ Noah  did  according  to  all  that  the  Lord 
commanded  him” 

After  Noah  and  his  family,  and  every  beast  after  his  kind,  and 
all  the  cattle  after  their  kind,  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  every  creep- 
ing thing,  had  entered  the  ark,  the  Lord  shut  them  in.  Then  “ were 
all  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  broken  up,  and  the  windows  of 
heaven  were  opened.  And  the  rain  was  upon  the  earth  forty  days 
and  forty  nights And  the  waters  prevailed  exceeding- 

ly upon  the  earth  ; and  all  the  hills,  that  were  under  the  whole  heaven, 
were  covered.  Fifteen  cubits  upwards  did  the  waters  prevail ; and 
the  mountains  were  covered.  And  all  flesh  died  that  moved  upon 
the  earth,  both  of  fowTl  and  of  cattle,  and  of  beast,  and  of  every 
creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth,  and  every  man. 
And  Noah  only  remained  alive,  and  they  that  were  with  him 
in  the  ark.”1  The  object  of  the  flood  was  now  accomplished,  “ all 
flesh  died  that  moved  upon  the  earth.”  The  Lord,  therefore, 
“ made  a wind  to  pass  over  the  earth,  and  the  waters  assuaged. 
The  fountains  of  the  deep,  and  the  windows  of  heaven,  were 
stopped,  and  the  rain  from  heaven  was  restrained.  And  the 

waters  decreased  continually And  it  came  to  pass  at 

the  end  of  forty  days , that  Noah  opened  the  window  of  the  ark. 
which  he  had  made.  And  he  sent  forth  a raven,  which  went 
forth  to  and  fro,  until  the  waters  were  dried  up  from  ofl  the 
earth.  He  also  sent  forth  a dove,  . . . but  the  dove  found  no 

rest  for  the  sole  of  her  foot,  and  she  returned  unto  him  into  the 
ark.”  . . . 

At  the  end  of  seven  days  he  again  “ sent  forth  the  dove  out  of 
the  ark,  and  the  dove  came  in  to  him  in  the  evening,  and  lo,  in  her 
mouth  was  an  olive  leaf,  plucked  ofl.” 

At  the  end  of  another  seven  days,  he  again  “ sent  forth  the  dove, 
which  returned  not  again  to  him  any  more.” 

And  the  ark  rested  in  the  seventh  month,  on  the  seventeenth  day 
of  the  month,  upon  the  mountains  of  Ararat.  Then  Noah  and 
his  wife,  and  his  sons,  and  his  sons’  wives,  and  every  living  thing 
that  was  in  the  ark,  went  forth  out  of  the  ark.  “And  Noah 
builded  an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  . . . and  offered  burnt  offer- 

ings on  the  altar.  And  the  Lord  smelled  a sweet  savour,  and  the 
Lord  said  in  his  heart,  I will  not  again  curse  the  ground  any  more 
for  man’s  sake.”2 


1 Gen.  vi. 


2 Gen.  viii. 


22 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


We  shall  now  see  that  there  is  scarcely  any  considerable  race  of 
men  among  whom  there  does  not  exist,  in  some  form,  the  tradition 
of  a great  deluge,  which  destroyed  all  the  human  race,  except  their 
own  progenitors. 

The  first  of  these  which  we  shall  notice,  and  the  one  with  which 
the  Hebrew  agrees  most  closely,  having  been  copied  from  it,1 2  is  the 
Chaldean , as  given  by  Berosus,  the  Chaldean  historian.5  It  is  as 
follows : 

“After  the  death  of  Ardates  (the  ninth  king  of  the  Chaldeans),  his  son 
Xisuthrus  reigned  eighteen  sari.  In  his  time  happened  a great  deluge,  the  his- 
tory of  which  is  thus  described : The  deity  Cronos  appeared  to  him  (Xisuthrus) 
in  a vision,  and  warned  him  that  upon  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  month  Desius 
there  would  be  a flood,  by  which  mankind  would  be  destroyed.  He  therefore 
enjoined  him  to  write  a history  of  the  beginning,  procedure,  and  conclusion  of 
all  things,  and  to  bury  it  in  the  City  of  the  Sun  at  Sippara;  and  to  build  a 
vessel,  and  take  with  him  into  it  his  friends  and  relations,  and  to  convey  on 
board  everything  necessary  to  sustain  life,  together  with  all  the  different  ani- 
mals, both  birds  and  quadrupeds,  and  trust  himself  fearlessly  to  the  deep.  Hav- 
ing asked  the  deity  whither  he  was  to  sail,  he  was  answered:  ‘To  the  Gods;’ 
upon  which  he  offered  up  a prayer  for  the  good  of  mankind.  He  then  obeyed 
the  divine  admonition,  and  built  a vessel  five  stadia  in  length,  and  two  in 
breadth.  Into  this  he  put  everything  which  he  had  prepared,  and  last  of  all 
conveyed  into  it  his  wife,  his  children,  and  his  friends.  After  the  flood  had 
been  upon  the  earth,  and  was  in  time  abated,  Xisuthrus  sent  out  birds  from  the 
vessel;  which  not  finding  any  food,  nor  any  place  whereupon  they  might  rest 
their  feet,  returned  to  him  again.  After  an  interval  of  some  days,  he  sent  them 
forth  a second  time;  and  they  now  returned  with  their  feet  tinged  with  mud. 
He  made  a trial  a third  time  with  these  birds;  but  they  returned  to  him  no  more: 
from  whence  he  judged  that  the  surface  of  the  earth  had  appeared  above  the 
waters.  He  therefore  made  an  opening  in  the  vessel,  and  upon  looking  out 
found  that  it  was  stranded  upon  the  side  of  some  mountain;  upon  which  he 
immediately  quitted  it  with  his  wife,  his  daughter,  and  the  pilot.  Xisuthrus 
then  paid  his  adoration  to  the  earth,  and,  having  constructed  an  altar,  offered 
sacrifices  to  the  gods.  ”3 * 

This  account,  given  by  Berosus,  which  agrees  in  almost  every 
particular  with  that  found  in  Genesis,  and  with  that  found  by 
George  Smith  of  the  British  Museum  on  terra  cotta  tablets  in 
Assyria,  is  nevertheless  different  in  some  respects.  But,  says 
Mr.  Smith: 

“When  we  consider  the  difference  between  the  two  countries  of  Palestine 
and  Babylonia,  these  variations  do  not  appear  greater  than  we  should  expect, 

. . . It  was  only  natural  that,  in  relating  the  same  stories,  each  nation  should 


1 See  chapter  xi. 

2 Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  speaking  of 

the  flood  of  Noah  (Antiq.  bk.  1,  ch.  iii.),  says  : 

“All  the  writers  of  the  Babylonian  histories 

make  mention  of  this  flood  and  this  ark.” 


3  Quoted  by  George  Smith  : Chaldean  Ac- 
count of  Genesis,  pp.  42-44  ; see  also,  The  Pen- 
tateuch Examined,  vol.  iv.  p.  211 ; Dunlap’s 
Spirit  Hist.  p.  138  ; Cory’s  Ancient  Fragments, 
p.  61,  etseq.  for  similar  accounts. 


THE  DELUGE. 


23 


color  them  in  accordance  with  its  own  ideas,  and  stress  would  naturally  m each 
case  be  laid  upon  points  with  which  they  were  familiar.  Thus  we  should  expect 
beforehand  that  there  would  be  differences  in  the  narrative  such  as  we  actually 
find,  and  we  may  also  notice  that  the  cuneiform  account  does  not  always  coin- 
cide even  with  the  account  of  the  same  events  given  by  Berosus  from  Chaldean 
sources.”1 

The  most  important  points  are  the  same  however,  i.  e .,  in  both 
cases  the  virtuous  man  is  informed  by  the  Lord  that  a flood  is 
about  to  take  place,  which  would  destroy  mankind.  In  both  cases 
they  are  commanded  to  build  a vessel  or  ark,  to  enter  it  with  their 
families,  and  to  take  in  beasts,  birds,  and  everything  that  creepeth, 
also  to  provide  themselves  with  food.  In  both  cases  they  send  out 
a bird  from  the  ark  three  times — the  third  time  it  failed  to  return. 
In  both  cases  they  land  on  a mountain,  and  upon  leaving  the  ark 
they  offer  up  a sacrifice  to  the  gods.  Xisuthrus  was  the  tenth 
king,2  and  Noah  the  tenth  patriarch.3  Xisuthrus  had  three  sons 
(Zerovanos,  Titan  and  Japetosthes),4  and  Noali  had  three  sons 
(Shem,  Ham  and  Japhet).5 

As  Cory  remarks  in  his  “ Ancient  Fragments, “The  history 
of  the  flood,  as  given  by  Berosus,  so  remarkably  corresponds  with 
the  Biblical  account  of  the  Noachian  Deluge,  that  no  one  can 
doubt  that  both  proceeded  from  one  source — they  are  evi- 
dently transcriptions,  except  the  names,  from  some  ancient  docu- 
ment.6 

This  legend  became  known  to  the  Jews  from  Chaldean  sources,7 
it  was  not  known  in  the  country  (Egypt)  out  of  which  they 
evidently  came.B  Egyptian  history,  it  is  said,  had  gone  on  un- 


1 Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  pp.  285,  286. 

2 Volney  : New  Researches,  p.  119;  Chal- 
dean Acct.  of  Genesis,  p.  290  ; Hist.  Hindos- 
tan,  vol.  i.  p.  417,  and  Dunlap's  Spirit  Hist.  p. 
277. 

3 Ibid. 

4 Legends  of  the  Patriarchs,  pp.  109, 110. 

5 Gen.  vi.  8. 

8 The  Hindoo  ark-preserved  Menu  had 

three  sons ; Sama,  Cama,  and  Pra-Japati. 
(Faber:  Orig.  Pagan  Idol.)  The  Bhattias,  who 
live  between  Delli  and  the  Punjab,  insist  that 
they  are  descended  from  a certain  king  called 
Saiivahana,  who  had  three  sons,  Bhat,  Maha 
and  Thamaz.”  (Col.  Wilt'ord,  in  vol.  ix.  Asi- 
atic Researches.)  The  Iranian  hero  Thraetona 
had  three  sons.  The  Iranian  Sethite  Lamech 
had  three  sons,  and  Hellen,  the  son  of  Deu- 
calion, during  whose  time  the  flood  is  said  to 
have  happened,  had  three  sons.  (Bunsen  : The 
Angel-Messiah,  pp.  70,  71.)  All  the  ancient  na- 
tions of  Europe  also  describe  their  origin  from 
the  three  sons  of  some  king  or  patriarch.  The 


Germans  said  that  Mannus  (son  of  the  god 
Tuisco)  had  three  sons,  who  were  the  original 
ancestors  of  the  three  principal  nations  of 
Germany.  The  Scythians  said  that  Targy- 
tagus,  the  founder  of  their  nation,  had  three 
sons,  from  whom  they  were  descended.  A 
tradition  among  the  Romans  was  that  the  Cy- 
clop Polyphemus  had  by  Galatea  three  sons. 
Saturn  had  three  sons,  Jupiter,  Neptune,  and 
Pluto  ; and  Hesiod  speaks  of  the  three  sons 
which  sprung  from  the  marriage  of  heaven 
and  earth.  (See  Mallet’s  Northern  Autiquities, 
p.  509.) 

7 See  chap.  xi. 

8 ‘‘  It  is  of  no  slight  moment  that  the  Egyp- 
tians, with  whom  the  Hebrews  are  represented 
as  in  earliest  and  closest  intercourse,  had  no 
traditions  of  a flood,  while  the  Babylonian 
and  Hellenic  tales  bear  a strong  resemblance 
in  many  points  to  the  narrative  in  Genesis.” 
(Rev.  George  W.  Cox  : Tales  of  Ancient  Greece, 
p.  340.  See  also  Owen  : Man’s  Earliest  His- 
tory, p.  28,  and  ch.  xi.  this  work.) 


24 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


interrupted  for  ten  thousand  years  before  the  time  assigned  for  the 
birth  of  Jesus.1  And  it  is  known  as  absolute  fact  that  the  land 
of  Egypt  was  never  visited  by  other  than  its  annual  beneficent 
overflow  of  the  river  Nile.2  The  Egyptian  Bible,  which  is  by 
far  the  most  ancient  of  all  holy  books,3  knew  nothing  of  the 
Deluge .4  The  Plira  (or  Pharaoh)  Khoufou-Cheops  was  building 
his  pyramid,  according  to  Egyptian  chronicle,  when  the  whole 
world  was  under  the  waters  of  a universal  deluge,  according  to  the 
Hebrew  chronicle.5  A number  of  other  nations  of  antiquity  are 
found  destitute  of  any  story  of  a flood,6  which  they  certainly  would 
have  had  if  a universal  deluge  had  ever  happened.  Whether  this 
legend  is  of  high  antiquity  in  India  has  even  been  doubted  by  dis- 
tinguished scholars.7 

The  Hindoo  legend  of  the  Deluge  is  as  follows  : 

‘ ‘ Many  ages  after  the  creation  of  the  world,  Brahma  resolved  to  destroy  it 
with  a deluge,  on  account  of  the  wickedness  of  the  people.  There  lived  at  that 
time  a pious  man  named  Satyavrata,  and  as  the  lord  of  the  universe  loved  this 
pious  man,  and  wished  to  preserve  him  from  the  sea  of  destruction  which  was 
to  appear  on  account  of  the  depravity  of  the  age,  he  appeared  before  him  in  the 
form  of  Vishnu  (the  Preserver)  and  said : In  seven  days  from  the  present  time 
. . . the  worlds  will  be  plunged  in  an  ocean  of  death,  but  in  the  midst  of 

the  destroying  waves,  a large  vessel,  sent  by  me  for  thy  use,  shall  stand  before 
thee.  Then  shalt  thou  take  all  medicinal  herbs,  all  the  variety  of  feeds,  and, 
accompanied  by  seven  saints,  encircled  by  pairs  of  all  brute  animals,  thou  shalt 
enter  the  spacious  ark,  and  continue  in  it,  secure  from  the  flood,  on  one  immense 
ocean  without  light,  except  the  radiance  of  thy  holy  companions.  When  the 
ship  shall  be  agitated  by  an  impetuous  wind,  thou  shalt  fasten  it  with  a large 
sea-serpent  on  my  horn;  for  I will  be  near  thee  (in  the  form  of  a fish),  drawing 
the  vessel,  with  thee  and  thy  attendants.  I will  remain  on  the  ocean,  0 chief 
of  men,  until  a night  of  Brahma  shall  be  completely  ended.  Thou  shalt  then 


1 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  198,  and  Knight’s 

Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  p.  107.  “ Plato 

was  told  that  Egypt  had  hymns  dating  back 

ten  thousand  years  before  his  time.”  (Bon- 

wick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  185.)  Plato  lived  429 

b.  c.  Herodotus  relates  that  the  priests  of 

Egypt  informed  him  that  from  the  first  king  to 
the  present  priest  of  Vulcan  who  last  reigned, 
were  three  hundred  forty  and  one  generations 
of  men,  and  during  these  generations  there 
were  the  same  number  of  chief  priests  and 
kings.  “ Now  (says  he)  three  hundred  gener- 
ations are  equal  to  ten  thousand  years,  for 
three  generations  of  men  are  one  hundred 
years  ; and  the  forty-one  remaining  genera- 
tions that  were  over  the  three  hundred,  make 
one  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty  years,” 
making  eleven  thousand  three  hundred  and  forty 
years.  “ Conducting  me  into  the  interior  of  an 
edifice  that  was  spacious,  and  showing  me 
wooden  colossuses  to  the  number  I have  men- 
tioned, they  reckoned  them  up  ; for  every  high 


priest  places  an  image  of  himself  there  during 
his  life-time  ; the  priests,  therefore,  reckoning 
them  and  showing  tnern  to  me,  pointed  out  that 
each  was  the  son  of  his  own  father ; going 
through  them  all,  from  the  image  of  him  who 
died  last  until  they  had  pointed  them  all  out.” 
(Herodotus,  book  ii.  chs.  142, 143.)  The  discov- 
ery of  mummies  of  royal  and  priestly  person- 
ages, made  at  Deir-el-Bahari  (Aug.,  1881),  near 
Thebes,  in  Egypt,  would  seem  to  confirm  this 
statement  made  by  Herodotus.  Of  the  thirty  - 
nine  mummies  discovered,  one— that  of  King 
Raskenen  — is  about  three  thousand  seven 
hundred  years  old.  (See  a Cairo  [Aug.  8th,] 
Letter  to  the  London  Times.) 

a Owen  : Man’s  Earliest  History,  p.  28. 

3 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  185. 

4 Ibid.  p.  411. 

5 Owen : Man’s  Earliest  History,  pp.  27, 

28. 

6 Goldzhier  : Hebrew  Mytho.  p.  319. 

7 Ibid.  p.  320. 


THE  DELUGE. 


25 


know  my  true  greatness,  rightly  named  the  Supreme  Godhead;  by  my  favor,  all 
thy  questions  shall  be  answered,  and  thy  mind  abundantly  instructed.” 

Being  thus  directed,  Satyavrata  humbly  waited  for  the  time 
which  the  ruler  of  our  senses  had  appointed.  It  was  not  long, 
however,  before  the  sea,  overwhelming  its  shores,  began  to  deluge 
the  whole  earth,  and  it  was  soon  perceived  to  be  augmented  by 
showers  from  immense  clouds.  He,  still  meditating  on  the  com- 
mands of  the  Lord,  saw  a vessel  advancing,  and  entered  it  with  the 
saints,  after  having  carried  into  effect  the  instructions  which  had 
been  given  him. 

Vishnu  then  appeared  before  them,  in  the  form  of  a fish,  as  he 
had  said,  and  Satyavrata  fastened  a cable  to  his  horn. 

The  deluge  in  time  abated,  and  Satyavrata,  instructed  in  all 
divine  and  human  knowledge,  was  appointed,  by  the  favor  of 
Vishnu , the  Seventh  Menu.  After  coming  forth  from  the  ark  he 
offers  up  a sacrifice  to  Brahma.1 

The  ancient  temples  of  Hindostan  contain  representations  of 
Vishnu  sustaining  the  earth  while  overwhelmed  by  the  waters  of 
the  deluge.  A rainbow  is  seen  on  the  surface  of  the  subsiding 
waters .2 

The  Chinese  believe  the  earth  to  have  been  at  one  time  covered 
with  water,  which  they  described  as  flowing  abundantly  and  then 
subsiding.  This  great  flood  divided  the  higher  from  the  lower  age 
of  man.  It  happened  during  the  reign  of  Yaou.  This  inundation, 
which  is  termed  hung-shwuy  (great  water),  almost  ruined  the 
country,  and  is  spoken  of  by  Chinese  writers  with  sentiments  of 
horror.  The  Shoo- King,  one  of  their  sacred  books,  describes  the 
waters  as  reaching  to  the  tops  of  some  of  the  mountains,  covering 
the  hills,  and  expanding  as  wide  as  the  vault  of  heaven.3 

The  Parsees  say  that  by  the  temptation  of  the  evil  spirit  men 
became  wicked,  and  God  destroyed  them  with  a deluge,  except  a 
few,  from  whom  the  world  was  peopled  anew.4 

In  the  Zend-Avesta , the  oldest  sacred  book  of  the  Persians,  of 
whom  the  Parsees  are  direct  descendants,  there  are  sixteen  countries 
spoken  of  as  having  been  given  by  Ormuzd,  the  Good  Deity,  for 
the  Aryans  to  live  in  ; and  these  countries  are  described  as  a land 
of  delight,  which  was  turned  by  Ahriman,  the  Evil  Deity,  into  a 


1  Translated  from  the  Bhagavat  by  Sir  Wm. 

Jones,  and  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the 

“Asiatic  Researches,”  p.  230,  etseq.  See  also 

Maurice : Ind.  Ant.  ii.  277,  et  seg.,  and  Prof. 
Max  Muller’s  Hist.  Ancient  Sanskrit  Litera- 
ture, p.  425,  et  seg. 


2 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  55. 

3 See  Thornton’s  Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  p.  30. 
Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  205,  and  Priestley, 
p.  41. 

* Priestley,  p.  42. 


26 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


land  of  death  and  cold,  partly,  it  is  said,  by  a great  flood,  which  is 
described  as  being  like  Noah’s  flood  recorded  in  the  Book  of 
Genesis.1 2 

The  ancient  Greeks  had  records  of  a flood  which  destroyed 
nearly  the  whole  human  race.9  The  story  is  as  follows  : 

“ From  his  throne  in  the  high  Olympos,  Zeus  looked  down  on  the  children  of 
men,  and  saw  that  everywhere  they  followed  only  their  lusts,  and  cared  nothing 
for  right  or  for  law.  And  ever,  as  their  hearts  waxed  grosser  in  their  wicked- 
ness, they  devised  for  themselves  new  rites  to  appease  the  anger  of  the  gods,  till 
the  whole  earth  was  filled  with  blood.  Far  away  in  the  hidden  glens  of  the 
Arcadian  hills  the  sons  of  Lykaon  feasted  and  spake  proud  words  against  the 
majesty  of  Zeus,  and  Zeus  himself  came  down  from  his  throne  to  see  their  way 
and  their  doings.  . . . Then  Zeus  returned  to  his  home  on  Olympos,  and 

he  gave  the  word  that  a flood  of  waters  should  be  let  loose  upon  the  earth,  that 
the  sons  of  men  might  die  for  their  great  wickedness.  So  the  west  wind  rose 
in  its  might,  and  the  dark  rain-clouds  veiled  the  whole  heaven,  for  the  winds  of 
the  north  which  drive  away  the  mists  and  vapors  were  shut  up  in  their  prison 
house.  On  hill  and  valley  burst  the  merciless  rain,  and  the  rivers,  loosened  from 
their  courses,  rushed  over  the  whole  plains  and  up  the  mountain-side.  From 
his  home  on  the  highlands  of  Phthia,  Deukalion  looked  forth  on  the  angry  sky, 
and,  when  he  saw  the  v/aters  swelling  in  the  valleys  beneath,  he  called  Pvrrha, 
his  wife,  and  said  to  her:  ‘The  time  has  come  of  which  my  father,  the  wise 
Prometheus,  forewarned  me.  Make  ready,  therefore,  the  ark  which  1 have 
built,  and  place  in  it  all  that  we  may  need  for  food  while  the  flood  of  waters  is 
out  upon  the  earth.’  . . . Then  Pyrrha  hastened  to  make  all  things  ready, 

and  they  waited  till  the  waters  rose  up  to  the  highlands  of  Phthia  and  floated 
away  the  ark  of  Deukalion.  The  fishes  swam  amidst  the  old  elm-groves,  and 
twined  amongst  the  gnarled  boughs  on  the  oaks,  while  on  the  face  of  the  waters 
were  tossed  the  bodies  of  men;  and  Deukalion  looked  on  the  dead  faces  of 
stalwart  vrarriors,  of  maidens,  and  of  babes,  as  they  rose  and  fell  upon  the 
heavy  waves.  ” 

When  the  flood  began  to  abate,  the  ark  rested  on  Mount  Par- 
nassus, and  Deucalion,  with  his  wife  Pyrrha,  stepped  forth  upon 
the  desolate  earth.  They  then  immediately  constructed  an  altar, 
and  offered  up  thanks  to  Zeus,  the  mighty  being  who  sent  the  flood 
and  saved  them  from  its  waters.3 

According  to  Ovid  (a  Grecian  writer  born  43  b.  c.),  Deucalion 
does  not  venture  out  of  the  ark  until  a dove  which  he  sent  out  re- 
turns to  him  with  an  olive  branch.4 


1 Bunce  : Fairy  Tales,  Origin  and  Meaning, 
p.  18. 

2 The  oldest  Greek  mythology,  however,  has 
no  such  idea ; it  cannot  be  proved  to  have 
been  known  to  the  Greeks  earlier  than  the  6t,h 
century  B.  C.  (See  Goldzhier  : Hebrew  Mytho., 
p.  319.)  This  could  not  have  been  the  case 
had  there  ever  been  a 'universal  deluge. 

3 Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  pp.  72-74.  “ Apol- 

lodorus— a Grecian  mythologist,  bom  140  b. 


c.,  — having  mentioned  Deucalion  consigned 
to  the  ark,  takes  notice,  upon  his  quitting  it, 
of  his  offering  up  an  immediate  sacrifice  to 
God.”  (Chambers’  Encyclo.,  art.  Deluge.) 

4  In  Lundy’s  Monumental  Christianity  (p. 
299,  Fig.  137)  may  be  seen  a representation  of 
Deucalion  and  Pyrrha  landing  from  the  ark. 
A dove  and  olive  branch  are  depicted  in  the 
scene. 


THE  DELUGE. 


27 


It  was  at  one  time  extensively  believed,  even  by  intelligent 
scholars,  that  the  myth  of  Deucalion  was  a corrupted  tradition  of 
the  Noachian  deluge,  but  this  untenable  opinion  is  now  all  but 
universally  abandoned. 1 2 

The  legend  was  found  in  the  West  among  the  Kelts.  They  be- 
lieved that  a great  deluge  overwhelmed  the  world  and  drowned  all 
men  except  Dray  an  and  Droyvacli,  who  escaped  in  a boat,  and 
colonized  Britain.  This  boat  was  supposed  to  have  been  built  by 
the  “ Heavenly  Lord,”  and  it  received  into  it  a pair  of  every  kind 
of  beasts.3 

The  ancient  Scandinavian*  had  their  legend  of  a deluge.  The 
Edda  describes  this  deluge,  from  which  only  one  man  escapes,  with 
his  family,  by  means  of  a bark.3  It  was  also  found  among  the 
ancient  Mexicans.  They  believed  that  a man  named  Coxcox,  and 
his  wife,  survived  the  deluge.  Lord  Kingsborough,  speaking  of 
this  legend,4  informs  us  that  the  person  who  answered  to  Noah 
entered  the  ark  with  six  others;  and  that  the  story  of  sending 
birds  out  of  the  ark,  &c.,  is  the  same  in  general  character 
with  that  of  the  Bible. 

Dr.  Brin  ton  also  speaks  of  the  Mexican  tradition.5  They 
had  not  only  the  story  of  sending  out  the  bird , but  related  that 
the  ark  landed  on  a mountain.  The  tradition  of  a deluge  was 
also  found  among  the  Brazilians,  and  among  many  Indian  tribes.8 
The  mountain  upon  which  the  ark  is  supposed  to  have  rested, 
was  pointed  to  by  the  residents  .in  nearly  every  quarter  of  the  globe. 
The  mountain-chain  of  Ararat  was  considered  to  be — by  the 
Chaldeams  and  Hebrews — the  place  where  the  ark  landed.  The 
Greeks  pointed  to  Mount  Parnassus ; the  Hindoos  to  the  Himalayas  ; 
and  in  Armenia  numberless  heights  were  pointed  out  with  becom- 
ing reverence,  as  those  on  which  the  few  survivors  of  the  dreadful 
scenes  of  the  deluge  were  preserved.  On  the  Bed  Biver  (in 
America),  near  the  village  of  the  Caddoes,  there  was  an  eminence  to 
which  the  Indian  tribes  for  a great  distance  around  paid  devout 
homage.  The  Cerro  Naztarny  on  the  Bio  Grande,  the  peak  of  Old 
Zuni  in  New  Mexico,  that  of  Colhuacan  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
Mount  Apoala  in  Upper  Mixteca,  and  Mount  Neba  in  the  province 
of  Guaymi,  are  some  of  many  elevations  asserted  by  the  neighbor- 


1 Chambers’  Encyclo.,  art.  Deucalion. 

2 Baring-Gould  : Legends  of  the  Patriarchs, 

p.  114.  See  also  Myths  of  the  British  Druids, 

p.  95. 


3 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  99. 

4 Mex.  Antiq.  vol.  viii. 

6 Myths  of  the  New  World,  pp.  203,  204, 

• See  Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  pp.  189,  190. 


28 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


ing  nations  to  have  been  places  of  refuge  for  Jieir  ancestors  when 
the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  broke  forth. 

The  question  now  may  naturally  be  asked,  How  could  such  a 
story  have  originated  unless  there  was  some  foundation  for  it  ? 

In  answer  to  this  question  we  will  say  that  we  do  not  think 
such  a story  could  have  originated  without  some  foundation  for  it, 
and  that  most,  if  not  all,  legends,  have  a basi  of  truth  underlying 
the  fabulous,  although  not  always  discernible.  This  story  may  have 
an  astronomical  basis,  as  some  suppose,1  or  it  may  not.  At  any 
rate,  it  would  be  very  easy  to  transmit  by  memory  the  fact  of  the 
sinking  of  an  island , or  that  of  an  earthquake , or  a great  floods, 
caused  by  overflows  of  rivers,  &c.,  which,  in  the  course  of  time, 
would  be  added  to,  and  enlarged  upon,  and,  in  this  way,  made  into 
quite  a lengthy  tale.  According  to  one  of  the  most  ancient  ac- 
counts of  the  deluge,  we  are  told  that  at  that  time  “ the  forest  trees 
were  dashed  against  each  other;”  “ the  mountains  were  involved 
with  smoke  and  flame ; ” that  there  was  “ fire,  and  smoke,  and  wind, 
which  ascended  in  thick  clouds  replete  with  lightning.”  “The 
roaring  of  the  ocean,  whilst  violently  agitated  with  the  whirling  of 
the  mountains,  was  like  the  bellowing  of  a mighty  cloud,  &c.”2 

A violent  earthquake,  with  eruptions  from  volcanic  mountains, 
and  the  sinking  of  land  into  the  sea,  would  evidently  produce  such 
a scene  as  this.  We  know  that  at  one  period  in  the  earth’s  history, 
such  scenes  must  have  been  of  frequent  occurrence.  The  science 
of  geology  demonstrates  this  fact  to  us.  Local  deluges  were  of 
frequent  occurrence,  and  that  some  persons  may  have  been  saved  on 
one,  or  perhaps  many,  such  occasions,  by  means  of  a raft  or  boat, 
and  that  they  may  have  sought  refuge  on  an  eminence,  or  mountain, 
does  not  seem  at  all  improbable. 

During  the  Champlain  period  in  the  history  of  the  world — 
which  came  after  the  Glacial  period — the  climate  became  warmer, 
the  continents  sank , and  there  were,  consequently,  continued  local 
floods  which  must  have  destroyed  considerable  animal  life,  includ- 
ing man.  The  foundation  of  the  deluge  myth  may  have  been  laid 
at  this  time. 


1 Count  de  Volney  says  : “ The  Deluge  men- 
tioned by  Jews,  Chaldeans,  Greeks  and  Indians, 
as  having  destroyed  the  world,  are  one  and  the 
jam e physico-astronomical  event  which  is  still 
repeated  every  year,”  and  that  “all  those 
personages  that  figure  in  the  Deluge  of  Noah 

and  Xisuthus,  are  still  in  the  celestial  sphere. 
It  was  a real  picture  of  the  calendar.”  (Re- 
searches in  Ancient  Hist.,  p.  124.)  It  was  on 
the  same  day  that  Noah  is  said  to  have  shut 


himself  up  in  the  ark,  that  the  priests  of  Egypt 
shut  up  in  their  sacred  coffer  or  ark  the  image 
of  Osiris,  a personification  of  the  Sun.  This 
was  on  the  17th  of  the  month  Athor,  in  which 
the  Sun  enters  the  Scorpion.  (See  Kenrick’s 
Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  410.)  The  history  of  Noah 
also  corresponds,  in  some  respects,  with  that 
of  Bacchus,  another  personification  of  the  Sun. 

8 See  Maurice’s  Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii. 
p.  268. 


THE  DELUGE. 


29 


Some  may  suppose  that  this  is  dating  the  history  of  man  to  j far 
back,  making  his  history  too  remote ; but  such  is  not  the  case. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  man  existed  for  ages  before  the 
Glacial  epoch.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  we  have  yet  found 
remains  of  the  earliest  human  beings ; there  is  evidence,  however, 
that  man  existed  during  the  Pliocene , if  not  during  the  Miocene 
periods,  when  hoofed  quadrupeds,  and  Proboscidians  abounded, 
human  remains  and  implements  having  been  found  mingled  with 
remains  of  these  animals.1 

Charles  Darwin  believed  that  the  animal  called  man,  might  have 
been  properly  called  by  that  name  at  an  epoch  as  remote  as  the 
Eocene  period.2  Man  had  probably  lost  his  hairy  covering  by  that 
time,  and  had  begun  to  look  human. 

Prof.  Draper,  speaking  of  the  antiquity  of  man,  says : 

“ Bo  far  as  investigations  have  gone,  they  indisputably  refer  the  existence  of 
man  to  a date  remote  from  us  by  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years,”  and  that, 
“ it  is  difficult  to  assign  a shorter  date  from  the  last  glaciation  of  Europe  than  a 
quarter  of  a million  of  years,  and  human  existence  antedates  that”* 

Again  he  says : 

“ Recent  researches  give  reason  to  believe  that,  under  low  and  base  grades, 
the  existence  of  man  can  be  traced  back  into  the  Tertiary  times.  Pie  was  con- 
temporary with  the  Southern  Elephant,  the  Rhinoceros-leptorhinus,  the  great 
Hippopotamus,  perhaps  even  in  the  Miocene,  contemporary  with  the  Mastodon.”4 


member  of  an  order  no  longer  represented  in 
that  part  of  the  world.”  (Herbert  Spencer : 
Principles  of  Sociology,  vol.  i.  p.  17.) 


: 


1 “ In  America,  along  with  the  bones  of  the 
Mastodon  imbedded  in  the  alluvium  of  the 
Bourbense,  were  found  arrow  heads  and  other 
traces  of  the  savages  who  had  killed  this 

2 Darwin  : Descent  of  Man,  p.  156.  We  think  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  insert  here  what 
might  properly  be  called  : “ The  Drama  of  Life,""  which  is  as  follows  : 

Azoic  : Conflict  of  Inorganic  Forces. 

Paleozoic  : Age  of  Invertebrates, 
f Scene  i.  Eozoic  : Enter  Protozoans  and  Protop hytes. 

ii.  Silurian  : Enter  the  Army  of  Invertebrates. 

iii.  Devonian  : Enter  Fishes. 

iv.  Carboniferous  : (Age  of  Coal  Plants)  Enter  First  Air  breathers. 
Mesozoic : Enter  Reptiles. 

Triassic  : Enter  Batrachians. 

Jurassic  : Enter  huge  Reptiles  of  Sea,  Laud  and  Air. 

Cretaceous  : (Age  of  Chalk)  Enter  Ammonites. 

Cenozoic  : (Age  of  Mammals.) 

Eocene  : Enter  Marine  Mammals,  and  probably  Man. 

Miocene  : Enter  Hoofed  Quadrupeds. 

Pliocene  : Enter  Proboscidians  and  Edentates. 

Post  Tertiary  : Positive  Age  of  Man. 

Glacial  : Ice  and  Drift  Periods. 

ii.  Champlain  : Sinking  Continents ; Warmer;  Tropical  Animals  go  North. 
iii.  Terrace  : Rising  Continents  ; Colder. 

[ “ iv.  Present:  Enter  Science,  Iconoclasts,  &c.,  &c. 

* Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  p.  199.  4 Ibid.  pp.  195,  196. 


Act.  i. 
Act  ii. 


Primary. 


Act  iii. 


Secondary. . 


Act  iv. 


Tertiary. 


Act  v. 


(Scene  i. 
-{  “ ii. 

I “ «*• 

f Scene  i. 
-j  “ ii. 

I “ iiL 

f Scene  i. 


Post  Tertiary.  ■{ 


30 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Prof.  Huxley  closes  his  “ Evidence  as  to  Man’s  Place  in  Nature,” 
by  saying : 

“Where  must  we  look  for  primeval  man?  Was  the  oldest  Homo  Sapiens 
Pliocene  or  Miocene,  or  yet  more  ancient  t ...  If  any  form  of  the  doctrine 
of  progressive  development  is  correct,  we  must  extend  by  long  epochs  the  most  lib- 
eral estimate  that  has  yet  been  made  of  the  antiquity  of  man”' 

Prof.  Oscar  Pascliel,  in  his  work  on  “ Mankind,”  speaking  of 
the  deposits  of  human  remains  which  have  been  discovered  in 
caves,  mingled  with  the  bones  of  wild  animals,  says : 

‘ 4 The  examination  of  one  of  these  caves  at  Brixham,  by  a geologist  as  trust- 
worthy as  Dr.  Falconer,  convinced  the  specialists  of  Great  Britain,  as  early  as 
1858,  that  man  was  a contemporary  of  the  Mammoth,  the  Woolly  Rhinoceros, 
the  Cave-lion,  the  Cave-hyCha,  the  Cave-bear,  and  therefore  of  the  Mammalia  of 
the  Geological  period  antecedent  to  our  own.”* * 

The  positive  evidence  of  man’s  existence  during  the  Tertiary 
period,  are  facts  whicli  must  firmly  convince  every  one — who  is 
willing  to  be  convinced— of  the  great  antiquity  of  man.  We  might 
multiply  our  authorities,  but  deem  it  unnecessary. 

The  observation  of  shells,  corals,  and  other  remains  of  aquatic 
animals , in  places  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  even  on  high 
mountains,  may  have  given  rise  to  legends  of  a great  flood. 

Fossils  found  imbedded  in  high  ground  have  been  appealed  to, 
both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  both  by  savage  and  civilized 
man,  as  evidence  in  support  of  their  traditions  of  a flood  ; and,  more- 
over, the  argument,  apparently  unconnected  with  any  tradition,  is 
to  be  found,  that  because  there  are  marine  fossils  in  places  away 
from  the  sea,  therefore  the  sea  must  once  have  been  there. 

It  is  only  quite  recently  that  the  presence  of  fossil  shells,  Ac., 
on  high  mountains,  has  been  abandoned  as  evidence  of  the 
Noachic  flood. 

Mr.  Tylor  tells  us  that  in  the  ninth  edition  of  “ Horne’s  Intro- 
duction to  the  Scriptures,”  published  in  1846,  the  evidence  of  fossils 
is  confidently  held  to  jprove  the  universality  of  the  Deluge  ; but  the 
argument  disappears  from  the  next  edition , published  ten  years 
later? 

Besides  fossil  remains  of  aquatic  animals,  foa&liave  been  found 
on  tops  of  mountains.4  A discovery  of  this  kind  may  have  given 
rise  to  the  story  of  an  ark  having  been  made  in  which  to  preserve 
the  favored  ones  from  the  waters,  and  of  its  landing  on  a mountain.5 


1 Huxley  : Man’s  Place  in  Nature,  p.  184. 

2 Paschel  : Races  of  Man,  p.  36. 

8 Tylor  : Early  History  of  Mankind,  p.  328. 

* Ibid.  pp.  329,  330 


6 We  know  that  many  legends  have  origin- 
ated in  this  way.  For  example,  Dr.  Robinson, 
in  his  “ Travels  in  Palestine”  (ii.  586),  men- 
tions a tradition  that  a city  had  once  stood  in  a 


THE  DELUGE. 


31 


Before  closing  this  chapter,  it  may  be  well  to  notice  a striking 
mcident  in  the  legend  we  have  been  treating,  i.  e the  frequent  oc- 
currence of  the  number  seven  in  the  narrative.  For  instance  : the 


Lord  commands  Noah  to  take  into  the  ark  clean  beasts  by  sevens , 
and  fowls  also  by  sevens , and  tells  him  that  in  seven  days  he  will 
cause  it  to  rain  upon  the  earth.  We  are  also  told  that  the  ark 
rested  in  the  seventh  month,  and  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  month, 
upon  the  mountains  of  Ararat.  After  sending  the  dove  out  of  the 
ark  the  first  time,  Noah  waited  seven  days  before  sending  it  out 
again.  After  sending  the  dove  out  the  second  time,  “ he  stayed  yet 
another  seven  days”  ere  he  again  sent  forth  the  dove. 

This  coincidence  arises  from  the  mystic  power  attached  to  the  j 
number  seven , derived  from  its  frequent  occurrence  in  astrology. 

We  find  that  in  all  religions  of  antiquity  the  number  seven — 
which  applied  to  the  sun , moon  and  the  five  planets  known  to  the 
ancients — is  a sacred  number , represented  in  all  kinds  and  sorts  of 
forms  for  instance  : The  candlestick  with  seven  branches  in  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem.  The  seven  inclosures  of  the  temple.  The 
seven  doors  of  the  cave  of  Mithras.  The  seven  stories  of  tne  tower 
of  Babylon.2  The  seven  gates  of  Thebes.3  The  flute  of  seven  pipes 
generally  put  into  the  hand  of  the  god  Pan.  rThe  lyre  of  seven 
strings  touched  by  Apollo.  The  book  of  “ Fate,”  composed  of  seven 
books.  The  seven  prophetic  rings  of  the  Brahmans.4  The  seven 
stones — consecrated  to  the  seven  planets — in  Laconia.6  The  division 
into  seven  castes  adopted  by  the  Egyptians  and  Indians.  The  seven 
idols  of  the  Bonzes.  The  seven  altars  of  the  monument  of  Mithras. 
The  seven  great  spirits  invoked  by  the  Persians.  The  seven  arch- 


angels ®f  the  Chaldeans.  The  seven  archangels  of  the  Jews. 


k 


desert  between  Petra  and  Hebron,  the  people  of 
which  had  perished  for  their  vices,  and  been 
converted  into  stone.  Mr.  Seetzen,  who  went 
to  the  spot,  found  no  traces  of  ruins,  but  a 
number  of  stony  concretions,  resembling  in 
form  and  size  the  human  head.  They  had  been 
ignorantly  supposed  to  be  petrified  heads , and  a 
legend  framed  to  account  for  their  owners  suf- 
fering so  terrible  a fate.  Another  illustration 
is  as  follows  : — The  Kamchadals  believe  that 
volcanic  mountains  are  the  abode  of  devils, 
who,  after  they  have  cooked  their  meals,  fling 
the  fire-brands  out  of  the  chimney.  Being 
asked  what  these  devils  eat,  they  said  “ whales.'" 
Here  we  see,  first,  a story  invented  to  account 
for  the  volcanic  eruptions  from  the  mountains  ; 
and,  second,  a story  invented  to  account  for  the 
remains  of  whales  found  on  the  mountains.  The 
savages  knew  that  this  was  true,  “ because  their 
old  people  had  said  so,  and  believed  it  them- 


selves.” (Related  by  Mr.  Tylor,  in  his  “ Early 
History  of  Mankind,"  p.  326.) 

1 “Everything of  importance  was  calculated 
by,  and  fitted  into,  this  number  (seven)  by  the 
Aryan  philosophers, — ideas  as  well  as  locali- 
ties.” (Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  407.) 

2 Each  one  being  consecrated  to  a planet. 
First,  to  Saturn  ; second,  to  Jupiter  ; third,  to 
Mars ; fourth,  to  the  Sun  ; fifth,  to  Venus  ; 
sixth,  to  Mercury ; seventh,  to  the  Moon. 
(The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  iv.  p.  269.  See 
also  The  Angel  Messiah,  p.  106.) 

3 Each  of  which  had  the  name  of  a planet. 

4 On  each  of  which  the  name  of  a planet  was 
engraved. 

6 “ There  was  to  be  seen  in  Laconia,  seven 
columns  erected  in  honor  of  the  seven  planets." 
(Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  34.) 

8 “ The  Jews  believed  that  the  Throne  of 
Jehovah  was  surrounded  by  his  seven  high 


32 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  seven  days  in  the  week.1  The  seven  sacraments  of  the  Chris- 
tians. The  seven  wicked  spirits  of  the  Babylonians.  The  sprinkling 
of  blood  seven  times  upon  the  altars  of  the  Egyptians.  The  seven 
mortal  sins  of  the  Egyptians.  The  hymn  of  seven  vowels  chanted 
by  the  Egyptian  priests.2  The  seven  branches  of  the  Assyrian 
“ Tree  of  Life.”  Agni,  the  the  Hindoo  god,  is  represented  with 
seven  arms.  Sura’s3  horse  was  represented  with  seven  heads. 
Seven  churches  are  spoken  of  in  the  Apocalypse.  Balaam  builded 
seven  altars,  and  offered  seven  bullocks  and  seven  rams  on  each 
altar.  Pharaoh  saw  seven  kine,  &c.,  in  his  dream.  The  “ Priest  of 
Midian  ” had  seven  daughters.  Jacob  served  seven  years.  Before 
Jericho  seven  priests  bare  seven  horns.  Samson  was  bound  with 
seven  green  withes,  and  his  marriage  feast  lasted  seven  days,  &c., 
&c.  We  might  continue  with  as  much  more,  but  enough  has 
been  shown  to  verify  the  statement  that,  “in  all  religions  of  anti- 
quity, the  number  seven  is  a sacred  number.” 


chiefs  : Gabriel,  Michael,  Raphael,  Uriel,  &c.” 
(Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  46.) 

1 Each  one  being  consecrated  to  a planet, 
and  the  Sun  and  Moon.  Sunday,  “ Dies  Solis," 
sacred  to  the  sun.  Monday,  “Dies  Lunae,” 
sacred  to  the  moon.  Tuesday,  sacred  to  Tuiso 
or  Mars.  Wednesday,  sacred  to  Odin  or 
W oden,  and  to  Mercury.  Thursday,  sacred  to 
Thor  and  others.  Friday,  sacred  to  Freia  and 


Venus.  Saturday,  sacred  to  Saturn.  “ The 
(ancient)  Egyptians  assigned  a day  of  the  week 
to  the  sun,  moon,  and  live  planets,  and  the 
number  seven  was  held  there  in  great  rever 
ence.”  (Kenrick  : Egypt,  i.  238.) 

8 “ The  Egyptian  priests  chanted  the  seven 
vowels  as  a hymn  addressed  to  Serapis."  (The 
Kositrucians,  p.  143.) 

• Sura : the  Sun-god  of  the  Hindoos. 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE  TOWER  OF  BABEL. 

We  are  informed  that,  at  one  time,  “the  whole  earth  was  of 
one  language,  and  of  one  speech.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they 
(the  inhabitants  of  the  earth)  journeyed  from  the  East,  that  they 
found  a plain  in  the  land  of  Shinar,  and  they  dwelt  there. 

“ And  they  said  one  to  another,  Go  to,  let  us  make  brick,  and 
burn  them  thoroughly.  And  they  had  brick  for  stone,  and  slime 
had  they  for  mortar. 

“ And  they  said,  Go  to,  let  us  build  us  a city,  and  a tower,  whose 
top  may  reach  unto  hea/ven , and  let  us  make  us  a name,  lest  we  be 
scattered  abroad  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  And  the  Lord 
came  down  to  see  the  city  and  the  tower , which  the  children  of 
men  builded.  And  the  Lord  said,  Behold,  the  people  is  one,  and 
they  have  all  one  language  ; and  this  they  begin  to  do : and  now 
nothing  will  be  restrained  from  them,  which  they  have  imagined 
to  do.  Go  to,  let  us  go  down , and  there  confound  their  language, 
that  they  may  not  understand  one  another’s  speech.  So  the  Lord 
scattered  them  abroad  from  thence  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth : 
and  they  left  off  to  build  the  city.  Therefore  is  the  name  of  it 
called  Babel , because  the  Lord  did  there  confound  the  language  of 
all  the  earth ; and  from  thence  did  the  Lord  scatter  them  abroad 
upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth.”1 

Such  is  the  “ Scripture”  account  of  the  origin  of  languages, 
which  differs  somewhat  from  the  ideas  of  Prof.  Max  Muller  and 
other  philologists. 

Bishop  Colenso  tells  us  that : 

“The  story  of  the  dispensation  of  tongues  is  connected  by  the  Jehovistic 
writer  with  the  famous  unfinished  temple  of  Belus,  of  which  probably  some 
wonderful  reports  had  reached  him.  . . . The  derivation  of  the  name  Babel 

from  the  Hebrew  word  babal  (confound)  which  seems  to  be  the  connecting  point 
between  the  story  and  the  tower  of  Babel,  is  altogether  incorrect .”3 


1 Genesis  xi.  1-9.  2 The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  iv.  p.  268. 

3 [33] 


34 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  literal  meaning  of  the  word  being  house , or  court , or  gate 
ol  Bel,  or  gate  of  God.1 

John  Fiske  confirms  this  statement  by  saying : 

The  name  * Babel  ’ is  really  ‘ Bab-il,’  or  ‘ The  Gate  of  God  but  the  Hebrew 
writer  erroneously  derives  the  word  from  the  root  ‘ babal * — to  confuse — and 
hence  arises  the  mystical  explanation,  that  Babel  was  a place  where  human  speech 
became  confused.”2 

The  “ wonderful  reports”  that  reached  the  Jehovistic  writer 
who  inserted  this  tale  into  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  were  from  the 
Chaldean  account  of  the  confusion  of  tongues.  It  is  related  by 
Berosus  as  follows  : 

The  first  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  glorying  in  their  strength  and 
size,3  and  despising  the  gods,  undertook  to  raise  a tower  whose  top 
should  reach  the  sky,  in  the  place  where  Babylon  now  stands.  But 
when  it  approached  the  heavens,  the  winds  assisted  the  gods,  and 
overthrew  the  work  of  the  contrivers,  and  also  introduced  a diver- 
sity of  tongues  among  men,  who  till  that  time  had  all  spoken  the 
same  language.  The  ruins  of  this  tower  are  said  to  be  still  in 
Babylon.4 

Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  says  that  it  was  Nimrod  who 
built  the  tower,  that  he  was  a very  wicked  man,  and  that  the  tower 
was  built  in  case  the  Lord  should  have  a mind  to  drown  the  world 
again.  He  continues  his  account  by  saying  that  when  Nimrod 
proposed  the  building  of  this  tower,  the  multitude  were  very  ready 
to  follow  the  proposition,  as  they  could  then  avenge  themselves  on 
God  for  destroying  their  forefathers. 

“ And  they  built  a tower,  neither  sparing  any  pains  nor  being  in  any  degree 
negligent  about  the  work.  And  by  reason  of  the  multitude  of  hands  employed 

on  it,  it  grew  very  high,  sooner  than  any  one  could  expect It  was 

built  of  burnt  brick,  cemented  together,  with  mortar  made  of  bitumen,  that  it 
might  not  be  liable  to  admit  water.  When  God  saw  that  they  had  acted  so 
madly,  he  did  not  resolve  to  destroy  them  utterly,  since  they  were  not  grown  wiser 
by  the  destruction  of  the  former  sinners,  but  he  caused  a tumult  among  them,  by 
producing  in  them  divers  languages,  and  causing,  that  through  the  multitude  of 
those  languages  they  should  not  be  able  to  understand  one  another.  The  place 
where  they  built  the  tower  is  now  called  Babylon.”5 

The  tower  in  Babylonia,  which  seems  to  have  been  a foundation 
for  the  legend  of  the  confusion  of  tongues  to  be  built  upon,  was 


i Ibid.  p.  268.  See  also  Bible  for  Learners, 

vol.  i.  p.  90. 

3 Myths  and  Myth-makers,  p.  72.  See  also 

Encyclopaedia  Biitannica,  art.  “ Babel.” 

3 “There  wer  \ giants  in  the  earth  in  those 
days.”  (Genesis  vi.  4.) 


4 Quoted  by  Rev.  S.  Baring-Goald  : Legends 
of  the  Patriarchs,  p.  147.  See  also  Smith  : 
Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  p.  48,  and  Vol- 
ney’s  Researches  in  Ancient  History,  pp.  130, 
181. 

6 Jewish  Antiquities,  book  1,  ch.  iv.  p.  80. 


THE  TOWEE  OF  BABEL. 


35 


evidently  originally  bnilt  for  astronomical  purposes}  This  is 
clearly  seen  from  the  fact  that  it  was  called  the  “ Stages  of  the 
Seven  Spheres,”1 2  and  that  each  one  of  these  stages  was  consecrated 
to  the  Snn,  Moon,  Saturn,  Jupiter,  Mars,  Venus,  and  Mercury.3 
Nebuchadnezzar  says  of  it  in  his  cylinders : 

“ The  building  named  the  ‘ Stages  of  the  Seven  Spheres,’  which  was  the  tower 
of  Borsippa  (Babel),  had  been  built  by  a former  king.  He  had  completed  forty- 
two  cubits,  but  he  did  not  finish  its  head.  From  the  lapse  of  time,  it  had  become 
ruined;  they  had  not  taken  care  of  the  exits  of  the  waters,  so  the  rain  and 
wet  had  penetrated  into  the  brick-wrork;  the  casing  of  burnt  brick  had  bulged 
out,  and  the  terraces  of  crude  brick  lay  scattered  in  heaps.  Merobacli,  my  great 
Lord,  inclined  my  heart  to  repair  the  building.  I did  not  change  its  site,  nor 
did  I destroy  its  foundation,  but,  in  a fortunate  month,  and  upon  an  auspicious 
day,  I undertook  the  rebuilding  of  the  crude  brick  terraces  and  burnt  brick 
casing,  &c.,  &c.”4 * 

There  is  not  a word  said  here  in  these  cylinders  about  the  con- 
fusion of  tongues,  nor  anything  pertaining  to  it.  The  ruins  of  this 
ancient  tower  being  there  in  Babylonia,  and  a legend  of  how  the 
gods  confused  the  speech  of  mankind  also  being  among  them,  it 
was  very  convenient  to  point  to  these  ruins  as  evidence  that  the 
story  was  true,  just  as  the  ancient  Mexicans  pointed  to  the  ruins  of 
the  tower  of  Cholula,  as  evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  similar  story 
which  they  had  among  them,  and  just  as  many  nations  pointed  to 
the  remains  of  aquatic  animals  on  the  tops  of  mountains,  as  evidence 
of  the  truth  of  the  deluge  story. 

The  Armenian  tradition  of  the  “ Confusion  of  Tongues  ” was 
to  this  effect : 

The  world  was  formerly  inhabited  by  men  “ with  strong  bodies 
and  huge  size  ” (giants).  These  men  being  full  of  pride  and  envy, 
“ they  formed  a godless  resolve  to  build  a high  tower  ; but  whilst 
they  were  engaged  on  the  undertaking,  a fearful  wind  overthrew  it, 
which  the  wrath  of  God  had  sent  against  it.  Unknown  vjords 
were  at  the  same  time  blown  about  among  men , wherefore  arose 
strife  and  confusion.”6 

The  Hindoo  legend  of  the  “ Confusion  of  Tongues,”  is  as  follows : 

There  grew  in  th^  centre  of  the  earth,  the  wonderful  “ World 


1 “ Diodorus  states  that  the  great  tower  of 
the  temple  of  Belas  was  used  by  the  Chaldeans 
as  an  observatory .”  (Smith’s  Bible  Dictionary, 
art.  “Babel.”) 

2 The  Hindoos  had  a sacred  Mount  Meru , 
the  abode  of  the  gods.  This  mountain  was 

supposed  to  consist  of  seven  stages,  increasing 

in  sanctity  as  they  ascended.  Many  of  the 

Hindoo  temples,  or  rather  altars,  were  “ studied 
transcripts  of  the  sacred  Mount  Meru that 

is,  they  were  built,  like  the  tower  of  Babel,  in 


seven  stages.  Within  the  upper  dwelt  Brahm. 
(See  Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol,  p.  107.)  Hero- 
dotus tells  us  that  the  upper  stage  of  the  tower 
of  Babel  was  the  abode  of  the  god  Belus. 

3 The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  iv.  p. 
269.  See  also  Bunsen  : The  Angel  Messiah,  p. 
106. 

4 Rawlinson’s  Herodotus,  vol.  ii.  p.  484. 

6 Legends  of  the  Patriarchs,  pp.  148,  149. 


36 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Tree”  or  the  “ Knowledge  Tree”  It  was  so  tall  that  it  reached 
almost  to  heaven.  “ It  said  in  its  heart : ‘ I shall  hold  my  head  in 
heaven,  and  spread  my  branches  over  all  the  earth,  and  gather  all 
men  together  under  my  shadow,  and  protect  them,  and  prevent 
them  from  separating.1 * * * 5  But  Brahma,  to  punish  the  pride  of  the 
tree,  cut  off  its  branches  and  cast  them  down  on  the  earth,  when 
they  sprang  up  as  Wata  trees , and  made  differences  of  belief,  and 
speech,  and  customs,  to  prevail  on  the  earth,  to  disperse  men  over 
its  surface.”1 

Traces  of  a somewhat  similar  story  have  also  been  met  with 
among  the  Mongolian  Tha/rus  in  the  north  of  India,  and,  according  to 
Dr.  Livingston,  among  the  Africans  of  luake  Mganu.*  The  ancient 
Estlionians 3 had  a similar  myth  which  they  called  “The  Cooking 
of  Languages so  also  had  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  continent 
of  Australia .4  The  story  was  found  among  the  ancient  Mexicans, 
and  was  related  as  follows : 

Those,  with  their  descendants,  who  were  saved  from  the  deluge 
which  destroyed  all  mankind,  excepting  the  few  saved  in  the  ark, 
resolved  to  build  a tower  which  would  reach  to  the  skies.  The  ob- 
ject of  this  was  to  see  what  was  going  on  in  Heaven,  and  also  to 
have  a place  of  refuge  in  case  of  another  deluge.5 

The  job  was  superintended  by  one  of  the  seven  who  were  saved 
from  the  flood.6  He  was  a giant  called  Xelhua,  surnamed  “ the 
Architect.”7 

Xelhua  ordered  bricks  to  be  made  in  the  province  of  Tlamanalco, 
at  the  foot  of  the  Sierra  of  Cocotl,  and  to  be  conveyed  to  Cholula , 
where  the  tower  was  to  be  built.  For  this  purpose,  he  placed  a file 
of  men  reaching  from  the  Sierra  to  Cholula,  who  passed  the  bricks 
from  hand  to  hand.8  The  gods  beheld  with  wrath  this  edifice, — 
the  top  of  which  was  nearing  the  clouds, — and  were  much  irritated 
at  the  daring  attempt  of  Xelhua.  They  therefore  hurled  fire  from 
Heaven  upon  the  pyramid,  which  threw  it  down,  and  killed  many 
of  the  workmen.  The  work  was  then  discontinued,9  as  each  family 
interested  in  the  building  of  the  tower,  received  a language  of  their 
own,10  and  the  builders  could  not  understand  each  other. 


1 Ibid.  p.  148.  The  ancient  Scandinavians 

had  a legend  of  a somewhat  similar  tree.  “ The 

Mundane  Tree,”  called  Tggdrasill , was  in  the 

centre  of  the  earth  ; its  branches  covered  over 

the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  its  top  reached  to 

the  highest  heaven.  (See  Mallet’s  Northern 
Antiquities.) 

a Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  art.  “ Babel.” 

8  Esthonia  is  one  of  the  three  Baltic,  or  so- 

called,  provinces  of  Russia. 


4 Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  art.  “Babel.” 

6 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  27. 

8 Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New  World,  p. 
204. 

7 Humboldt : American  Researches,  vol.  i. 
p.  96. 

8 Ibid. 

9 Ibid,  and  Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New 
World,  p.  204. 

10  The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  iv.  p.  272. 


THE  TOWER  OF  BABEL. 


37 


Dr.  Delitzsch  must  have  been  astonished  upon  coming  across 
this  legend ; for  he  says  : 


“ Actually  the  Mexicans  had  a legend  of  a tower-building  as  well  as  of  a flood. 
Xelhua,  one  of  the  seven  giants  rescued  from  the  flood,  built  the  great  pyramid 
of  Cliolula,  in  order  to  reach  heaven,  until  the  gods,  angry  at  his  audacity, 
threw  lire  upon  the  building  and  broke  it  down,  whereupon  every  separate 
family  received  a language  of  its  own.”1 


The  ancient  Mexicans  pointed  to  the  ruins  of  a tower  at  Cholula 
as  evidence  of  the  truth  of  their  story.  This  tower  was  seen  by 
Humboldt  and  Lord  Kingsborough,  and  described  by  them.2 
We  may  say  then,  with  Dr.  Kalisch,  that : 


“Most  of  the  ancient  nations  possessed  myths  concerning  impious  giants 
who  attempted  to  storm  heaven,  either  to  share  it  with  the  immortal  gods,  or  to 
expel  them  from  it.  In  some  of  these  fables  the  confusion  of  tongues  is  represented 
as  the  punishment  inflicted  by  the  deities  for  such  wickedness.”3 


1 Quoted  by  Bishop  Colenso:  The  Penta-  p.  97.  Lord  Kingsborough:  Mexican  Antiqui 
tench  Examined,  vol.  iv.  p.  272.  ties. 

9 Humboldt:  American  Researches,  vol.  i.  3 Com.  on  Old  Test.  vol.  i.  p.  196. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  TRIAL  OF  ABRAHAM’S  FAITH. 

The  story  of  the  trial  of  Abraham’s  faith — when  he  is  ordered 
by  the  Lord  to  sacrifice  his  only  son  Isaac — is  to  be  found  in  Genesis 
xxii.  1-19,  and  is  as  follows : 

“ And  it  came  to  pass  . . . that  God  did  tempt  Abraham,  and  said  unto 
him:  ‘ Abraham,’  and  he  said:  ‘Behold,  here  I am.’  And  he  (God)  said:  ‘ Take 
now  thy  son,  thine  only  son,  Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest,  and  get  thee  into  the  land 
of  Moriah,  and  offer  him  there  for  a burnt  offering  upon  one  of  the  mountains 
which  I will  tell  thee  of.  ’ 

“And  Abraham  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  saddled  his  ass,  and  took 
two  of  his  young  men  with  him,  and  Isaac  his  son,  and  clave  the  wood  for  the 
burnt  offering,  and  rose  up  aud  went  into  the  place  which  God  had  told  him. 
. . . (When  Abraham  was  near  the  appointed  place)  he  said  unto  his  young 

men:  ‘ Abide  ye  here  with  the  ass,  and  I and  the  lad  will  go  yonder  and  worship, 
and  come  again  to  thee.  And  Abraham  took  the  wood  for  the  burnt  offering, 
and  laid  it  upon  (the  shoulders  of)  Isaac  his  son,  and  he  took  the  fire  in  his  hand, 
and  a knife,  and  they  went  both  of  them  together.  And  Isaac  spake  unto 
Abraham  his  father,  and  said:  ‘ Behold  the  fire  and  the  wood,  but  where  is  the 
lamb  for  the  burnt  offering  ? ’ And  Abraham  said:  ‘My  son,  God  will  provide 
himself  a lamb  for  a burnt  offering.’  So  they  went  both  of  them  together,  and 
they  came  to  the  place  which  God  had  told  him  of.  And  Abraham  built  an  altar 
there,  and  laid  the  wood  in  order,  and  bound  Isaac  his  son,  and  laid  him  on 
the  altar  upon  the  wood.  And  Abraham  stretched  forth  his  hand,  and  took  the 
knife  to  slay  his  son.  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto  him  out  of  heaven, 
and  said:  ‘ Abraham  ! Abraham!  lay  not  thine  hand  upon  the  lad,  neither  do  thou 
anything  unto  him,  for  now  I know  that  thou  fearest  God,  seeing  that  thou  hast 
not  withheld  thy  son,  thine  only  son  from  me.’ 

“And  Abraham  lifted  up  his  eyes,  and  looked,  and  behold  behind  him  a ram 
caught  in  a thicket  by  his  horns,  and  Abraham  went  and  took  the  ram,  and 
offered  him  up  for  a burnt  offering  in  the  stead  of  his  son.  . . . And  the 

angel  of  the  Lord  called  unto  Abraham,  out  of  heaven,  the  second  time,  and  said: 
‘ By  myself  have  I sworn  saith  1 he  Lord,  for  because  thou  hast  done  this  thing, 
and  hast  not  withheld  thy  son.  thine  only  son,  ...  I will  bless  thee,  and 
. . . I will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  in  the  heaven,  and  as  the  sand 

which  is  upon  the  sea  shore,  and  thy  seed  shall  possess  the  gate  of  his  enemies. 
And  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  be  blest,  because  thou  hast 
obeyed  my  voice.’  So  Abraham  returned  unto  his  young  men,  and  they  rose  up 
and  went  together  to  Beer-sheba,  and  Abraham  dwelt  at  Beer-sheba.” 

[38] 


THE  TRIAL  OF  ABRAHAM’S  FAITH. 


39 


There  is  a Hindoo  story  related  in  the  Sankhayana-sutras, 
which,  in  substance,  is  as  follows  : King  Hariscandra  had  no  son  ; 

he  then  prayed  to  Yaruna,  promising,  that  if  a son  were  born  to 
him,  he  would  sacrifice  the  child  to  the  god.  Then  a son  was  born 
to  him,  called  Rohita.  When  Rohita  was  grown  up  his  father  one 
day  told  him  of  the  vow  he  had  made  to  Yaruna,  and  bade  him 
prepare  to  be  sacrificed.  The  son  objected  to  being  killed  and  ran 
away  from  his  father’s  house.  For  six  years  he  wandered  in  the 
forest,  and  at  last  met  a starving  Brahman.  Him  he  persuaded  to 
sell  one  of  his  sons  named  Sunahsepha,  for  a hundred  cows.  This 
boy  was  bought  by  Rohita  and  taken  to  Hariscandra  and  about  to 
be  sacrificed  to  Yaruna  as  a substitute  for  Rohita,  when,  on  praying 
to  the  gods  with  verses  from  the  Yeda,  he  was  released  by  them.1 2 

There  was  an  ancient  Phoenician  story,  written  by  Sanchoniathon, 
who  wrote  about  1300  years  before  our  era,  which  is  as  follows  : 

‘ ‘ Saturn,  whom  the  Phoenicians  call  Israel , had  hv  a nymph  of  the  country  a 
male  child  whom  he  named  Jeoud,  that  is,  one  and  only.  On  the  breaking  out  of 
a war,  which  brought  the  country  into  imminent  danger,  Saturn  erected  an  altar, 
brought  to  it  his  son,  clothed  in  royal  garments,  and  sacrificed  him.”4 

There  is  also  a Grecian  fable  to  the  effect  that  one  Agamemnon 
had  a daughter  whom  he  dearly  loved,  and  she  was  deserving  of 
his  affection.  He  was  commanded  by  God,  through  the  Delphic 
Oracle,  to  offer  her  up  as  a sacrifice.  Her  father  long  resisted  the 
demand,  but  finally  succumbed.  Before  the  fatal  blow  had  been 
struck,  however,  the  goddess  Artemis  or  Ashtoreth  interfered,  and 
carried  the  maiden  away,  whilst  in  her  place  was  substituted  a stag.3 

Another  similar  Grecian  fable  relates  that : 

“ When  the  Greek  army  was  detained  at  Aulis,  by  contrary  winds,  the  augurs 
being  consulted,  declared  that  one  of  the  kings  had  offended  Diana,  and  she 
demanded  the  sacrifice  of  his  daughter  Ipliigenia.  It  was  like  taking  the  father’s 
life-blood,  but  he  was  persuaded  that  it  was  his  duty  to  submit  for  the  good  of 
his  country.  The  maiden  was  brought  forth  for  sacrifice,  in  spite  of  her  tears 
and  supplications;  but  just  as  the  priest  was  about  to  strike  the  fatal  blow, 
Iphigenia  suddenly  disappeared,  and  a goat  of  uncommon  beauty  stood  in  her 
place.”4 

There  is  yet  still  another,  which  belongs  to  the  same  country 
and  is  related  thus  : 

“In  Sparta,  it  being  declared  upon  one  occasion  that  the  gods  demanded  a 
human  victim,  the  choice  was  made  by  lot,  and  fell  on  a damsel  named  Helena. 


1 See  Muller’s  Hist.  Sanscrit  Literature;  and  3 See  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p. 

Williams’  Indian  Wisdom,  p.  29.  104. 

2 Quoted  by  Count  de  Volney:  New  Re-  4 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  302. 

searches  in  Anc’t  Hist.,  p.  144. 


40 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


But  when  all  was  in  readiness,  an  eagle  descended,  carried  away  the  priest’s 
knife,  and  laid  it  on  the  head  of  a heifer,  which  was  sacrificed  in  her  stead.”1 

The  story  of  Abraham  and  Isaac  was  written  at  a time  when  the 
Mosaic  party  in  Israel  was  endeavoring  to  abolish  idolatry  among 
their  people.  They  were  offering  up  human  sacrifices  to  their 
gods  Moloch.  Baal,  and  Chemosh,  and  the  priestly  author  of  this 
story  was  trying  to  make  the  people  think  that  the  Lord  had  abol- 
ished such  offerings,  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Abraham.  The 
Grecian  legends,  which  he  had  evidently  heard,  may  have  given 
him  the  idea.9 

Human  offerings  to  the  gods  were  at  one  time  almost  universal. 
In  the  earliest  ages  the  offerings  were  simple,  and  such  as  shepherds 
and  rustics  could  present.  They  loaded  the  altars  of  the  gods  with 
the  first  fruits  of  their  crops,  and  the  choicest  products  of  the  earth. 
Afterwards  they  sacrificed  animals.  When  they  had  once  laid  it 
down  as  a principle  that  the  effusion  of  the  blood  of  these  animals 
appeased  the  anger  of  the  gods,  and  that  their  justice  turned  aside 
upon  the  victims  those  strokes  which  were  destined  for  men,  their 
great  care  was  for  nothing  more  than  to  conciliate  their  favor  by 
so  easy  a method.  It  is  the  nature  of  violent  desires  and  excessive 
fear  to  know  no  bounds,  and  therefore,  when  they  would  ask  for  any 
favor  wdiich  they  ardently  wished  for,  or  would  deprecate  some 
public  calamity  which  they  feared,  the  blood  of  animals  was  not 
deemed  a price  sufficient,  but  they  began  to  shed  that  of  men.  It 
is  probable,  as  we  have  said,  that  this  barbarous  practice  was  formerly 
almost  universal,  and  that  it  is  of  very  remote  antiquity.  In  time  of 
war  the  captives  were  chosen  for  this  purpose,  but  in  time  of  peace 
they  took  the  slaves.  The  choice  was  partly  regulated  by  the  opinion 
of  the  bystanders,  and  partly  by  lot.  But  they  did  not  always  sacrifice 
such  mean  persons.  In  great  calamities,  in  a pressing  famine,  for 
example,  if  the  people  thought  they  had  some  pretext  to  impute 
the  cause  of  it  to  their  king,  they  even  sacrificed  him  without 
hesitation,  as  the  highest  price  with  which  they  could  purchase  the 
Divine  favor.  In  this  manner,  the  first  King  of  Yermaland  (a 
province  of  Sweden)  was  burnt  in  honor  of  Odin,  the  Supreme 
God,  to  put  an  end  to  a great  dearth ; as  we  read  in  the  history  of 
Norway.  The  kings,  in  their  turn,  did  not  spare  the  blood  of  their 
subjects ; and  many  of  them  even  shed  that  of  their  children. 
Earl  Hakon,  of  Norway,  offered  his  son  in  sacrifice,  to  obtain  of 
Odin  the  victory  over  the  Jomsburg  pirates.  Aun,  King  of  Sweden, 


» Ibid. 


3 See  chapter  xi. 


41 


THE  TRIAL  OF  ABRAHAM’S  FAITH. 

devoted  to  Odin  the  blood  of  liis  nine  sons,  to  prevail  on  that  god 
to  prolong  his  life.  Some  of  the  kings  of  Israel  offered  up  their 
first-born  sons  as  a sacrifice  to  the  god  Baal  or  Moloch. 

The  altar  of  Moloch  reeked  with  blood.  Children  were  sacri- 
ficed and  burned  in  the  fire  to  him,  while  trumpets  and  flutes 
drowned  their  screams,  and  the  mothers  looked  on,  and  were  bound 
to  restrain  their  tears. 

The  Phenicians  offered  to  the  gods,  in  times  of  war  and  drought, 
the  fairest  of  their  children.  The  books  of  Sanchoniathon  and 
Byblian  Philo  are  full  of  accounts  of  such  sacrifices.  In  Byblos 
boys  were  immolated  to  Adonis ; and,  on  the  founding  of  a city  or 
colony,  a sacrifice  of  a vast  number  of  children  was  solemnized,  in 
the  hopes  of  thereby  averting  misfortune  from  the  new  settlement. 
The  Phenicians,  according  to  Eusebius,  yearly  sacrificed  their 
dearest,  and  even  their  only  children,  to  Saturn.  The  bones  of  the 
victims  were  preserved  in  the  temple  of  Moloch,  in  a golden  ark, 
which  was  carried  by  the  Phenicians  with  them  to  war.1  Like  the 
Fijians  of  the  present  day,  those  people  considered  their  gods  as 
beings  like  themselves.  They  loved  and  they  hated ; they  were 
proud  and  revengeful,  they  were,  in  fact,  savages  like  themselves. 

If  the  eldest  born  of  the  family  of  Athamas  entered  the  temple 
of  the  Laphystian  Jupiter,  at  Alos,  in  Achaia,  he  was  sacrificed, 
crowned  with  garlands,  like  an  animal  victim.8 

The  offering  of  human  sacrifices  to  the  Sun  was  extensively 
practiced  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  before  the  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity.® 


1 Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Reli$.  Belief,  vol.  i. 


* Kenrick'a  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  443. 

* See  Acosta  : Hist.  Indies,  vol.  ii. 


CHAPTER  V. 


JACOB'S  VISION  OF  THE  LADDER. 

In  the  28th  chapter  of  Genesis,  we  are  told  that  Isaac,  after 
blessing  his  son  Jacob,  sent  him  to  Padan-aram,  to  take  a daughter 
of  Laban’s  (his  mother’s  brother)  to  wife.  Jacob,  obeying  his 
father,  44  went  out  from  Beer-sheba  (where  lie  dwelt),  and  went 
towards  Haran.  And  lie  lighted  upon  a certain  place,  and  tarried 
there  all  night,  because  the  sun  was  set.  And  lie  took  of  the 

stones  of  the  place,  and  put  them  for  his  pillow,  and  lay  down  in 

that  place  to  sleep.  And  he  dreamed,  and  behold,  a ladder  set  upon 
the  earth,  and  the  top  of  it  reached  to  heaven.  And  lie  beheld  the 
angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  on  it.  And,  behold,  the 
Lord  stood  above  it,  and  said ; 4 1 am  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham 
thy  father,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  the  land  whereon  thou  liest,  to 
thee  will  I give  it,  and  to  thy  seed.’  ....  And  Jacob 
awoke  out  of  his  sleep,  and  he  said  : 4 Surely  the  Lord  is  in  this 

place,  and  I know  it  not.’  And  he  was  afraid,  and  said : 4 IIow 

dreadful  is  this  place,  this  is  none  other  than  the  house  of  God , 
and  this  is  the  gate  of  Ileaven .’  And  Jacob  rose  up  early  in  the 
morning,  and  took  the  stone  that  he  had  put  for  his  pillow,  and  set 
it  up  for  a pillar,  and  poured  oil  upon  the  top  of  it.  And  he 
called  the  name  of  that  place  Beth-elP 

The  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis  has  evidently  something  to 
do  with  this  legend.  It  means,  in  the  theological  acceptation  of 
the  term,  the  supposed  transition  of  the  soul  after  death,  into 
another  substance  or  body  than  that  which  it  occupied  before.  The 
belief  in  such  a transition  was  common  to  the  most  civilized,  and 
the  most  uncivilized,  nations  of  the  earth.1 2 

It  was  believed  in,  and  taught  by,  the  Brahminical  Hindoos' 
the  Buddhists'  the  natives  of  Egypt*  several  philosophers  of 


1 See  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “Transmi- 
gration.” 

2 Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Transmigra- 
tion. ” Prichard’s  Mythology,  p.  213.  and  Prog. 
Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  59. 

[43] 


3  Ibid.  Ernest  de  Bunsen  says  : “ The  first 
traces  of  the  doctrine  of  Transmigration  of 
souls  is  to  be  found  among  the  Brahmins  and 
Buddhists.”  (The  Angel  Messiah,  pp.  63,  64.) 

* Prichard’s  Mythology,  pp.  213,  214. 


Jacob’s  vision  of  the  ladder. 


43 


ancient  Greece?  tlie  ancient  Druids ? the  natives  of  Madagascar  ? 
several  tribes  of  Africa ? and  North  America ? the  ancient  Mexi 
cans?  and  by  some  Jewish  and  Christian  sects.5 

“ It  deserves  notice,  that  in  both  of  these  religions  (i.  e.,  Jewish  and  Christian ), 
it  found  adherents  as  well  in  ancient  as  in  modern  times.  Among  the  Jews,  the 
doctrine  of  transmigration — the  Gilgul  Neshamoth—  was  taught  In  the  mystical 
system  of  the  Kabbala.  ”6 

“All  the  souls,”  the  spiritual  code  of  this  system  says,  “are  subject  to  the 
trials  of  transmigration ; and  men  do  not  know  which  are  the  ways  of  the  Most 
High  in  their  regard.”  “The  principle,  in  short,  of  the  Kabbala , is  the  same  as 
that  of  Brahmanism.” 

4 ‘ On  the  ground  of  this  doctrine,  which  was  shared  in  by  Rabbis  of  the  highest 
reuown,  it  was  held,  for  instance,  that  the  soul  of  Adam  migrated  into  David , 
and  will  come  in  the  Messiah  ; that  the  soul  of  Japhet  is  the  same  as  that  of 
Simeon,  and  the  soul  of  Terah , migrated  into  Job.” 

“Of  all  these  transmigrations,  biblical  instances  are  adduced  according  to 
tlieir  mode  of  interpretation — in  the  writings  of  Rabbi  Manasse  ben  Israel,  Rabbi 
Naphtali,  Rabbi  Meyer  ben  Gabbai,  Rabbi  Ruben,  in  the  Jalkut  Khadash,  and 
other  works  of  a similar  character.”1 2 3 4 

The  doctrine  is  thus  described  by  Ovid,  in  the  language  of 
Dryden  : 

“ Wbat  feels  the  body  when  the  soul  expires, 

By  time  corrupted,  or  consumed  by  fires  ? 

Nor  dies  the  spirit,  but  new  life  repeats 
Into  other  forms,  and  only  changes  seats. 

Ev’n  I,  who  these  mysterious  truths  declare, 

Was  once  Euphorbus  in  the  Trojan  war; 

My  name  and  lineage  I remember  well, 

And  how  in  fight  by  Spartan’s  King  I fell. 

In  Argive  Juno’s  fane  1 late  beheld 
My  buckler  hung  on  high,  and  own’d  my  former  shield 
Then  death,  so  called,  is  but  old  matter  dressed 
In  some  new  figure,  and  a varied  vest. 

Thus  all  things  are  but  alter’d,  nothing  dies, 

And  here  and  there  the  unbodied  spirit  flies.” 

The  Jews  undoubtedly  learned  this  doctrine  after  they  had  been 
subdued  by,  and  become  acquainted  with  other  nations ; and  the 
writer  of  this  story,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  was  evidently 
endeavoring  to  strengthen  the  belief  in  this  doctrine — he  being 
an  advocate  of  it — by  inventing  this  story,  and  making  Jacob , a 
witness  to  the  truth  of  it.  Jacob  would  have  been  looked  upon  at 
the  time  the  story  was  written  (i  e.<  after  the  Babylonian  captivity), 

1 Gross  : The  Heathen  Religion.  Also  6 Ibid.  See  also  Bunsen  : The  Angel-Mes- 
Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “Transmigration.”  siah,  pp.  63,  64.  Dupuis,  p.  357.  Josephus: 

2 Ibid.  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  13;  Jewish  Antiquities,  book  xviii.  ch.  13.  Dun- 

and  Myths  of  the  British  Druids,  p.  15  lap  : Son  of  the  Man,  p.  94 ; and  Beal  : Hist. 

3 Chambers’s  Encyclo.  Buddha. 

4 Ibid.  « Chambers,  art.  “Transmigration.” 


44 


BIBLE  Mli  THS. 


as  of  great  authority.  We  know  that  several  writers  of  portions  of 
the  Old  Testament  have  written  for  similar  purposes.  As  an  illus- 
tration, we  may  mention  the  book  of  Esther . This  book  was  written 
for  the  purpose  of  explaining  the  origin  of  the  festival  of  Purim , 
and  to  encourage  the  Israelites  to  adopt  it.  The  writer,  who  was 
an  advocate  of  the  feast,  lived  long  after  the  Babylonish  captivity, 
and  is  quite  unknown.1 

The  writer  of  the  seventeenth  chapter  of  Matthew  has  made 
Jesus  a teacher  of  the  doctrine  of  Transmigration. 

The  Lord  had  promised  that  he  would  send  Elijah  (Elias)  the 
prophet,  “ before  the  coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the 
Lord,”2 *  and  Jesus  is  made  to  say  that  he  had  already  come,  or,  that 
his  soul  had  transmigrated  unto  the  body  of  John  the  Baptist , and 
they  knew  it  not. 

And  in  Mark  (viii.  27)  we  are  told  that  Jesus  asked  his  disciples, 
saying  unto  them;  “ Whom  do  men  say  that  1 am?”  whereupon 
they  answer:  “ Some  say  Elias ; and  others,  one  of  the  prophets;” 
or,  in  other  words,  that  the  soul  of  Elias,  or  one  of  the  prophets, 
had  transmigrated  into  the  body  of  Jesus.  In  John  (ix.  1,  2),  we  are 
told  that  Jesus  and  his  disciples  seeing  a man  “ which  was  blind 
from  his  birth”  the  disciples  asked  him,  saying ; u Master,  who  did 
sin,  this  man  (in  some  former  state)  or  his  parents.”  Being  born 
blind,  how  else  could  he  sin,  unless  in  some  former  state  ? These 
passages  result  from  the  fact,  which  we  have  already  noticed,  that 
some  of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  sects  believed  in  the  doctrine  of 
Metempsychosis. 

According  to  some  Jewish  authors,  Adam  was  re-produced  in 
Noah , Elijah , and  other  Bible  celebrities.4 

The  Bev.  Mr.  Faber  says : 

“ Adam,  and  Enoch,  and  Noah,  might  in  outward  appearance  be  different 
men,  but  they  were  really  the  self-same  divine  persons  who  had  been  promised  as 
the  seed  of  the  woman,  successively  animating  various  human  bodies.”6 

We  have  stated  as  our  belief  that  the  vision  which  the  writer  of 
the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Genesis  has  made  Jacob  to  witness,  was 
intended  to  strengthen  the  belief  in  the  doctrine  of  the  Metempsy- 
chosis, that  he  was  simply  seeing  the  souls  of  men  ascending  and  de- 
cending  from  heaven  on  a ladder , during  their  transmigrations. 

We  will  now  give  our  reasons  for  thinking  so. 

The  learned  Thomas  Maurice  tells  us  that : 


1 See  The  Religion  of  Ierael,  p.  18.  4 See  Bonwick:  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  78. 

2 Malachi  iv.  5.  4 Faber  : Orig.  Pagan  Idol,  vol.  iii.  p.  612  ; 

* Matthew  xvii.  12, 13.  in  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  210. 


JACOB’S  VISION  OF  THE  LADDER. 


45 


The  Indians  had,  in  remote  ages,  in  their  system  of  theology, 
the  sidereal  ladder  of  seven  gates , which  described,  in  a symbolical 
manner,  the  ascending  and'  descending  of  the  souls  of  men.1 

We  are  also  informed  by  Origen  that : 

This  descent  ( i . e.,  the  descent  of  souls  from  heaven  to  enter  into  some  body), 
was  described  in  a symbolical  manner,  by  a ladder  which  was  represented  as  reaching 
from  heaven  to  earth , and  divided  into  seven  stages,  at  each  of  which  was  figured 
a gate;  the  eighth  gate  was  at  the  top  of  the  ladder,  which  belonged  to  the  sphere 
of  the  celestial  firmament.2 

That  souls  dwell  in  the  Galaxy  was  a thought  familiar  to  the 
Pythagoreans , who  gave  it  on  their  master’s  word,  that  the  souls 
that  crowd  there,  descend  and  appear  to  men  as  dreams .* 

The  fancy  of  the  Manicheans  also  transferred  pure  souls  to  this 
column  of  light,  whence  they  could  come  down  to  earth  and  again 
return .4 

Paintings  representing  a scene  of  this  kind  may  be  seen  in  works 
of  art  illustrative  of  Indian  Mythology. 

Maurice  speaks  of  one,  in  which  he  says  : 

“ The  souls  of  men  are  represented  as  ascending  and  descending  (on  a ladder), 
according  to  the  received  opinion  of  the  sidereal  Metempsychosis  in  Asia.”6 7 

Mons.  Dupuis  tells  us  that : 

4 4 Among  the  mysterious  pictures  of  the  Initiation,  in  the  cave  of  the  Persian 
God  Mithras,  there  was  exposed  to  the  view  the  descent  of  the  souls  to  the  earth, 
and  their  return  to  heaven,  through  the  seven  planetary  spheres.”6 

And  Count  de  Yolney  says  : 

“In  the  cave  of  Mithra  was  a ladder  with  seven  steps,  representing  the  seven 
spheres  of  the  planets  by  means  of  which  souls  ascended  and  descended.  This 
is  precisely  the  ladder  of  Jacob’s  vision.  There  is  in  the  Royal  Library  (of 
France)  a superb  volume  of  pictures  of  the  Indian  gods,  in  which  the  ladder  is 
represented  with  the  souls  of  men  ascending  it.”'1 

In  several  of  the  Egyptian  sculptures  also,  the  Transmigration 
of  Souls  is  represented  by  the  ascending  and  descending  of  souls 
from  heaven  to  earth,  on  a flight  of  steps , and,  as  the  souls  of 
wicked  men  were  supposed  to  enter  pigs  and  other  animals,  there- 
fore pigs,  monkeys,  &c.,  are  to  be  seen  on  the  steps,  descending  from 
heaven.8 

“ And  he  dreamed,  and  behold  a ladder  set  up  on  the  earth,  and  the  top  of  it 
reached  to  heaven  ; and  behold  tits  angels  of  God  ascending  and  descending  on  it .” 


1 Indian  Antiquities,  yol.  ii.  p.  262. 

2 Contra  Celsus,  lib.  vi.  c.  xxii. 

8 Tylor:  Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  324. 
« Ibid. 


6 Indian  Antiqities,  vol.  ii.  p.  262. 

• Dupuis:  Origin  of  Religious  Beliefs,  p.  344. 

7 Volney’s  Ruins,  p.  147,  note. 

8 See  Child’s  Prog  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  pp. 
160.  132. 


46 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


These  are  the  words  of  the  sacred  text.  Can  anything  be  more 
convincing?  It  continues  thus  : 

“ And  Jacob  awoke  out  of  his  sleep  . . . and  he  was  afraid,  and  said 

. . . this  is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and  this  is  the  gate  of  heaven."1 * 3 

Here  we  have  “ the  gate  of  heaven,”  mentioned  by  Origen  in 
describing  the  Metempsychosis . 

According  to  the  ancients,  the  top  of  this  ladder  was  supposed 
to  reach  the  throne  of  the  most  high  God.  This  corresponds  exactly 
with  the  vision  of  Jacob.  The  ladder  which  he  is  made  to  see 
reached  unto  heaven,  and  the  Lord  stood  above  it.1 

“ And  Jacob  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  took  the  stone  that  he  had 
put  for  his  pillow,  and  set  it  up  for  a pillar,  and  poured  oil  upon  the  top  of  it.”* 

This  concluding  portion  to  the  story  has  evidently  an  allusion 
to  Phallic 3 worship.  There  is  scarcely  a nation  of  antiquity 
which  did  not  set  up  these  stones  (as  emblems  of  the  reproductive 
power  of  nature)  and  worship  them.  Dr.  Oort,  speaking  of  this, 
says  : 

Few  forms  of  worship  were  so  universal  in  ancient  times  as  the 
homage  paid  to  sacred  stones.  In  the  history  of  the  religion  of  even 
the  most  civilized  peoples,  such  as  the  Greeks,  Romans,  Hindoos, 
Arabs  and  Germans,  we  find  traces  of  this  form  of  worship.4 
The  ancient  Druids  of  Britain  also  worshiped  sacred  stones,  which 
were  set  up  on  end? 

Pausanias,  an  eminent  Greek  historian,  says  : 

“ The  Hermiac  statue,  which  they  venerate  in  CyllenS  above  other  symbols, 
is  an  erect  Phallus  on  a pedestal.”6 

This  was  nothing  more  than  a smooth,  oblong  stone , set  erect 
on  a flat  one.7 

The  learned  Dr.  Ginsburg,  in  his  “ Life  of  Levita,”  alludes  to 
the  ancient  mode  of  worship  offered  to  the  heathen  deity  Hermes, 
or  Mercury.  A “ Hermes  ” (i.  e .,  a stone ) was  frequently  set 
up  on  the  road-side,  and  each  traveller,  as  he  passed  by,  paid  his 
homage  to  the  deity  by  either  throwing  a stone  on  the  heap  (which 
was  thus  collected),  or  by  anointing  it.  This  “Hermes”  was 
the  symbol  of  Phallus.8 

1 Genesis  xxviii.  12,  13.  5 See  Myths  of  the  British  Druids,  p.  300; 

a Genesis  xxviii.  18, 19.  and  Higgins:  Celtic  Druids. 

3 “Phallic,”  from  “ Phallus,”  a represeuta-  8 Quoted  by  R.  Payne  Knight:  Ancient  Art 
tion  of  the  male  generative  organs.  For  further  and  Mythology,  p.  114,  note. 

information  on  this  subject,  see  the  works  of  7 See  Illustrations  in  Dr.  Inman’s  Pagan 

R.  Payne  Knight,  and  Dr.  Thomas  Inman.  and  Christian  Symbolism. 

* Bible  for  Learners,  vol.,  i.  pp.  175,  27G.  8 See  Inman:  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  pp. 

See.  also,  Knight:  Ancient  Art  and  Mythology;  543,  544. 

and  Inman:  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  and  ii. 


JACOB  S VISION  OF  THE  LADDER. 


47 


JSow,  when  we  find  that  this  form  of  worship  was  very 
prevalent  among  the  Israelites ,l  that  these  sacred  stones  which 
were  u set  up,”  were  called  (by  the  heathen),  bahy-li,2 3  (which  is 
not  unlike  beth-el),  and  that  they  were  anointed  with  oil,9  I 
think  we  have  reasons  for  believing  that  the  story  of  Jacob’s  setting 
up  a stone,  pouring  oil  upon  it,  and  calling  the  place  Beth-el,  “ has 
evidently  an  allusion  to  Phallic  worship.”4 * 

The  male  and  female  powers  of  nature  were  denoted  respect- 
ively by  an  upright  and  an  oval  emblem,  and  the  conjunction  of 
the  two  furnished  at  once  the  altar  and  the  Ashera,  or  grove, 
against  which  the  Hebrew  prophets  lifted  up  their  voices  in  earnest 
protest.  In  the  kingdoms,  both  of  Judah  and  Israel,  the  rites 
connected  with  these  emblems  assumed  their  most  corrupting  form. 
Even  in  the  temple  itself,  stood  the  Ashera,  or  the  upright  emblem, 
on  the  circular  altar  of  Baal-Peor,  the  Priapos  of  the  Jews,  thus 
reproducing  the  Linga  and  Yoni  of  the  Hindu.6 *  For  this  sym- 
bol, the  women  wove  hangings,  as  the  Athenian  maidens  embroid- 
ered the  sacred  peplos  for  the  ship  presented  to  Athene,  at  the 
great  Dionysiac  festival.  This  Ashera,  which,  in  the  authorized 
English  version  of  the  Old  Testament  is  translated  “grove,”  was, 
in  fact,  a pole,  or  stem  of  a tree.  It  is  reproduced  in  our  modern 
“ Maypole,”  around  which  maidens  dance,  as  maidens  did  of 
yore.* 


1 Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  pp.  177,  178,  317, 

321,  322, 

3 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p.  356. 

3 Ibid. 

* We  read  in  Bell’s  “ Pantheon  of  the  Gods 
and  Demi-Gods  of  Antiquity,”  under  the  head 
of  Baelylion,  Baelylia,  or  Baetylos,  that 
they  are  “ Anointed  Stones,  worshiped  among 
the  Greeks,  Phrygians,  and  other  nations  of 
the  East;”  that  “ these  Baetylia  were  greatly 
venerated  by  the  ancient  Heathen,  many  of 
their  idols  being  no  other;”  and  that,  “ in  re- 
ality no  sort  of  idol  was  more  common  in  the 
East,  than  that  of  oblong  stones  erected,  and 
hence  termed  by  the  Greeks  pillars."  The 
Rev.  Geo.  W.  Cox,  in  his  Aryan  Mythology 
(vol.  ii.  p.  113),  says:  “The  erection  of  these 
stone  columns  or  pillars,  the  forms  of  which  in 
most  cases  tell  their  own  story,  are  common 
throughout  the  Bast,  some  of  the  most  ela- 
borate being  found  near  Ghizni.”  And  Mr. 
Wake  (Phallism  in  Ancient  Religions,  p.  60), 
says:  “Kiyun,  or  Kivan,  the  name  of  the 

deity  said  by  Amos  (v.  26),  to  have  been  wor- 
shiped in  the  wilderness  by  the  Hebrews, 
signifies  God  op  the  plllar.” 

6 We  find  that  there  was  nothing  gross  or  im- 

moral in  the  worship  of  the  male  and  female 


generative  organs  among  the  ancients,  when 
the  subject  is  properly  understood.  Being  the 
most  intimately  connected  with  the  reproduc- 
tion of  life  on  earth,  the  Linga  became  the 
symbol  under  which  the  Sun,  invoked  with  a 
thousand  names,  has  been  worshiped  through- 
out the  world  as  the  restorer  of  the  powers  of 
nature  after  the  long  sleep  or  death  of  winter. 
But  if  the  Linga  is  the  Sun-god  in  his  majesty, 
the  Yoni  is  the  earth  who  yields  her  fruit  under 
his  fertilizing  warmth. 

The  Phallic  tree  is  introduced  into  the  nar- 
rative of  the  book  of  Genesis : but  it  is  here 
called  a tree,  not  of  life,  but  of  the  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil,  that  knowledge  which  dawns  in 
the  mind  with  the  first  consciousness  of  differ- 
ence between  man  and  woman.  In  contrast 
with  this  tree  of  carnal  indulgence,  tending  to 
death,  is  the  tree  of  life,  denoting  the  higher 
existence  for  which  man  was  designed,  and 
which  would  bring  with  it  the  happiness  and 
the  freedom  of  the  children  of  God.  In  the 
brazen  serpent  of  the  Pentateuch,  the  two 
emblems  of  the  cross  and  serpent , the  quies- 
cent and  energising  Phallos,  are  united.  (See 
Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  pp.  113,  116, 
118.) 

• See  Cox  : Aryan  Mytho.,  ii.  112,  113. 


CHAPTEK  YI. 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT,  AHD  PASSAGE  THROUGH  THE  RED  SEA. 

The  children  of  Israel,  who  were  in  bondage  in  Egypt,  mak- 
ing bricks,  and  working  in  the  field,1 2  were  looked  upon  with  com- 
passion by  the  Lord.’  He  heard  their  groaning,  and  remembered 
his  covenant  with  Abraham,3  with  Isaac,  and  with  Jacob.  He, 
therefore,  chose  Moses  (an  Israelite,  who  had  murdered  an  Egyp- 
tian,4 * and  who,  therefore,  was  obliged  to  flee  from  Egypt,  as  Pharaoh 
sought  to  punish  him),  as  his  servant,  to  carry  out  his  plans. 

Moses  was  at  this  time  keeping  the  flock  of  Jeruth,  his  father- 
in-law,  in  the  land  of  Midian.  The  angel  of  the  Lord,  or  the 
Lord  himself,  appeared  to  him  there,  and  said  unto  him : 

“I  am  the  God  of  thy  Father,  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and 
the  God  of  Jacob.  ...  I have  seen  the  affliction  of  my  people  which  are  in 
Egypt,  and  have  heard  their  cry  by  reason  of  their  tormentors ; for  I know  their 
sorrows.  And  I am  come  down  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians, 
and  to  bring  them  up  out  of  that  land  into  a good  land  and  a large,  unto  a land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  I will  send  thee  unto  Pharaoh,  that  thou  mayest 
bring  forth  my  people,  the  children  of  Israel,  out  of  Egypt.” 

Then  Moses  said  unto  the  Lord : 

“ Behold,  when  I come  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and  shall  say  unto  them, 
the  God  of  your  fathers  hath  sent  me  unto  you,  and  they  shall  say  unto  me : 
What  is  his  name  ? What  shall  I say  unto  them  ?” 

Then  God  said  unto  Moses  : 

“ I am  that  I am.”6  “ Thus  shalt  thou  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  I am 
hath  sent  me  unto  you.”6 


1 Exodus  i.  14. 

2 Exodus  ii.  24,  25. 

3 See  chapter  x. 

4 Exodus  ii.  12. 

6 The  Egyptian  name  for  God  was  “ Nuk- 
Pa-Nuk ,”  or  “I  am  that  I am.”  (Bonwick  : 
Egyptian  Belief,  p.  395.)  This  name  was  found 

on  a temple  in  Egypt.  (Higgins  • Anacalypsis, 
vol.  ii.  p.  17.)  ‘“I  am ’ was  a Divine  name 

[48] 


understood  by  all  the  initiated  among  the 
Egyptians.”  “The  ‘I  am’  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  the  ‘ I am  ’ of  the  Egyptians  are  identical.” 
(Bunsen  : Keys  of  St.  Peter,  p.  38.)  The  name 
“Jehovah,"  which  was  adopted  by  the  He 
brews,  was  a name  esteemed  sacred  among  the 
Egyptians.  They  called  it  Y-ha-ho,  or  Y-ah- 


• Exodus  iii.  1,  14. 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT. 


49 


And  God  said,  moreover,  unto  Moses  : 

“Go  and  gather  the  Elders  of  Israel  together,  and  say  unto  them:  the  Lord 
■'God  of  your  fathers  . . . appeared  unto  me,  saying:  ‘ I have  surely  visited 

you,  and  seen  that  which  is  done  to  you  in  Egypt.  And  I have  said,  I will 
bring  you  up  out  of  the  affliction  of  Egypt  . . . unto  a land  flowing  with 

milk  and  honey.’  And  they  shall  hearken  to  thy  voice,  and  thou  shalt  come,  thou 
and  the  Elders  of  Israel,  unto  the  king  of  Egypt,  and  ye  shall  say  unto  him : 
‘ the  Lord  God  of  the  Hebrews  hath  met  with  us,  and  now  let  us  go,  we  beseech 
thee,  three  days  journey  in  the  wilderness , that  we  may  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  our 
God.’1 

“i  am  sure  that  the  king  of  Egypt  will  not  let  you  go,  no,  not  by  a mighty 
hand.  And  I will  stretch  out  my  hand,  and  smite  Egypt  with  all  my  wonders, 
which  I will  do  in  the  midst  thereof : and  after  that  he  will  let  you  go.  And  I will 
give  this  people  (the  Hebrews)  favor  in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  and  it  shall 
come  to  pass,  that  when  ye  go,  ye  shall  not  go  empty.  But  every  woman  shall 
borrow  of  her  neighbor,  and  of  her  that  sojourneth  in  her  house,  jewels  of 
silver  and  jewels  of  gold,  and  raiment.  And  ye  shall  put  them  upon  your  sons 
and  upon  your  daughters,  and  ye  shall  spoil  the  Egyptians .”2 

The  Lord  again  appeared  unto  Moses,  in  Midian,  and  said : 

" 'Slo,  return  into  Egypt,  for  all  the  men  are  dead  which  sought  thy  life, 
.xnd  Moses  took  his  wife,  and  his  son,  and  set  them  upon  an  ass,  and  he  returned 
to  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  Moses  took  the  rod  of  God  (which  the  Lord  had  given, 
him)  in  his  hand.”3 

Upon  arriving  in  Egypt,  Moses  tells  his  brother  Aaron,  “ all  the 
words  of  the  Lord,”  and  Aaron  tells  all  the  children  of  Israel. 
Moses,  who  was  not  eloquent,  but  had  a slow  speech,4  uses  Aaron 
as  his  spokesman.5  They  then  appear  unto  Pharaoh,  and  falsify, 
“ according  to  the  commands  of  the  Lord”  saying : “ Let  us  go,  we 
pray  thee,  three-  days ’ journey  in  the  desert , and  sacrifice  unto  the 
Lord  our  God.”6 

The  Lord  hardens  Pharaoh’s  heart,  so  that  he  does  not  let  the 
children  of  Israel  go  to  sacrifice  unto  their  God,  in  the  desert. 


vih.  (See  the  Religion  of  Israel,  pp.  42,  43; 
and  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  329,  and  vol.  ii.  p. 
17.)  f‘  None  dare  to  enter  the  temple  of  Sera- 
pis,  who  did  not  bear  on  his  breast  or  forehead 
the  name  of  Jao,  or  J-ha-ho,  a name  almost 
equivalent  in  sound  to  that  of  the  Hebrew  Je- 
hovah, and  probably  of  identical  import ; and 
no  name  was  uttered  in  Egypt  with  more  rev- 
erence than  this  Iao.”  (Trans,  from  the  Ger. 
of  Schiller,  in  Monthly  Repos.,  vol.  xx.;  and 
Voltaire  : Commentary  on  Exodus ; Higgins’ 
Anuc.,  vol.  i.  p.  329;  vol.  ii.  p.  17.)  “ That  this 
divine  name  was  well-known  to  the  Heathen 
there  can  be  no  doubt.”  (Parkhurst : Hebrew 
Lex.  in  Anac.,  i.  327.)  So  also  with  the  name 
El  Shaddai.  “ The  extremely  common  Egyp- 
tian expression  Nutar  Nutra  exactly  corre- 
sponds in  sense  to  the  Hebrew  El  Shaddai,  the 

4 


very  title  by  which  God  tells  Moses  he  was 
known  to  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob.” 
(Prof.  Renouf : Relig.  of  Anc’t  Egypt,  p. 
99.) 

1 Exodus  iii.  15-18. 

9 Exodus  iii.  19-22.  Here  is  a command 
from  the  Lord  to  deceive,  and  lie,  and  steal, 
which,  according  to  the  narrative,-  was  carried 
out  to  the  letter  (Ex.  xii.  35,  36)  ; and  yet  we 
are  told  that  this  same  Lord  said  : “ Thou  shalt 
not  steal."  (Ex.  xx.  15.)  Again  he  6ays : 
“ Thou  shalt  not  defraud  thy  neighbor,  neither 
rob  him."  (Leviticus  xix.  13.)  Surely  this  is 
inconsistency. 

3 Exodus  iv.  19, 20. 

♦ Exodus  iv.  10. 

5 Exodus  iv.  16. 

• Exodus  v.  3. 


60 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Moses  and  Aaron  continue  interceding  with  him,  however,  and, 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  their  miraculous  powers,  they  change 
their  rods  into  serpents,  the  river  into  blood,  cause  a plague  of  frogs 
and  lice,  and  a swarm  of  flies,  &c.,  &c.,  to  appear.  Most  of  these 
feats  were  imitated  by  the  magicians  of  Egypt.  Finally,  the  flrstr 
born  of  Egypt  are  slain,  wrhen  Pharaoh,  after  having  had  his  heart 
hardened,  by  the  Lord,  over  and  over  again,  consents  to  let  Moses 
and  the  children  of  Israel  go  to  serve  their  God,  as  they  had  said , 
that  is,  for  three  days. 

The  Lord  having  given  the  people  favor  in  the  sight  of  the 
Egyptians,  they  borrowed  of  them  jewels  of  silver,  jewels  of  gold, 
and  raiment,  “ according  to  the  commands  of  the  Lord”  And 
they  journeyed  toward  Succoth,  there  being  six  hundred  thousand , 
besides  children 

“ And  they  took  their  journey  from  Succoth,  and  encamped  in  Etham,  in  the 
edge  of  the  wilderness.  And  the  Lord  went  before  them  by  day,  in  a 'pillar  of  a 
cloud,  to  lead  them  the  way ; and  by  night  in  a pillar  of  fire,  to  give  them  light  to 
go  by  day  and  night.”1 2 

“And  it  was  told  the  king  of  Egypt,  that  the  people  flea.  . . . And  he 

made  ready  his  chariot,  and  took  his  people  with  him.  And  he  took  six  hundred 
chosen  chariots,  and  all  the  chariots  of  Egypt,  . . . and  he  pursued  after  the 

children  of  Israel,  and  overtook  them  encamping  beside  the  sea.  . . . And 

when  Pharaoh  drew  nigh,  the  children  of  Israel  . . . were  sore  afraid,  and 

. . . (they)  cri^d  out  unto  the  Lord.  . . . And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
. . . speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  go  forward.  But  lift  thou 
up  thy  rod,  and  stretch  out  thine  hand  over  the  Red  Sea,  and  divide  it,  and  the 
children  of  Israel  shall  go  on  dry  ground  through  the  midst  of  the  sea.  . . . 

And  Moses  stretched  out  his  hand  over  the  sea,3  and  the  Lord  caused  the  sea  to  go 
back  by  a strong  east  wind  that  night,  and  made  the  sea  dry  land,  and  the  waters 
were  divided.  And  the  children  of  Israel  went  into  the  midst  of  the  sea  upon  the 
dry  ground ; and  the  waters  were  a wall  unto  them  upon  the  right  hand,  and  on  their 
left.  And  the  Egyptians  pursued,  and  went  in  after  them  to  the  midst  of  the 
sea,  even  all  Pharaoh's  horses,  and  his  chariots,  and  his  horse-men." 

After  the  children  of  Israel  had  landed  on  the  other  side  of 
the  sea,  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  : 

“ Stretch  out  thine  hand  over  the  sea,  that  the  waters  may  come  again  upon 
the  Egyptians,  upon  their  chariots,  and  upon  their  horse-men.  And  Moses 
stretched  forth  his  hand  over  the  sea,  and  the  sea  returned  to  his  strength.  . . . 

And  the  Lord  overthrew  the  Egyptians  in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  And  the  waters 
returned,  and  covered  the  chariots,  and  the  horse-men,  and  all  the  host  of  Pharaoh 


1 Exodus  vii.  35-37.  Bishop  Colenso  shows, 
in  his  Pentateuch  Examined,  how  ridiculous 
this  statement  is. 

2 Exodus  xiii.  20, 21. 

3 ‘The  sea  over  which  Moses  stretches  out 
his  hand  with  the  staff,  and  which  he  divides, 
so  that  the  w iters  stand  up  on  either  side  like 


walls  while  he  passes  through,  must  surely  have 
been  originally  the  Sea  of  Clouds.  ...  A 
Cerman  story  presents  a perfectly  similar  fea- 
ture. The  conception  of  the  cloud  as  sea,  rock 
and  wall,  recurs  very  frequently  in  mythology.” 
(Prof.  Steinthal  : The  Legend  of  Samson,  p. 
429.) 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT. 


51 


that  came  into  the  sea  after  them;  there  remained  not  so  much  as  one  of  them. 
But  the  children  of  Israel  walked  upon  dry  land  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  the 
waters  were  a wall  unto  them  on  their  right  hand,  and  on  their  left.  . . . And 
Israel  saw  the  great  work  which  the  Lord  did  upon  the  Egyptians,  and  the 
people  feared  the  Lord,  and  believed  the  Lord  and  his  servant  Moses.”1 

pf*  The  writer  of  this  story,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  was  evi- 
dently familiar  with  the  legends  related  of  the  Sun-god,  Bacchus , 
as  he  has  given  Moses  the  credit  of  performing  some  of  the  mira- 
cles which  were  attributed  to  that  god. 

Is  is  related  in  the  hymns  of  Orpheus,2  that  Bacchus  had  a 
rod  with  which  he  performed  miracles,  and  which  he  could  change 
into  a serpent  at  pleasure.  He  passed  the  Bed  Sea , dry  shod , at 
the  head  of  his  army.  He  divided  the  waters  of  the  rivers  Oron- 
tes  and  Hydaspus,  by  the  touch  of  his  rod,  and  passed  through 
them  dry-shod.3 *  By  the  same  mighty  wand , he  drew  water 
from  the  rock'  and  wherever  they  marched,  the  land  flowed 
with  wine,  milk  and  honey.5 

Professor  Steinthal,  speaking  of  Dionysus  (Bacchus),  says : 

Like  Moses,  he  strikes  fountains  of  wine  and  water  out  of  the 
rock.  Almost  all  the  acts  of  Moses  correspond  to  those  of  the 
Sun-gods.6  ' 

Mons.  Dupuis  says : 

“Among  the  different  miracles  of  Bacchus  and  his  Bacchantes,  there  are 
prodigies  very  similar  to  those  which  are  attributed  to  Moses;  for  instance,  such 
as  the  sources  of  water  which  th z former  caused  to  sprout  from  the  innermost  of 
the  rocks.”1 

In  Bell’s  Pantheon  of  the  Gods  and  Heroes  of  Antiquity,8  an 
account  of  the  prodigies  attributed  to  Bacchus  is  given ; among 
these,  are  mentioned  his  striking  water  from  the  rock,  with  his 
magic  wand,  his  turning  a twig  of  ivy  into  a snake,  his  passing 
thr  ugh  the  Bed  Sea  and  the  rivers  Orontes  and  Hydaspus,  and  of 
his  enjoying  the  light  of  the  Sun  ( while  marching  with  his  army 
in  India),  when  the  day  was  spent,  and  it  was  dark  to  others.  All 
these  are  parallels  too  striking  to  be  accidental. 

We  might  also  mention  the  fact,  that  Bacchus,  as  well  as  Moses 


1 Exodus  xiv.  5-13. 

* Orpheus  is  said  to  have  been  the  earliest 
poet  of  Greece,  where  he  first  introduced  the 
rites  of  Bacchus,  which  he  brought  from  Egypt. 
(See  Roman  Antiquities,  p.  134.) 

3  The  Hebrew  fable  writers  not  wishing  to 

be  outdone,  have  made  the  waters  of  the  river 

Jordan  to  be  divided  to  let  Elijah  and  Elisha 


pass  through  (2  Kings  ii.  8),  and  also  the  chil 
dren  of  Israel.  (Joshua  iii.  15-17.) 

4 Moses,  with  his  rod,  drew  water  from  the 
rock.  (Exodus  xvii.  6.) 

5 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  191,  and  Higgins: 
Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 

6 The  Legend  of  Samson,  p.  429. 

7 Dupuis:  Origin  of  Religious  Beliefs,  p.  165. 

8 Vol.  i.  p.  122. 


52 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


was  called  the  “ Law-giver ,”  and  that  it  was  said  of  Bacchus,  as 
well  as  of  Moses,  that  his  laws  were  written  on  two  table s of 
stone.1  Bacchus  was  represented  horned , and  so  was  Moses.2 
Bacchus  “ was  picked  up  in  a box,  that  floated  on  the  water,”3 
and  so  was  Moses.4  Bacchus  had  two  mothers,  one  by  nature,  and 
one  by  adoption,5 *  and  so  had  Moses.8  And,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  Bacchus  and  his  army  enjoyed  the  light  of  the  Sun,  during 
the  night  time,  and  Moses  and  his  army  enjoyed  the  light  of  “ a 
pillar  of  fire,  by  night.”7 

In  regard  to  the  children  of  Israel  going  out  from  the  land  of 
Egypt,  we  have  no  doubt  that  such  an  occurrence  took  place, 
although  not  in  the  manner,  and  not  for  such  reasons,  as  is  recorded 
by  the  sacred  historian.  We  find,  from  other  sources,  what  is  evi- 
dently nearer  the  truth. 

It  is  related  by  the  historian  Choeremon,  that,  at  one  time,  the 
land  of  Egypt  was  infested  with  disease,  and  through  the  advice  of 
the  sacred  scribe  Phritipliantes,  the  king  caused  the  infected  people 
(who  were  none  other  than  the  brick-making  slaves,  known  as  the 
children  of  Israel),  to  be  collected,  and  driven  out  of  the  coun- 
try} 

Lysimachus  relates  that : 

“ A.  filthy  disease  broke  out  in  Egypt,  and  the  Oracle  of  Ammon,  being  con- 
sulted on  the  occasion,  commanded  the  king  to  purify  the  land  by  driving  out  the 
Jews  (who  were  infected  with  leprosy,  &c.),  a race  of  men  who  were  hateful  to 
the  Gods.  ”*  The  whole  multitude  of  the  people  were  accordingly  collected  and  driven 
out  into  the  wilderness .”10 

Diodorus  Siculus , referring  to  this  event,  says : 

“In  ancient  times  Egypt  was  afflicted  with  a great  plague,  which  was  attrib- 
uted to  the  anger  of  God,  on  account  of  the  multitude  of  foreigners  in  Egypt: 
by  whom  the  rites  of  the  native  religion  were  neglected.  The  Egyptians  accord- 
ingly drove  them  out.  The  most  noble  of  them  went  under  Cadmus  and  Danaus 
to  Greece,  but  the  greater  number  followed  Moses,  a wise  and  valiant  leader,  to 
Palestine.”11 


1 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  122;  and  Hig- 
gins : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 

2 Ibid,  and  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Be- 
lief, p.  174. 

3 Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  190  ; Bell’s  Pantheon, 
vol.  i.  under  “ Bacchus  and  Higgins:  Anaca- 
lypsis ii.  19. 

4 Exodus  ii.  1-11. 

6  Taylor's  Diegesis,  p.  191  ; Bell’s  Pantheon, 

vol.  i.  under  “Bacchus;”  and  Higgins  : p.  19, 

vol.  ii. 


« Exodus  ii.  1-11. 

7 Exodus  xiii.  20, 21. 

8 See  Prichard’s  Historical  Records,  p.  74 ; 
also  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  p.  40;  and  Cory’s  An- 
cient Fragments,  pp.  80,  81,  for  similar  ac- 
counts. 

•“All  persons  afflicted  with  leprosy  were 
considered  displeasing  in  the  sight  of  the  Sun- 
god,  by  the  Egyptians.”  (Dunlap:  Spirit  Hist 
p.  40.) 

10  Prichard’s  Historical  Records,  p.  75. 

“ Ibid.  p.  78. 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT. 


53 


After  giving  the  different  opinions  concerning  the  origin  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  Tacitus,  the  Roman  historian,  says : 

“ In  this  clash  of  opinions,  one  point  seems  to  be  universally  admitted.  A pesti- 
lential disease,  disfiguring  the  race  of  man,  and  making  the  body  an  object  of 
loathsome  deformity,  spread  all  over  Egypt.  Bocclioris,  at  that  time  the  reigning 
monarch,  consulted  the  oracle  of  Jupiter  Hammon,  and  received  for  answer,  that 
the  kingdom  must  be  purified,  by  exterminating  the  infected  multitude,  as  a race 
of  men  detested  by  the  gods.  After  diligent  search,  the  wretched  sufferers  were 
collected  together,  and  in  a wild  and  barren  desert  abandoned  to  their  misery. 
In  that  distress,  while  the  vulgar  herd  was  sunk  in  deep  despair,  Moses,  one  of 
their  number,  reminded  them,  that,  by  the  wisdom  of  his  councils,  they  had  been 
already  rescued  out  of  impending  danger.  Deserted  as  they  were  by  men  and 
gods,  he  told  them,  that  if  they  did  not  repose  their  confidence  in  him,  as  their 
chief  by  divine  commission,  they  had  no  resource  left.  His  offer  was  accepted. 
Their  march  began,  they  knew  not  whither.  Want  of  water  was  their  chief 
distress.  Worn  out  with  fatigue,  they  lay  stretched  on  the  bare  earth,  heart 
broken,  ready  to  expire,  when  a troop  of  wild  asses,  returning  from  pasture, 
went  up  the  steep  ascent  of  a rock  covered  with  a grove  of  trees.  The  verdure 
of  the  herbage  round  the  place  suggested  the  idea  of  springs  near  at  hand. 
Moses  traced  the  steps  of  the  .animals,  and  discovered  a plentiful  vein  of  water. 
By  this  relief  the  fainting  multitude  was  raised  from  despair.  They  pursued 
their  journey  for  six  days  without  intermission.  On  the  seventh  day  the}'  made 
halt,  and,  having  expelled  the  natives,  took  possession  of  the  country,  where 
they  built  their  city,  and  dedicated  their  temple.”1 

Other  accounts,  similar  to  these,  might  be  added,  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  that  given  by  Manetho,  an  Egyptian  priest,  which 
is  referred  to  by  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian. 

Although  the  accounts  quoted  above  are  not  exactly  alike,  yet 
the  main  points  are  the  same , which  are  to  the  effect  that  Egypt 
was  infected  with  disease  owing  to  the  foreigners  (among  whom 
were  those  who  were  afterwards  styled  “ the  children  of  Israel”)  that 
were  in  the  country,  and  who  were  an  unclean  people,  and  that  they 
were  accordingly  driven  out  into  the  wilderness. 

When  we  compare  this  statement  with  that  recorded  in  Genesis, 
it  does  not  take  long  to  decide  which  of  the  two  is  nearest  the 
truth. 

Everything  putrid,  or  that  had  a tendency  to  putridity,  was  care- 
fully avoided  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  so  strict  were  the 
Egyptian  priests  on  this  point,  that  they  wore  no  garments  made 
of  any  animal  substance,  circumcised  themselves,  and  shaved 
their  whole  bodies,  even  to  their  eyebrows,  lest  they  should  un- 
knowingly harbor  any  filth,  excrement  or  vermin,  supposed  to  be 
bred  from  putrefaction.* 3  We  know  from  the  laws  set  down  in 
Leviticus , that  the  Hebrews  were  not  a remarkably  clean  race. 


‘Tacitus:  Hist,  book  v.  ch.  iii.  and  Kenrick's  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  447.  “ The 

3 Knight : Anc’tArtand  Mythology,  p.  89,  cleanliness  of  the  Egyptian  priests  was  extreme. 


64 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Jewish  priests,  m making  a history  for  their  race,  have  given 
us  but  a shadow  of  truth  here  aud  there ; it  is  almost  wholly 
mythical.  The  author  of  “ The  Religion  of  Israel,”  speaking  on 
this  subject,  says : 

‘‘The  history  of  the  religion  of  Israel  must  start  from  the  sojourn  of  the 
Israelites  in  Egypt.  Formerly  it  was  usual  to  take  a much  earlier  starting-point, 
and  to  begin  with  a religious  discussion  of  the  religious  ideas  of  the  Patriarchs. 
And  this  was  perfectly  right,  so  long  as  the  accounts  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and 
Jacob  were  considered  historical.  But  now  that  a strict  investigation  has  shown  us 
that  all  these  stories  are  entirely  unhistorical,  of  course  we  have  to  begin  the  his- 
tory later  on.”1 

The  author  of  “ The  Spirit  History  of  Man,”  says : 

“The  Hebrews  came  out  of  Egypt  and  settled  among  the  Canaanites.  They 
need  riot  he  traced  beyond  the  Exodus.  That  is  their  historical  beginning.  It  was 
very  easy  to  cover  up  this  remote  event  by  the  recital  of  mythical  traditions, 
and  to  prefix  to  it  an  account  of  their  origin  in  which  the  gods  (Patriarchs), 
should  figure  as  their  ancestors.”2 

Professor  Goldzhier  says : 

‘ ‘ The  residence  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt,  and  their  exodus  thence  under  the 
guidance  and  training  of  an  enthusiast  for  the  freedom  of  his  tribe,  form  a series 
of  strictly  historical  facts,  which  find  confirmation  even  in  the  documents  of 
ancient  Egypt  (which  we  have  just  shown).  But  the  traditional  narratives  of 
these  events  (were)  elaborated  by  the  Hebrew  people.  ”3 

Count  de  Yolney  also  observes  that : 

4 4 What  Exodus  says  of  their  (the  Israelites)  servitude  under  the  king  of 
Heliopolis,  and  of  the  oppression  of  their  hosts,  the  Egyptians,  is  extremely 
probable.  It  is  here  their  history  begins.  All  that  precedes  . . . is  nothing  but 

mythology  and  cosmogony.  ”4 

In  speaking  of  the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt,  Dr.  Knap- 
pert  says : 

“According  to  the  tradition  preserved  in  Genesis,  it  was  the  promotion  of 
Jacob’s  son,  Joseph,  to  be  viceroy  of  Egypt,  that  brought  about  the  migration  of 
the  sons  of  Israel  from  Canaan  to  Goshen.  The  story  goes  that  this  Joseph  was  sold 
as  a slave  by  his  brothers,  and  after  many  changes  of  fortune  received  the  vice- 
regal office  at  Pharaoh’s  hands  through  his  skill  in  interpreting  dreams.  Famine 
drives  his  brothers — and  afterwards  his  father — to  him,  and  the  Egyptian  prince 
gives  them  the  land  of  Goshen  to  live  in.  It  is  by  imagining  all  this  that  the 


They  shaved  their  heads,  and  every  three  days 
shaved  their  whole  bodies.  They  bathed  two  or 
three  times  a day,  often  in  the  night  also.  They 
wore  garments  of  white  linen,  deeming  it  more 
cleanly  than  cloth  made  from  the  hair  of  ani- 
mals. If  they  had  occasion  to  wear  a woolen 
cloth  or  mantle,  they  pat  it  off  before  entering 
a temple  ; so  scrupulous  were  they  that  noth- 
ing impure  should  come  into  the  presence  of 
the  gods.”  (Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  i.  168.) 


4 4 Thinking  it  better  to  be  clean  than  hand- 
some, the  (Egyptian)  priests  shave  their  whole 
body  every  third  day,  that  neither  lice  nor  any 
other  impurity  may  be  found  upon  them  when 
engaged  in  the  service  of  the  gods.”  (Herodo- 
tus : book  ii.  ch.  37.) 

1 The  Religion  of  Israel,  p 27. 

9 Dunlap  : Spirit  Hist,  of  Man,  p.  2G6. 

3 Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  23. 

* Researches  in  Ancient  History,  p,  149. 


Til  10  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT, 


55 


legend  tries  to  account  for  the  fact  that  Israel  passed  some  time  in  Egypt.  But  we 
must  look  for  the  real  explanation  in  a migration  of  certain  tribes  which  could 
not  establish  or  maintain  themselves  in  Canaan,  and  were  forced  to  move 
further  on. 

“We  find  a passage  in  Flavius  Josephus,  from  which  it  appears  that  in 
Egypt,  too,  a recollection  survived  of  the  sojourn  of  some  foreign  tribes  in  the 
north-eastern  district  of  the  country.  For  this  writer  gives  us  two  fragments 
out  of  a lost  work  by  Manetho,  a priest,  who  lived  about  250  b.  c.  In  one  of 
these  we  have  a statement  that  pretty  nearly  agrees  with  the  Israelitish  tradition 
about  a sojourn  in  Goshen.  But  the  Israelites  were  looked  dozen  on  by  the  Egyp- 
tians as  foreigners,  and  they  are  represented  as  lepers  and  unclean.  Moses  himself 
is  mentioned  by  name,  and  we  are  told  that  he  was  a priest  and  joined  himself 
to  these  lepers  and  gave  them  laws.”1 2 

To  return  now  to  the  story  of  the  Red  Sea  being  divided  to  let 
Moses  and  his  followers  pass  through — of  which  we  have  already 
seen  one  counterpart  in  the  legend  related  of  Bacchus  and  his  army 
passing  through  the  same  sea  dry-shod — there  is  another  similar 
story  concerning  Alexander  the  Great. 

The  histories  of  Alexander  relate  that  the  Pampliylian  Sea  was 
divided  to  let  him  and  his  army  pass  through.  Josephus,  after 
speaking  of  the  Red  Sea  being  divided  for  the  passage  of  the 
Israelites,  says : 

“ For  the  sake  of  those  who  accompanied  Alexander,  king  of  Macedonia,  whe 
yet  lived  comparatively  but  a little  while  ago,  the  Pamphylian  Sea  retired  and 
offered  them  a passage  through  itself,  when  they  had  no  other  way  to  go  . . . 

and  this  is  confessed  to  be  true  by  all  who  have  written  about  the  actions  of  Alex- 
ander.”'1 

He  seems  to  consider  both  legends  of  the  same  authority, 
quoting  the  latter  to  substantiate  the  former. 

“ Callistlienes,  who  himself  accompanied  Alexander  in  the  ex- 
pedition,” “ wrote,  how  the  Pamphylian  Sea  did  not  only  open  a 
passage  for  Alexander,  but,  rising  and  elevating  its  waters,  did  pay 
him  homage  as  its  king.”3 

It  is  related  in  Egyptian  mythology  that  Isis  was  at  one  time  on 
a journey  with  the  eldest  child  of  the  king  of  Byblos,  when  coming 
to  the  river  Phcedrus,  which  was  in  a “ rough  air,”  and  wishing  to 


1 The  Religion  of  Israel,  pp.  31, 32. 

2 Jewish  Antiq.  bk.  ii.  ch.  xvi. 

5 Ibid.  note. 

“It  was  said  that  the  waters  of  the  Pam- 
phylian Sea  miraculously  opened  a passage  for 
the  army  of  Alexander  the  Great.  Admiral 
Beaufort,  however,  tells  us  that,  ‘ though  there 
are  no  tides  in  this  part  of  the  Mediterranean, 
considerable  depression  of  the  sea  is  caused 


by  long-continued  north  winds:  and  Alexander, 
taking  advantage  of  such  a moment,  may  have 
dashed  on  without  impediment and  we  accept 
the  explanation  as  a matter  of  course.  But  the 
waters  of  the  Red  Sea  arc  said  to  have  miracu- 
lously opened  a passage  for  the  children  of 
Israel ; and  we  insist  on  the  literal  truth  of  this 
story,  and  reject  natural  explanations  as  mon- 
strous.” (Matthew  Arnold  ) 


56 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


cross,  she  commanded  the  stream  to  be  dried  up.  This  being  done 
she  crossed  without  trouble.1 

There  is  a Hindoo  fable  to  the  effect  that  when  the  infant 
Crishna  was  being  sought  by  the  reigning  tyrant  of  Madura  (King 
Kansa)2 *  his  foster-father  took  him  and  departed  out  of  the  country^ 
Coming  to  the  river  Yumna,  and  wishing  to  cross,  it  was  divided 
for  them  by  the  Lord,  and  they  passed  through. 

The  story  is  related  by  Thomas  Maurice,  in  his  “ History  of 
Hindostan,”  who  has  taken  it  from  the  Bhagavat  Pooraun.  It  is- 
as  follows : 

“ Yasodha  took  the  child  Crishna,  and  carried  him  off  (from  where  he  was 
horn),  hut,  coming  to  the  river  Yumna,  directly  opposite  to  Gokul,  Crishna’s 
father  perceiving  the  current  to  he  very  strong,  it  being  in  the  midst  of  the  rainy 
season,  and  not  knowing  which  way  to  pass  it,  Crishna  commanded  the  water  to 
give  way  on  both  sides  to  his  father,  who  accordingly  passed  dry-footed,  across  the 
river"* 

This  incident  is  illustrated  in  Plate  58  of  Moore’s  “ Hindu 
Pantheon.” 

There  is  another  Hindoo  legend,  recorded  in  the  Pig  Veda,  and 
quoted  by  Viscount  Amberly,  from  whose  work  we  take  it,4  to 
the  effect  that  an  Indian  sage  called  Visvimati,  having  arrived  at  a 
river  which  he  wished  to  cross,  that  holy  man  said  to  it : “ Listen 
to  the  Bard  who  has  come  to  you  from  afar  with  wagon  and  chariot. 
Sink  down,  become  fordable,  and  reach  not  up  to  our  chariot  axles.” 
The  river  answers : “ I will  bow  down  to  thee  like  a woman  with 
full  breast  (suckling  her  child),  as  a maid  to  a man,  will  I throw  my- 
self open  to  thee.” 

This  is  accordingly  done,  and  the  sage  passes  through. 

We  have  also  an  Indian  legend  which  relates  that  a courtesan 
named  Bindumati,  turned  boxh  the  streams  of  the  river  Ganges ,6 

We  see  then,  that  the  idea  of  seas  and  rivers  being  divided 
for  the  purpose  of  letting  some  chosen  one  of  God  pass  through, 
is  an  old  one  peculiar  to  other  peoples  beside  the  Hebrews,  and 
the  probability  is  that  many  nations  had  legends  of  this  kind. 

That  Pharaoh  and  his  host  should  have  been  drowned  in  the 
Bed  Sea,  and  the  fact  not  mentioned  by  any  historian,  is  simply 
impossible,  especially  when  they  have,  as  we  have  seen,  noticed  the 
fact  of  the  Israelites  being  driven  out  of  Egypt.6  Dr.  Inman,, 
speaking  of  this,  says  : 


1 See  Prichard’s  Egyptian  Mytho.  p.  60. 

a See  ch.  xviii. 

* Hist-  Hindostan,  yoI.  ii.  p.  312. 


* Analysis  Relig.  Belief,  p.  552. 

# See  Hardy  : Buddhist  Legenas,  p.  140. 

• In  a cave  discovered  at  Deir-el-Baliar 


THE  EXODUS  FROM  EGYPT. 


57 


“We  seek  in  vain  amongst  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphs  for  scenes  which  recall 
such  cruelties  as  those  we  read  of  in  the  Hebrew  records;  and  in  the  writings 
which  have  hitherto  been  translated,  we  find  nothing  resembling  the  wholesale 
destructions  described  and  applauded  by  the  Jewish  historians,  as  perpetrated 
by  their  own  people.  ”l 

That  Pharaoh  should  have  pursued  a tribe  of  diseased  slaves, 
whom  he  had  driven  out  of  his  country , is  altogether  improbable. 
In  the  words  of  Dr.  Knappert,  we  may  conclude,  by  saying  that : 

“ This  story,  which  was  not  written  until  more  than  jive  hundred  years  after  the 
exodus  itself,  can  lay  no  claim  to  be  considered  historical.”'1 


(Aug.,  1881),  near  Thebes,  in  Egypt,  was  found 
thirty-nine  mummies  of  royal  and  priestly  per- 
sonages. Among  these  was  King  Ramses  H., 
the  third  king  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty,  and 
the  veritable  Pharoah  ©f  the  Jewish  captivity. 
It  is  very  strange  that  he  should  be  here,  among 
a number  of  other  kings,  if  he  had  been  lost  in 
the  Red  Sea.  The  mummy  is  wrapped  in  rose- 


colored  and  yellow  linen  of  a texture  finer  than 
the  finest  Indian  muslin,  upon  which  lolus 
flowers  are  strewn.  It  is  in  a perfect  state  of 
perservation.  (See  a Cairo  [Aug.  8th]  letter  to 
the  London  Times.) 

1 Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  58. 
a The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  41. 


] 


\ 


CHAPTER  VII. 


RECEIVING  THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 

The  receiving  of  the  Ten  Commandments  by  Moses,  fiom  the 
Lord,  is  recorded  in  the  following  manner : 

“In  tlie  third  month,  when  the  children  of  Israel  were  gone  forth  o it  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  the  same  day  came  they  into  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  . . . 

and  there  Israel  camped  before  the  Mount.  . . . 

“ And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day  that  there  were  thunders  and  lightnings, 
and  a thick  cloud  upon  the  Mount,  and  the  voice  of  the  tempest  exceedingly 
loud,  so  that  all  the  people  that  was  in  the  camp  trembled.  . . . 

“ And  Mount  Sinai  was  altogether  on  a smoke,  because  the  Lord  descended 
upon  it  in  tire,  and  the  smoke  thereof  ascended  as  the  smoke  of  a furnace,  and 
the  whole  Mount  quaked  greatly.  And  when  the  voice  of  the  tempest  sounded 
long,  and  waxed  louder  and  louder,  Moses  spake,  and  God  answered  him  by  a 
voice. 

‘ ‘ And  the  Lord  came  down  upon  the  Mount,  and  called  Moses  up  to  the  top  of 
the  Mount,  and  Moses  went  up.”1 2 

The  Lord  there  communed  with  him,  and  “ he  gave  unto 
Moses  ....  two  tables  of  testimony,  tables  of  stone,  written  with 
the  jinger  of  God .”a 

When  Moses  came  down  from  off  the  Mount,  he  found  the 
children  of  Israel  dancing  around  a golden  calf,  which  his  brother 
Aaron  had  made,  and,  as  his  “ anger  waxed  hot,”  lie  cast  the  tables 
of  stone  on  the  ground,  and  broke  them.3  Moses  again  saw  the 
Lord  on  the  Mount,  however,  and  received  two  more  tables  of 
stone.4  When  he  came  down  this  time  from  oft'  Mount  Sinai, 
“ the  skin  of  his  face  did  shine.”5 


1 Exodus  xix. 

2 Exodus  xxxi.  18. 

3 Exodus  xxii.  19. 

4 Exodus  xxxiv. 

6 Ibid. 

It  was  a common  belief  among  ancient 
Pagan  nations  that  the  gods  appeared  and 
conversed  with  men.  As  an  illustration  we  may 
cite  the  following,  related  by  Herodotus , the 
Grecian  historian,  who,  in  speaking  of  Egypt 
and  the  Egyptians,  says  : “ There  is  a large  city 

[58] 


called  Chemmis,  situated  in  the  Thebaic  dis- 
trict, near  Neapolis,  in  which  is  a quadrangular 
temple  dedicated  to  (the  god)  Perseus,  son  of 
(the  Virgin)  Danae  ; palm-trees  grow  round  it, 
and  the  portico  is  of  stone,  very  spacious,  and 
over  it  are  placed  two  large  stone  statues.  In 
this  inclosure  is  a temple,  and  in  it  is  placed  a 
statue  of  Perseusl  The  Chemmitse  (or  inhabi- 
tants of  Chemmis),  affirm  that  Perseus  has  fre- 
quently appeared  to  them  on  earth, and  frequently 
within  the  temple .”  (Herodotus,  bk.  ii.  clr.  91.) 


THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


59 


These  two  tables  of  stone  contained  the  Ten  Commandments 
so  it  is  said,  which  the  Jews  and  Christians  of  the  present  day  are 
supposed  to  take  for  their  standard. 

They  are,  in  substance,  as  follows : 

1 —  To  have  no  other  God  but  Jehovah. 

2 —  To  make  no  image  for  purpose  of  worship. 

3 —  Not  to  take  Jehovah’s  name  in  vain. 

4 —  Not  to  work  on  the  Sabbath-day. 

5—  To  honor  their  parents. 

6 —  Not  to  kill. 

7 —  Not  to  commit  adultery. 

8 —  Not  to  steal. 

9 —  Not  to  bear  false  witness  against  a neighbor. 

10 — Not  to  covet.1 2 * 

We  have  already  seen,  in  the  last  chapter,  that  Bacchus  was 
called  the  “ Law-giver , ” and  that  his  laws  were  written  on  two 
tables  of  stone?  This  feature  in  the  Hebrew  legend  was  evi- 
dently copied  from  that  related  of  Bacchus,  but,  the  idea  of  his 
(Moses)  receiving  the  commandments  from  the  Lord  on  a mountain 
was  obviously  taken  from  the  Persian  legend  related  of  Zoroaster. 

Prof.  Max  Muller  says  : 

“What  applies  to  the  religion  of  Moses  applies  to  that  of  Zoroaster.  It  is 
placed  before  us  as  a complete  system  from  the  first,  revealed  by  Ahuramazda 
(Ormuzd),  proclaimed  by  Zoroaster .”4 * * * 8 

The  disciples  of  Zoroaster,  in  their  profusion  of  legends  of 
the  master,  relate  that  one  day,  as  he  prayed  on  a high  mountain , 
in  the  midst  of  thunders  and  lightnings  (“  fire  from  heaven  ”),  the 
Lord  himself  appeared  before  him,  and  delivered  unto  him  the 
“ Book  of  the  Law.”  While  the  King  of  Persia  and  the  people 
were  assembled  together,  Zoroaster  came  down  from  the  mountain 
unharmed,  bringing  with  him  the  ‘‘Book  of  the  Law,”  which  had 
been  revealed  to  him  by  Ormuzd.  They  call  this  book  the  Zend- 
Avesta, , which  signifies  the  Living  Word? 


1 Buddha,  the  founder  of  Buddhism,  had 

ten  commandments.  1.  Not  to  kill.  2.  Not  to 

steal.  3.  To  be  chaste.  4.  Not  to  bear  false 

witness.  5.  Not  to  lie.  6.  Not  to  swear.  7. 

To  avoid  impure  words.  8.  To  be  disinterested. 

9.  Not  to  avenge  one’s-self.  10.  Not  to  be  su- 

perstitious. (See  Hue’s  Travels,  p.  328,  vol.  i.) 

8 Exodus  xx.  Dr.  Oort  says  : “ The  original 
ten  commandments  probably  ran  as  follows  : I 
Yahwah  am  your  God.  Worship  no  other 
gods  beside  me.  Make  no  image  of  a god. 
Commit  no  perjury.  Remember  to  keep  holy 


the  Sabbath  day.  Honor  your  father  and  your 
mother.  Commit  no  murder.  Break  not  the 
marriage  vow.  Steal  not.  Bear  no  false  wit- 
ness. Covet  not.”  (Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i. 

p.  18.) 

3 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  122.  Higgins, 
vol.  ii.  p.  19.  Cox : Aryan  Mytlio.  vol.  ii.  p. 
295. 

4 Muller  : Origin  of  Religion,  p.  130. 

8 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  j>p.  257,  258. 
This  book,  the  Zend-Avesta,  is  similar,  in 
many  respects,  to  the  Vedas  of  the  Hindoos. 


CO 


BIBLE  MYTHS, 


According  to  the  religion  of  the  Cretans,  Minos,  tneir  . iw-giver, 
ascended  a mountain  (Mount  Dicta)  and  there  received  from  the 
Supreme  Lord  (Zeus)  the  sacred  laws  which  he  brought  down  with 
him.1 

Almost  all  nations  of  antiquity  have  legends  of  their  holy  men 
ascending  a mountain  to  ask  counsel  of  the  gods,  such  places 
being  invested  with  peculiar  sanctity,  and  deemed  nearer  to  the 
deities  than  other  portions  of  the  earth.2 

According  to  Egyptian  belief,  it  is  Thoth,  the  Deity  itself,  that 
speaks  and  reveals  to  his  elect  among  men  the  will  of  God  and  the 
arcana  of  divine  things.  Portions  of  them  are  expressly  stated 
to  have  been  written  by  the  very  linger  of  Thoth  himself ; to 
have  been  the  work  and  composition  of  the  great  god.3 

Diodorus,  the  Grecian  historian,  says  : 

The  idea  promulgated  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  that  their  laws 
were  received  direct  from  the  Most  High  God,  has  been  adopted 
with  success  by  many  other  law-givers , who  have  thus  insured  re- 
spect for  their  institutions .4 

The  Supreme  God  of  the  ancient  Mexicans  was  Tezcatlipoca. 
He  occupied  a position  corresponding  to  the  Jehovah  of  the  Jews, 
the  Brahma  of  India,  the  Zeus  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  Odin  of  the 
Scandinavians.  His  name  is  compounded  of  Tezcatepec,  the  name 
of  a mountain  {upon  which  he  is  said  to  ha/ve  manifested  himself 
to  man)  tlil , dark,  and  poca,  smoke.  The  explanation  of  this  des- 
ignation is  given  in  the  Codex  Vaticanus , as  follows : 


This  has  led  many  to  believe  that  Zoroaster 
was  a Brahman  ; among  these  are  Rawlinson 
(See  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  831) 
and  Thomas  Maurice.  (See  Indian  Antiquities, 
vol.  ii.  p.  219.) 

The  Persians  themselves  had  a tradition 
that  he  came  from  some  country  to  the  East 
of  them.  That  he  was  a foreigner  is  indicated 
by  a passage  in  the  Zend-Avesta  which  repre- 
sents Ormuzd  as  saying  to  him:  “ Thou,  O Zoro- 
aster, by  the  promulgation  of  my  law,  shalt 
restore  to  me  my  former  glory,  which  was  pure 
light.  Up  ! haste  thee  to  the  land  of  Iran , 
which  thirsteth  after  the  law,  and  say,  thus 
said  Ormuzd,  &c.”  (See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas, 
vol.  i.  p.  263.) 

1 The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p,  301. 

9 “The  deities  of  the  Hindoo  Pantheon 
dwell  on  the  sacred  Mount  Meru ; the  gods  of 
Persia  ruled  from  Albordj  ; the  Greek  Jove 
thundered  from  Olympus  ; and  the  Scandina- 
vian gods  made  Asgard  awful  with  their  pres- 
ence. . . . Profane  history  is  full  of  exam- 

ples attesting  the  attachment  to  high  places  for 
purpose  of  sacrifice.”  (Squire  : Serpent  Sym- 
bols, p.  78.) 


“ The  offerings  of  the  Chinese  to  the  deities 
were  generally  on  the  summits  of  high  moun- 
tains, as  they  seemed  to  them  to  be  nearer 
heaven,  to  the  majesty  of  which  they  were  to 
be  offered.”  (Christmas’s  Mytho.  p.  250,  in 
Ibid.)  “In  the  infancy  of  civilization,  high 
places  were  chosen  by  the  people  to  offer  sac- 
rifices to  the  gods.  The  first  altars,  the  first 
temples,  were  erected  on  mountains.”  (Hum- 
boldt : American  Researches.)  The  Himalayas 
are  the  “ Heavenly  mountains .”  In  Sanscrit 
Himala,  corresponding  to  the  M.  Gothic,  Hi- 
mins  ; Alem.,  Himil ; Ger.,  Swed.,  and  Dan., 
Himmel ; Old  Norse,  Himin ; Dutch,  Hemel; 
Ang.-Sax.,  Heofon  ; Eng.,  Heaven.  (See  Mal- 
let’s Northern  Antiquities,  p.  42.) 

8 Bunseu’s  Egypt,  quoted  in  Isis  Unveiled, 
vol.  ii.  p.  307.  Mrs.  Child  says  : “The  laws  of 
Egypt  were  handed  down  from  the  earliest 
times,  and  regarded  with  the  utmost  veneration 
as  a portion  of  religion.  Their  first  legislator 
represented  them  as  dictated  by  the  gods  them- 
selves, and  framed  expressly  for  the  benefit  of 
mankind  by  their  secretary  Thoth."  (Prog. 
Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  173.) 

* Quoted  in  Ibid. 


THE  TEN  COMMANDMENTS. 


61 


Tezcatlipoca  was  one  of  tlieir  most  potent  deities ; they  say  he 
once  appeared  on  the  top  of  a mountain.  They  paid  him  great 
reverence  and  adoration,  and  addressed  him,  in  their  prayers,  as 
“ Lord,  whose  servant  we  are.”  JSTo  man  ever  saw  his  face,  for  he 
appeared  only  “ as  a shade.”  Indeed,  the  Mexican  idea  of  the 
godhead  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Jews.  Like  Jehovah,  Tezcat- 
lipoca dwelt  in  the  “ midst  of  thick  darkness.”  When  he  descend- 
ed upon  the  mount  of  Tezcatejpec , darkness  overshadowed  the 
earth , while  fire  and  water , in  mingled  streams,  flowed  from  be- 
neath his  feet , from  its  summit .* 

Thus,  we  see  that  other  nations,  beside  the  Hebrews,  believed 
that  their  laws  were  actually  received  from  God,  that  they  had 
legends  to  that  effect,  and  that  a mountain  figures  conspicuously 
in  the  stories. 

Professor  Oort,  speaking  on  this  subject,  says : 

“No  one  who  has  any  knowledge  of  antiquity  will  he  surprised  at  this,  for 
similar  beliefs  were  very  common.  All  peoples  who  had  issued  from  a life  of 
barbarism  and  acquired  regular  political  institutions,  more  or  less  elaborate 
laws,  and  established  worship,  and  maxims  of  morality,  attributed  all  this — 
their  birth  as  a nation,  so  to  speak — to  one  or  more  great  men,  all  of  whom, 
without  exception,  were  supposed  to  have  received  their  knowledge  from  some  deity. 

“Whence  did  Zoroaster,  the  prophet  of  the  Persians,  derive  his  religion? 
According  to  the  beliefs  of  his  followers,  and  the  doctrines  of  their  sacred  writ- 
ings, it  was  from  Ahuramazda,  the  God  of  light.  Why  did  the  Egyptians  repre- 
sent the  god  Thoth  with  a writing  tablet  and  a pencil  in  his  hand,  and  honor  him 
especially  as  the  god  of  the  priests?  Because  he  was  ‘ the  Lord  of  the  divine  Word,’ 
the  foundation  of  all  wisdom,  from  whose  inspiration  the  priests,  who  were  the 
scholars,  the  lawyers,  and  the  religious  teachers  of  the  people,  derived  all  their 
wisdom.  Was  not  Minos,  the  law-giver  of  the  Cretans,  the  friend  of  Zeus,  the 
highest  of  the  gods?  Nay,  was  he  not  even  his  son,  and  did  he  not  ascend  to  the 
sacred  cave  on  Mount  Dicte  to  bring  down  the  laws  which  his  god  had  placed 
there  for  him?  From  whom  did  the  Spartan  law-giver,  Lycurgus,  himself  say 
that  he  had  obtained  his  laws?  From  no  other  than  the  god  Apollo.  The  Roman 
legend,  too,  in  honoring  Numa  Pompilius  as  the  people’s  instructor,  at  the  same 
time  ascribed  all  his  wisdom  to  his  intercourse  with  the  nymph  Egeria.  It  was 
the  same  elsewhere ; and  to  make  one  more  example, — this  from  later  times — 
Mohammed  not  oni}'  believed  himself  to  have  been  called  immediately  by  God 
to  be  the  prophet  of  the  Arabs,  but  declared  that  he  had  received  every  page  of 
the  Koran  from  the  hand  of  the  angel  Gabriel.”2 


1 See  Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol,  p.  175. 


* Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  301. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


SAMSON  AND  HIS  EXPLOITS. 

This  Israelite  hero  is  said  to  have  been  born  at  a time  when  the 
children  of  Israel  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Philistines.  His 
mother,  who  had  been  barren  for  a number  of  years,  is  entertained 
by  an  angel,  who  informs  her  that  she  shall  conceive,  and  bear  a 
son,1  and  that  the  child  shall  be  a Nazarite  unto  God,  from  the 
womb,  and  he  shall  begin  to  deliver  Israel  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
Philistines. 

According  to  the  prediction  of  the  angel,  “ the  woman  bore  a 
son,  and  called  his  name  Samson  • and  the  child  grew,  and  the 
Lord  blessed  him.” 

“And  Samson  (after  he  had  grown  to  man’s  estate),  went  down  to  Timnath, 
and  saw  a woman  in  Timnath  of  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines.  And  he  came 
up  and  told  his  father  and  his  mother,  and  said,  I have  seen  a woman  in  Timnath 
of  the  daughters  of  the  Philistines;  now  therefore  get  her  for  me  to  wife.” 


1 The  idea  of  a woman  conceiving,  and  bear- 
ing a son  in  her  old  age,  seems  to  have  been  a 
Hebrew  peculiarity,  as  a number  of  their  re- 
markable personages  were  born,  so  it  is  said,  of 
parents  well  advanced  in  years,  or  of  a woman 
who  was  supposed  to  have  been  barren.  As 
illustrations,  we  may  mention  this  case  of  Sam- 
son, and  that  of  Joseph  being  born  of  Rachel. 
The  beautiful  Rachel,  who  was  so  much  beloved 
by  Jacob,  her  husband,  was  barren,  and  she 
bore  him  no  sons.  This  caused  grief  and  dis- 
content on  her  part,  and  anger  on  the  part  of 
her  husband.  In  her  old  age,  however,  she 
bore  the  wonderful  child  Joseph.  (See  Genesis, 
xxx.  1-29.) 

Isaac  was  born  of  a woman  (Sarah)  who  had 
been  barren  many  years.  An  angel  appeared 
to  her  when  her  lord  (Abraham)  “ was  ninety 
years  old  and  nine,”  and  informed  her  that  she 
would  conceive  and  bear  a son.  (See  Gen.  xvi.) 

Samuel , the  “ holy  man,”  was  also  born  of 
a woman  (Hannah)  who  had  been  barren  many 
years.  In  grief,  she  prayed  to  the  Lord  for  a 
child,  and  was  finally  comforted  by  receiving 
her  wish.  (See  1 Samuel,  i.  1-20.) 

John  the  Baptist  was  also  a miraculously  con- 
ceived infant.  His  mother,  Elizabeth,  bore 

T621 


him  in  her  old  age.  An  angel  also  in formed  her 
and  her  husband  Zachariah,  that  this  event 
would  take  place.  (See  Luke,  i.  1-25.) 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  was  born  of  a 
woman  (Anna)  who  was  “ old  and  stricken  in 
years,”  and  who  had  been  barren  all  her  life. 
An  angel  appeared  to  Anna  and  her  husband 
(Joachim),  and  told  them  what  was  about  to 
take  place.  (See  ‘ ‘ The  Gospel  of  Mary,”  Apoc.) 

Thus  we  see,  that  the  idea  of  a wonderful 
child  being  born  of  a woman  who  had  passed 
the  age  which  nature  had  destined  for  her  to 
bear  children,  and  who  had  been  barren  all  her 
life,  was  a favorite  one  among  the  Hebrews. 
The  idea  that  the  ancestors  of  a race  lived  to  a 
fabulous  old  age,  is  also  a familiar  one  among 
the  ancients. 

Most  ancient  nations  relate  in  their  fables 
that  their  ancestors  lived  to  be  very  old  men. 
For  instance  ; the  Persian  patriarch  Kaiomaras 
reigned  560  years  ; Jemshid  reigned  300  years  ; 
Jahmurash  reigned  700  years  ; Dahak  reigned 
1000  years  ; Feridun  reigned  120  years  ; Manu- 
geher  reigned  500  years ; Kaikans  reigned  150 
years  ; and  Bahaman  reigned  112  years.  (See 
Dunlap  : Son  of  the  Man,  p.  155,  note.) 


SAMSON  AND  IIIS  EXPIOIIS. 


63 


Samson’s  father  and  mother  preferred  that  he  should  take  a 
woman  among  the  daughters  of  their  own  tribe,  but  Samson  wished 
for  the  maid  of  the  Philistines,  “for,”  said  he,  “she  pleaseth  me 
well.” 

The  parents,  after  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  the  will  • 
of  the  Lord,  that  he  should  marry  the  maid  of  the  Philistines, 
consented. 

“ Then  went  Samson  down,  and  his  father  and  his  mother,  to  Timnath,  and 
came  to  the  vineyards  of  Timnath,  and,  behold,  a young  lion  roared  against  him 
(Samson).  And  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  came  mightily  upon  him,  and  he  rent 
him  (the  lion)  as  he  would  have  rent  a kid,  and  he  had  nothing  in  his  hand.” 

This  was  Samson’s  first  exploit,  which  he  told  not  to  any  one, 
not  even  his  father,  or  his  mother. 

He  then  continued  on  his  way,  and  went  down  and  talked  with 
the  woman,  and  she  pleased  him  well. 

And,  after  a time,  he  returned  to  take  her,  and  he  turned  aside 
to  see  the  carcass  of  the  lion,  and  behold,  “ there  was  a swarm  of 
bees,  and  honey,  in  the  carcass  of  the  lion.” 

Samson  made  a feast  at  his  wedding,  which  lasted  for  seven 
days.  At  this  feast,  there  were  brought  thirty  companions  to  be 
with  him,  unto  whom  he  said : “ I will  now  put  forth  a riddle 

unto  you,  if  ye  can  certainly  declare  it  me,  within  the  seven  days 
of  the  feast,  and  find  it  out,  then  I will  give  you  thirty  sheets, 
and  thirty  changes  of  garments.  But,  if  ye  cannot  declare  it 
me,  then  shall  ye  give  me  thirty  sheets,  and  thirty  changes  of  gar- 
ments.” And  they  said  unto  him,  “ Put  forth  thy  riddle,  that  we 
may  hear  it.”  And  he  answered  them  : “ Out  of  the  eater  came 

forth  meat,  and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness.” 

This  riddle  the  thirty  companions  could  not  solve. 

“ And  it  came  to  pass,  on  the  seventh  day,  that  they  said  unto 
Samson’s  wife : 4 Entice  thy  husband,  that  he  may  declare  unto 

us  the  riddle.’  ” 

She  accordingly  went  to  Samson,  and  told  him  that  he  could  not 
love  her ; if  it  were  so,  he  would  tell  her  the  answer  to  the  riddle. 
After  she  had  wept  and  entreated  of  him,  he  finally  told  her,  and  she 
gave  the  answer  to  the  children  of  her  people.  “ And  the  men  of 
the  city  said  unto  him,  on  the  seventh  day,  before  the  sun  went 
down,  £ What  is  sweeter  than  honey,  and  what  is  stronger  than  a 
lion?”’ 

Samson,  upon  hearing  this,  suspected  how  they  managed  to  find 
out  the  answer,  whereupon  he  said  unto  them  : “ I £ ye  had  not 

ploughed  with  my  heifer,  ye  had  not  found  out  my  riddle  ” 


64 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Samson  was  then  at  a loss  to  know  where  to  get  the  thirty 
sheets,  and  the  thirty  changes  of  garments  ; but,  “ the  spirit  of  the 
Lord  came  upon  him,  and  he  went  down  to  Ashkelon,  and  slew 
thirty  men  of  them , and  took  their  spoil,  and  gave  change  of  gar- 
ments unto  them  which  expounded  the  riddle.” 

This  was  the  hero’s  second  exploit. 

His  anger  being  kindled,  he  went  up  to  his  father’s  house,  in- 
stead of  returning  to  his  wife.1  But  it  came  to  pass,  that,  after  a 
while,  Samson  repented  of  his  actions,  and  returned  to  his  wife’s 
house,  and  wished  to  go  in  to  his  wife  in  the  chamber  ; but  her 
father  would  not  suffer  him  to  go.  And  her  father  said  : “ I 
verily  thought  that  thou  hadst  utterly  hated  her,  therefore,  I gave 
her  to  thy  companion.  Is  not  her  younger  sister  fairer  than  she  ? 
Take  her,  I pray  thee,  instead  of  her.” 

This  did  not  seem  to  please  Samson,  even  though  the  younger 
was  fairer  than  the  older,  for  he  “ went  and  caught  three  hundred 
foxes,  and  took  firebrands,  and  turned  (the  foxes)  tail  to  tail,  and 
put  a firebrand  in  the  midst  between  two  tails.  And  when  he  had 
set  the  brands  on  fire,  he  let  them  go  into  the  standing  corn  of  the 
Philistines,  and  burned  up  both  the  shocks  and  also  the  standing 
corn,  with  the  vineyards  and  olives.” 

This  was  Samson’s  third  exploit. 

When  the  Philistines  found  their  corn,  their  vineyards,  and 
their  olives  burned,  they  said:  “ Who  hath  done  this?” 

“ And  they  answered,  ‘ Samson,  the  son-in-law  of  the  Timnite,  because  he  had 
taken  his  wife,  and  given  her  to  his  companion.’  And  the  Philistines  came  up, 
and  burned  her  and  her  father  with  fire.  And  Samson  said  unto  them:  ‘ Though 
ye  have  done  this,  yet  will  I be  avenged  of  you,  and  after  that  I will  cease.’  And 
he  smote  them  hip  and  thigh  with  a great  slaughter,  and  he  went  and  dwelt  in  the 
top  of  the  rock  Etam.” 

This  “ great  slaughter  ” was  Samson’s  fourth  exploit. 

“ Then  the  Philistines  went  up,  and  pitched  in  Judah,  and  spread  themselves 
in  Lehi.  And  the  men  of  Judah  said:  ‘ Why  are  ye  come  up  against  us?’  And 
they  answered : ‘ To  bind  Samson  are  we  come  up,  and  to  do  to  him  as  he  hath 
done  to  us.’  Then  three  thousand  men  of  Judah  went  up  to  the  top  of  the 
rock  Etam,  and  said  to  Samson : * Knowest  thou  not  that  the  Philistines  are 

rulers  over  us?  What  is  this  that  thou  hast  done  unto  us  ?’  And  he  said 
unto  them:  ‘As  they  did  unto  me,  so  have  I done  unto  them.’  And  they 
said  unto  him:  ‘We  are  come  down  to  bind  thee,  that  we  may  deliver  thee 
into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines.’  And  Samson  said  unto  them:  ‘Swear 
unto  me  that  ye  will  not  fall  upon  me  yourselves.’  And  they  spake  unto  him, 
saying,  ‘No;  but  we  will  bind  thee  fast,  and  deliver  thee  into  their  hands : but 
surely  we  will  not  kill  thee.’  And  they  bound  him  with  two  new  cords,  and 


1 Judges,  xiv. 


SAMSON  AND  HIS  EXPLOITS. 


65 


brought  him  up  from  the  rock.  And  when  he  came  unto  Lehi,  the  Philistines 
shouted  against  him ; and  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  came  mightily  upon  him,  and 
the  cords  that  -were  upon  his  arms  became  as  flax  that  was  burned  with  fire,  and  his 
bands  loosed  from  off  his  hands.  And  he  found  a new  jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  and  put 
forth  his  hand  and  took  it,  and  slew  a thousand  men  with  it .” 

This  was  Samson’s  fifth  exploit. 

After  slaying  a thousand  men  he  was  “ sore  athirst,”  and  called 
unto  the  Lord.  And  “ God  clave  a hollow  place  that  was  in  the 
jaw,  and  there  came  water  thereout,  and  when  he  had  drunk,  his 
spirit  came  again,  and  he  revived.”1 

“ Then  went  Samson  to  Gaza  and  saw  there  a harlot,  and  went  in  unto  her. 
And  it  was  told  the  Gazites,  saying,  * Samson  is  come  hither.’  And  they  com- 
passed him  in,  and  laid  wait  for  him  all  night  in  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  were 
quiet  all  the  night,  saying:  * In  the  morning,  when  it  is  day,  we  shall  kill  him.’ 
And  Samson  lay  (with  the  harlot)  till  midnight,  and  arose  at  midnight,  and  took 
the  doors  of  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  the  two  posts,  and  went  away  with  them, 
bar  and  all,  and  put  them  upon  his  shoulders,  and  carried  them  up  to  the  top  of 
a hill  that  is  in  Hebron.” 

This  was  Samson’s  sixth  exploit. 

“And  it  came  to  pass  afterward,  that  he  loved  a woman  in  the  valley  of 
Soreck,  whose  name  was  Delilah.  And  the  lords  of  the  Philistines  came  up  unto 
her,  and  said  unto  her:  * Entice  him,  and  see  wherein  his  great  strength  lieth, 
and  by  what  means  we  may  prevail  against  him.’  ” 

Delilah  then  began  to  entice  Samson  to  tell  her  wherein  his 
strength  lay. 

“ She  pressed  him  daily  with  her  words,  and  urged  him,  so  that  his  soul  was 
vexed  unto  death.  Then  he  told  her  all  his  heart,  and  said  unto  her:  ‘There 
hath  not  come  a razor  upon  mine  head,  for  I have  been  a Nazarite  unto  God  from 
my  mother’s  womb.  If  I be  shaven,  then  my  strength  will  go  from  me,  and  I 
shall  become  weak,  and  be  like  any  other  man.’  And  when  Delilah  saw  that  he 
had  told  her  all  his  heart,  she  went  and  called  for  the  lords  of  the  Philistines, 
saying:  ‘ Come  up  this  once,  for  he  hath  showed  me  all  his  heart.’  Then  the 
lords  of  the  Philistines  came  up  unto  her,  and  brought  money  in  their  hands 
(for  her). 

“And  she  made  him  (Samson)  sleep  upon  her  knees;  and  she  called  for  a 
man,  and  she  caused  him  to  shave  off  the  seven  locks  of  his  head ; and  she  began 
to  afflict  him,  and  his  strength  went  from  him.” 

The  Philistines  then  took  him,  put  out  his  eyes,  and  put  him 
in  prison.  And  being  gathered  together  at  a great  sacrifice  in  honor 
of  their  God,  Dagon,  they  said : “ Call  for  Samson,  that  he  may 
make  us  sport.”  And  they  called  for  Samson,  and  he  made  them 
sport. 

“ And  Samson  said  unto  the  lad  that  held  him  by  the  hand,  Suffer  me  that  I 
may  feel  the  pillars  whereupon  the  house  standeth,  that  I may  lean  upon  them. 


1 Judges,  xv. 


66 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ Now  the  house  was  full  of  men.  and  women;  and  all  the  lords  of  the  Philis- 
tines were  there ; and  there  were  upon  the  roof  about  three  thousand  men  and 
women,  that  beheld  while  Samson  made  sport. 

“And  Samson  called  unto  the  Lord,  and  said:  ‘ O Lord  God.  remember  me, 
I pray  thee,  and  strengthen  me,  I pray  thee,  only  this  once,  O God,  that  I may 
be  at  once  avenged  of  the  Philistines  for  my  two  eyes.’ 

“And  Samson  took  hold  of  the  two  middle  pillars  upon  which  the  house 
stood  and  on  which  it  was  borne  up,  of  the  one  with  his  right  hand,  and  of  the 
other  with  his  left.  And  Samson  said:  ‘ Let  me  die  with  the  Philistines.’  And 
he  bowed  himself  with  all  his  might;  and  (having  regained  his  strength)  the 
house  fell  upon  the  lords,  and  upon  the  people  that  were  therein.  So  the  dead 
which  he  slew  at  his  death,  were  more  than  they  which  he  slew  in  his  life.”1 

Thus  ended  the  career  of  the  “ strong  man  ” of  the  Hebrews. 

That  this  story  is  a copy  of  the  legends  related  of  Hercules,  or 
that  they  have  both  been  copied  from  similar  legends  existing 
among  some  other  nations,3  is  too  evident  to  be  disputed.  Many 
churchmen  have  noticed  the  similarity  between  the  history  of 
Samson  and  that  of  Hercules.  In  Chambers’s  Encylopaedia,  undex 
“ Samson,”  we  read  as  follows  : 

“It  has  been  matter  of  most  contradictory  speculations,  how  far  his  existence 
is  to  be  taken  as  a reality,  or,  in  other  words,  what  substratum  of  historica. 
truth  there  may  be  in  this  supposed  circle  of  popular  legends,  artistically  rounded 
off,  in  the  four  chapters  of  Judges  which  treat  of  him.  . . . 

“The  miraculous  deeds  he  performed  have  taxed  the  ingenuity  of  many 
commentators,  and  the  text  has  been  twisted  and  turned  in  all  directions , to 
explain,  rationally , his  slaying  those  prodigious  numbers  single-handed;  his 
carrying  the  gates  of  Gaza,  in  one  night,  a distance  of  about  fifty  miles,  &c. , &c.  ’* * 

That  this  is  simply  a Solar  myth,  no  one  will  doubt,  we  believe, 
who  will  take  the  trouble  to  investigate  it. 

Prof.  Goldziher,  who  has  made  “ Comparative  Mythology  ” 
a special  study,  says  of  this  story  : 

“ The  most  complete  and  rounded-off  Solar  myth  extant  in  Hebrew,  is  that 
of  Shimshon  (Samson),  a cycle  of  mythical  conceptions  fully  comparable  with 
the  Greek  myth  of  Hercules.”3 

We  shall  now  endeavor  to  ascertain  if  such  is  the  case,  by 
comparing  the  exploits  of  Samsbn  with  those  of  Hercules. 

The  first  wonderful  act  performed  by  Samson  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  that  of  slaying  a lion . This  is  said  to  have  happened  when 
he  was  but  a youth.  So  likewise  was  it  with  Hercules.  At  the 
age  of  eighteen,  he  slew  an  enormous  lion.4 

The  valley  of  Nemea  was  infested  by  a terrible  lion  ; Eurystheus 
ordered  Hercules  to  bring  him  the  skin  of  this  monster.  After 


1 Judges,  xvi.  3 Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  248. 

* Perhaps  that  of  Izdubar.  See  chapter  xi.  * Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  248.  The  Age  of 

Fable,  p.  200. 


SAMSON  AND  HIS  EXPLOITS. 


67 


using  in  vain  his  club  and  arrows  against  the  lien,  Hercules 
strangled  the  animal  with  his  hands.  He  returned,  carrying  the 
dead  lion  on  his  shoulders ; but  Eurystheus  was  so  frightened  at 
the  sight  of  it,  and  at  this  proof  of  the  prodigious  strength  of  the 
hero,  that  he  ordered  him  to  deliver  the  accounts  of  his  exploits  in 
the  future  outside  the  town.1 

To  show  the  courage  of  Hercules,  it  is  said  that  he  entered  the 
cave  where  the  lion’s  lair  was,  closed  the  entrance  behind  him,  and 
at  once  grappled  with  the  monster.2 

Samson  is  said  to  have  torn  asunder  the  jaws  of  the  lion,  and 
wTe  find  him  generally  represented  slaying  the  beast  in  that  manner. 
So  likewise  was  this  the  manner  in  which  Hercules  disposed  of  the 
Hemean  lion.3 

The  skin  of  the  lion,  Hercules  tore  off  with  his  fingers,  and 
knowing  it  to  be  impenetrable,  resolved  to  wear  it  henceforth.4 
The  statues  and  paintings  of  Hercules  either  represent  him  carrying 
the  lion’s  skin  over  his  arm,  or  wearing  it  hanging  down  his  back, 
the  skin  of  its  head  fitting  to  his  crown  like  a cap,  and  the  fore-legs 
knotted  under  his  chin.5 

Samson’s  second  exploit  was  when  he  went  down  to  Ashkelon 
and  slew  thirty  men. 

Hercules,  when  returning  to  Thebes  from  the  lion-hunt,  and 
wearing  its  skin  hanging  from  his  shoulders,  as  a sign  of  his  suc- 
cess, met  the  heralds  of  the  King  of  the  Minyae,  coming  from 
Orchomenos  to  claim  the  annual  tribute  of  a hundred  cattle,  levied 
on  Thebes.  Hercules  cut  off  the  ears  and  noses  of  the  heralds, 
bound  their  hands,  and  sent  them  home.6 

Samson’s  third  exploit  was  when  he  caught  three  hundred  foxes, 
and  took  fire-brands,  and  turned  them  tail  to  tail,  and  put  a fire- 
brand in  the  midst  between  two  tails,  and  let  them  go  into  the 
standing  corn  of  the  Philistines. 

There  is  no  such  feature  as  this  in  the  legends  of  Hercules,  the 
nearest  to  it  in  resemblance  is  when  he  encounters  and  kills  the 
Learnean  Hydra.7 8  During  this  encounter  a fire-brand  ligures 
conspicuously,  and  the  neighboring  wood  is  set  on  fire* 


1 Bulfinch:  The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  200. 

a Murray:  Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  249. 

3 Roman  Antiquities,  p.  124 ; and  Mont- 
faucon,  vol.  i.  plate  exxvi. 

4 Murray:  Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  249. 

• See  Ibid.  Greek  and  Italian  Mythology,  p. 

129,  and  Montfaucon,  vol.  i.  plate  exxv.  and 

oxxvi. 

8 Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  247. 


7 “It  has  many  heads,  one  being  immortal, 

as  the  storm  must  constant  ly  supply  new  clouds 
while  the  vapors  are  driven  off  by  the  Sun 
into  space.  Hence  the  sto  y went,  that  although 
Herakles  couli  burn  aw,:  i ^ mortal  lies. .Is,  as 
the  ■ » burns  up  the  «!  mis.  thill  he  can  but 
hide,  nv,  ay  the  mist  or  \ > >r  itself,  which  at  its 

appol'i  d time  must  >>  n darken  the  sky.” 
(Cox:  Aryan  Mytiio.,  vol.  ii.  p.  48.) 

8 S ■ Manual  of  Mytho.,  p.  250. 


68 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


We  have,  however,  an  explanation  of  this  portion  of  the  legend, 
in  the  following  from  Prof.  Steinthal : 

At  the  festival  of  Ceres,  held  at  Rome,  in  the  month  of  April, 
a fox-hunt  through  the  circus  was  indulged  in,  in  which  burning 
torches  were  bound  to  the  foxes’  tails. 

This  was  intended  to  be  a symbolical  reminder  of  the  damage 
done  to  the  fields  by  mildew,  called  the  “ red  fox  f which  was  ex- 
orcised in  various  ways  at  this  momentous  season  (the  last  third  of 
April).  It  is  the  time  of  the  Dog-Star , at  which  the  mildew  was 
most  to  be  feared  ; if  at  that  time  great  solar  heat  follows  too  close 
upon  the  hoar-frost  or  dew  of  the  cold  nights,  this  mischief  rages 
like  a burning  fox  through  the  corn-fields.1 

He  also  says  that : 

“ This  is  the  sense  of  the  story  of  the  foxes,  which  Samson  caught  and  sent 
into  the  Philistines’  fields,  with  fire-brands  fastened  to  their  tails,  to  burn  the 
crops.  Like  the  lion,  the  fox  is  an  animal  that  indicated  the  solar  heat,  being 
well  suited  for  this  both  by  its  color  and  by  its  long-haired  tail.”2 * 

Bouchart,  in  his  “ Hierozoicon,”  observes  that : 

“ At  this  period  (tf.  <?.,  the  last  third  of  April)  they  cut  the  corn  in  Palestine 
and  Lower  Egypt,  and  a few  days  after  the  setting  of  the  Hyads  arose  the  Fox , 
in  whose  train  or  tail  comes  the  fires  or  torches  of  the  dog-days,  represented 
among  the  Egyptians  by  red  marks  painted  on  the  backs  of  their  animals.”8 

Count  de  Yolney  also  tells  us  that : 

“The  inhabitants  of  Carseoles,  an  ancient  city  of  Latium,  every  year,  in  a 
religious  festival,  burned  a number  of  foxes  with  torches  tied  to  their  tails.  They 
gave,  as  the  reason  for  this  whimsical  ceremony,  that  their  corn  had  been  former- 
ly burnt  by  a fox  to  whose  tail  a young  man  had  fastened  a bundle  of  lighted 
straw.”4 

He  concludes  his  account  of  this  peculiar  “ religious  festival,” 
by  saying  : 

“ This  is  exactly  the  story  of  Samson  with  the  Philistines,  but  it  is  a Pheni- 
cian  tale.  Car-Seol  is  a compound  word  in  that  tongue,  signifying  town  of  foxes. 
The  Philistines,  original^  from  Egypt,  do  not  appear  to  have  had  any  colonies. 
The  Phenicians  had  a great  many;  and  it  can  scarcely  be  admitted  that  they 
borrowed  this  story  from  the  Hebrews,  as  obscure  as  the  Druses  are  in  our  own 
times,  or  that  a simple  adventure  gave  rise  to  a religious  ceremony;  it  evidently 
can  only  be  a mythological  and  allegorical  narration .”4 

So  much,  then,  for  the  foxes  and  fire-brands. 

Samson’s  fourth  exploit  was  when  he  smote  the  Philistines 
“ hip  and  thigh,”  “ wfith  great  slaughter.” 

1 Steinthal:  The  Legend  of  Samson,  p.  398.  3 Quoted  by  Count  de  Volney:  Researches 

See,  also,  Higgins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  240,  in  Ancient  History,  p.  42,  note. 

and  Volney:  Researches  in  Anc’t  History,  p.  42.  * Volney  : Researches  in  Ancient  History, 

» Ibid.  p.  42. 


SAMSON  AND  IIIS  EXPLOITS. 


69 


It  is  related  of  Hercules  that  he  had  a combat  with  an  army  of 
Centaurs,  who  were  armed  with  pine  sticks,  rocks,  axes,  &c. 
They  flocked  in  wild  confusion,  and  surrounded  the  cave  of 
Pholos,  where  Hercules  was,  when  a violent  fight  ensued.  Hercules 
was  obliged  to  contend  against  this  large  armed  force  single-handed, 
but  he  came  off  victorious,  and  slew  a great  number  of  them.1 
Hercules  also  encountered  and  fought  against  an  army  of  giants , 
at  the  Phlegraean  fields,  near  Cumae.2 

Samson’s  next  wonderful  exploit  was  when  “ three  thousand  men 
of  Judah  ” bound  him  with  cords  and  brought  him  up  into  Lehi, 
when  the  Philistines  were  about  to  take  his  life.  The  cords  with 
which  he  was  bound  immediately  became  as  flax,  and  loosened 
from  off  his  hands.  He  then,  with  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  slew  one 
thousand  Philistines.3 4 

A very  similar  feature  to  this  is  found  in  the  history  of  Her- 
cules. He  is  made  prisoner  by  the  Egyptians,  who  wish  to  take 
his  life,  but  while  they  are  preparing  to  slay  him,  he  breaks  loose 
his  bonds — having  been  tied  with  cords — and  kills  Buseris,  the 
leader  of  the  band,  and  the  whole  retinue ? 

On  another  occasion,  being  refused  shelter  from  a storm  at  Kos, 
he  was  enraged  at  the  inhabitants,  and  accordingly  destroyed  the 
whole  town? 

Samson,  after  he  had  slain  a thousand  Philistines,  was  “ sore 
athirst,”  and  called  upon  Jehovah , his  father  in  heaven,  to  succor 
him,  whereupon,  water  immediately  gushed  forth  from  “ a hollow 
place  that  was  in  the  jaw-bone.” 

Hercules,  departing  from  the  Indies  (or  rather  Ethiopia),  and 
conducting  his  army  through  the  desert  of  Lybia,  feels  a burning 
thirst,  and  conjures  lhou , his  father,  to  succor  him  in  his  danger. 


1 See  Murray:  Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  251. 

“ The  slaughter  of  the  Centaurs  by  Hercules 
is  the  conquest  and  dispersion  of  the  vapors 
by  the  Sun  as  he  rises  in  the  heaven.”  (Cox: 
Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  47.) 

3 Murray:  Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  257. 

3 Shamgar  also  slew  six  hundred  Philistines 
with  an  ox-goad.  (See  Judges,  iii.  81.) 

“ It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  these 
weapons  are  the  heritage  of  all  the  Solar  heroes, 
that  they  are  found  in  the  hands  of  Phebus  and 
Herakles,  of  CEdipus,  Achilleus,  Philoktetes,  of 
Siguard,  Rustem,  Indra,  Isfendujar,  of  Tele 
phos,  Meleagros,  Theseus,  Kadmos,  Bellero 
phon,  and  all  other  slayers  of  noxious  and 
fearful  things.”  (Rev.  Geo.  Cox:  Tales  of 
Ancient  Greece,  p.  xxvii.) 

4 See  Volney:  Researches  in  Ancient  His. 
tory,  p.  41.  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p. 


239 ; Montfaucon : L’Antiquite  Expliqu6e, 

vol.  i.  p.  213,  and  Murray:  Manual  of  Mythol- 
ogy, pp.  259-262. 

It  is  evident  that  Herodotus,  the  Grecian 
historian,  was  somewhat  of  a skeptic,  for  he 
says:  ‘‘The  Grecians  say  that  ‘ When  Hercules 
ariived  in  Egypt,  the  Egyptians,  having  crown- 
ed him  with  a garland,  led  him  in  procession, 
as  designing  to  sacrifice  him  to  Jupiter,  and 
that  for  some  time  he  remained  quiet,  but. 
when  they  began  the  preparatory  ceremonies 
upon  him  at  the  altar,  he  set  about  defending 
himself  and  slew  every  one  of  them.’  Now, 
since  Hercules  was  but  one.  and,  besides,  a 
mere  man,  as  they  confess,  how  is  it  possible 
that  he  should  slay  many  thousands?”  (Herod- 
otus, bock  ii.  ch.  45). 

6 Murray:  Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  263. 


70 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Instantly  the  (celestial)  Ram  appears.  Hercules  follows  him  and 
arrives  at  a place  where  the  Ram  scrapes  with  his  foot,  and  there 
instantly  comes  forth  a spring  of  water} 

Samson’s  sixth  exploit  happened  when  he  went  to  Gaza  to 
visit  a harlot.  The  Gazites,  who  wished  to  take  his  life,  laid  wait 
for  him  all  night,  but  Samson  left  the  town  at  midnight,  and  took 
with  him  the  gates  of  the  city,  and  the  two  posts , on  his  shoulders. 
He  carried  them  to  the  top  of  a hill,  some  fifty  miles  away,  and  left 
them  there. 

This  story  very  much  resembles  that  of  the  “ Pillars  of  Her- 
cules,” called  the  “ Gates  of  Cadiz.™ 

Count  de  Yolney  tells  us  that : 

“ Hercules  was  represented  naked,  carrying  on  his  shoulders  two  columns 
called  the  Gates  of  Cadiz.”1 * 3 

“ The  Pillars  of  Hercules  ” was  the  name  given  by  the  ancients 
to  the  two  rocks  forming  the  entrance  or  gate  to  the  Mediterranean 
at  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar.4 *  Their  erection  was  ascribed  by  the 
Greeks  to  Hercules,  on  the  occasion  of  his  journey  to  the  kingdom 
of  Geryon.  According  to  one  version  of  the  story,  they  had  been 

united,  but  Hercules 
tore  them  asunder.6 
. Fig.  Ho.  3 is  a rep- 
resentation of  Hercules 
with  the  two  posts  or 
pillars  on  his  shoulders, 
as  alluded  to  by  Count 
de  Yolney.  We  have 
taken  it  fromMontfau- 
con’s  “ L’Antiquite  Ex- 
pliquee.”6 

J.  P.  Lundy  says  of 
this : 


1 Volney:  Researches  in  Anc’t  History,  pp. 
41,42. 

In  Bell’s  “ Pantheon  of  the  Gods  and  Demi- 
Gods  of  Antiquity,”  we  read,  under  the  head 
of  Ammon  or  Hammon  (the  name  of  the 
Egyptian  Jupiter,  worshiped  under  the  figure 

of  a Ram),  that:  “ Bacchus  having  subdued 
Asia,  and  passing  with  his  army  through 

the  deserts  of  Africa,  was  in  great  want  of 

water ; but  Jupiter,  his  father,  assuming  the 
shape  of  a Ram,  led  him  to  a fountain,  where 

he  refreshed  himself  and  his  army ; in  re- 
quital of  which  favor,  Bacchus  built  there  a 


temple  to  Jupiter,  under  the  title  of  Ammon.'" 

9 Cadiz  (ancient  Gades),  being  situated  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  first 
author  who  mentions  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  is 
Pindar,  and  he  places  them  there.  (Cham- 
bers’s Encyclo.  “Hercules.”) 

8 Volney’s  Researches,  p.  41.  See  also 
Tylor:  Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  357. 

4 See  Chambers’s  Encyclopaedia,  Art  “ Her- 
cules.” Cory’s  Ancient  Fragments,  p.  36,  note; 
and  Bulfinch:  The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  201. 

8 Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “Hercules.” 

6 Vol.  i.  plate  cxxvii. 


SAMSON  AND  HIS  EXPLOITS. 


71 


“ Hercules  carrying  his  two  columns  to  erect  at  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar, 
may  have  some  reference  to  the  Hebrew  story.”1 

We  think  there  is  no  doubt  of  it.  By  changing  the  name  Her- 
cules into  Samson,  the  legend  is  complete. 

Sir  William  Drummond  tells  us,  in  his  “ (Edipus  Judaicus,” 
that : 

“ Gaza  signifies  a Goat,  and  was  the  type  of  the  Sun  in  Capricorn.  The  Gates 
of  the  Sun  were  feigned  by  the  ancient  Astronomers  to  be  in  Capricorn  and 
Cancer  (that  is,  in  Gaza),  from  which  signs  the  tropics  are  named.  Samson 
carried  away  the  gates  from  Gaza  to  Hebron,  the  city  of  conjunction.  Now, 
Count  Gebelin  tells  us  that  at  Cadiz,  where  Hercules  was  anciently  worshiped, 
there  was  a representation  of  him,  with  a gate  on  his  shoulders .”2 

The  stories  of  the  amours  of  Samson  with  Delilah  and  other 
females,  are  simply  counterparts  of  those  of  Hercules  with  Omphale 
and  Iole.  Montfaucon,  speaking  of  this,  says : 

“ Nothing  is  better  known  in  the  fables  (related  of  Hercules)  than  his  amours 
with  Omphale  and  Iole.”3 

Prof.  Steinthal  says  : 

‘ ‘ The  circumstance  that  Samson  is  so  addicted  to  sexual  pleasure,  has  its  origin 
in  the  remembrance  that  the  Solar  godis  the  god  of  fruitfulness  and  procreation. 
We  have  as  examples,  the  amours  of  Hercules  and  Omphale;  Ninyas,  in  Assyria, 
with  Semiramis;  Samson,  inPhilistia,  with  Delila,  whilst  among  the  Phenicians, 
Melkart  pursues  Dido-Anna.”4 

Samson  is  said  to  have  had  long  hair.  “ There  hath  not  come  a 
razor  upon  my  head,”  says  he,  “ for  I have  been  a Nazarite  unto 
God  from  my  mother’s  womb.” 

Now,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  Hercules  is  said  to  have  had  long 
hair  also,  and  he  was  often  represented  that  way.  In  Montfaucon’s 
“ L’Antiquite  Expliquee”5  maybe  seen  a representation  of  Her- 
cules with  hair  reaching  almost  to  his  waist.  Almost  all  $tm-gods 
are  represented  thus.6 

Prof.  Goldzhier  says : 

“Long  locks  of  hair  and  a long  beard  are  mythological  attributes  of  the  Sun. 
The  Sun’s  rays  are  compared  with  locks  of  hair  on  the  face  or  head  of  the  Sun. 


1 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  399. 

2 (Ed.  Jud.  p.  360,  in  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i. 
p.  239. 

3 “Rien  de  plus  connu  dans  la  fable  que 
ses  amours  avec  Omphale  et  Iole.”— L’ Anti 
quite  Expliquee,  vol.  i.  p.  224. 

4 The  Legend  of  Samson,  p.  404. 

6 Vol.  i.  plate  cxxvii. 

8 ‘‘Samson  was  remarkable  for  his  long 
hair.  The  meaning  of  this  trait  in  the  orig- 
inal myth  is  easy  to  guess,  and  appears  also 


from  representations  of  the  Sun-god  amongst 
other  peoples.  These  long  hairs  are  the  rays 
of  the  Sun."  (Bible  for  Learners,  i.  416.) 

“ The  beauty  of  the  sun’s  rays  is  signified 
by  the  golden  locks  of  Phoibos,  over  which  no 
razor  has  ever  passed ; by  the  flowing  hair 
which  streams  from  the  head  of  Kephalos, 
and  falls  over  the  shoulders  of  Perseus  and 
Bellerophon.”  (Cox:  Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  I. 
p.  107.) 


72 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“When  the  sun  sets  and  leaves  his  place  to  the  darkness,  or  when  the 
powerful  Summer  Sun  is  succeeded  by  the  weak  rays  of  the  Winter  Sun,  then 
Samson’s  long  locks,  in  which  alone  his  strength  lies,  are  cut  off  through  the 
treachery  of  his  deceitful  concubine,  Delilah,  the  ‘ languishing,  languid,’  accord- 
ing to  the  meaning  of  the  name  (Delilah).  The  Beaming  Apollo,  moreover,  is 
called  the  Unshaven ; and  Minos  cannot  conquer  the  solar  hero  Nisos,  till  the 
latter  loses  his  golden  hair”1 * 

Through  the  influence  of  Delilah,  Samson  is  at  last  made  a 
prisoner.  He  tells  her  the  secret  of  his  strength,  the  seven  locks 
of  hair  are  shaven  off,  and  his  strength  leaves  him.  The  shearing 
of  the  locks  of  the  Sun  must  be  followed  by  darkness  and  ruin. 

From  the  shoulders  of  Phoibos  Lykegenes  flow  the  sacred 
locks,  over  which  no  razor  might  pass,  and  on  the  head  of  Nisos 
they  become  a palladium,  invested  with  a mysterious  power.3 
The  long  locks  of  hair  which  flow  over  his  shoulders  are  taken 
from  his  head  by  Skylla,  while  he  is  asleep,  and,  like  another  Deli- 
lah, she  thus  delivers  him  and  his  people  into  the  power  of 
Minos.3 

Prof.  Steintlial  says  of  Samson  : 

“His  hair  is  a figure  of  increase  and  luxuriant  fullness.  In  Winter,  when 
nature  appears  to  have  lost  all  strength,  the  god  of  growing  young  life  has  lost 
his  hair.  In  the  Spring  the  hair  grows  again,  and  nature  returns  to  life  again. 
Of  this  original  conception  the  Bible  story  still  preserves  a trace.  Samson’s  hair, 
after  being  cut  off,  grows  again,  and  his  strength  comes  back  with  it.”4 

Towards  the  end  of  his  career,  Samson’s  eyes  are  put  out. 
Even  here,  the  Hebrew  writes  with  a singular  fidelity  to  the  old 
mythical  speech.  The  tender  light  of  evening  is  blotted  out  by  the 
dark  vapors ; the  light  of  the  Sun  is  quenched  in  gloom.  Sam- 
son's eyes  are  put  out. 

(Edipus,  whose  history  resembles  that  of  Samson  and  Hercules 
in  many  respects,  tears  out  his  eyes,  towards  the  end  of  his  career. 
In  other  words,  the  Sun  has  blinded  himself.  Clouds  and  dark- 
ness have  closed  in  about  him,  and  the  clear  light  is  blotted  out  of 
the  heaven.6 

The  final  act,  Samson’s  death,  reminds  us  clearly  and  decisively 
of  the  Phenician  Hercules,  as  Sun-god,  who  died  at  the  Winter 
Solstice  in  the  furthest  West,  where  his  two  pillars  are  set  up  to 
mark  the  end  of  his  wanderings. 

Samson  also  died  at  the  two  pillars , but  in  his  case  they  are 
not  the  Pillars  of  the  World,  but  are  only  set  up  in  the  middle 
of  a great  banqueting-hall.  A feast  was  being  held  in  honor  of 


1 Hebrew  Mytho.,  pp.  137, 138. 

3 Cox  : Aryan  Myths,  vol.  i.  p.  84. 

* Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  xxix. 


4 The  Legend  of  Samson,  p.  408. 

6 Cox:  Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  72. 


SAMSON  AND  HIS  EXPLOITS. 


73 


Dagon,  tlie  Fish-god ; the  Sun  was  in  the  sign  of  the  Waterman, 
Samson , the  Sun-god , died.1 * * 

The  ethnology  of  the  name  of  Samson,  as  well  as  his  adven- 
tures, are  very  closely  connected  with  the  Solar  Hercules.  “ Sam- 
son ” was  the  name  of  the  Sun?  In  Arabic,  “ Shams-on  ” means  the 
Sun?  Samson  had  seven  locks  of  hair,  the  number  of  the  plan- 
etary bodies.4 * 

The  author  of  “ The  Religion  of  Israel,”  speaking  of  Samson,, 
says : 

“ The  story  of  Samson  and  his  deeds  originated  in  a Solar  myth , which  was 
afterwards  transformed  by  the  narrator  into  a saga  about  a mighty  hero  and 
deliverer  of  Israel.  The  very  name  * Samson,’  is  derived  from  the  Hebrew  word, 
and  means  ‘ Sun.’  The  hero’s  flowing  locks  were  originally  the  rays  of  the  sunr 
and  other  traces  of  the  old  myth  have  been  preserved.”6 * 

Prof.  Oort  says : 

“ The  story  of  Samson  is  simply  a solar  myth.  In  some  of  the  features  of 
the  story  the  original  meaning  may  be  traced  quite  clearly,  but  in  others  the 
myth  can  no  longer  be  recognized.  The  exploits  of  some  Danite  hero,  such  as 
Shamgar,  who  4 slew  six  hundred  Philistines  with  an  ox-goad  ’ (Judges  iii.  31), 
have  been  woven  into  it;  the  whole  has  been  remodeled  after  the  ideas  of  the 
prophets  of  later  ages,  and  finally,  it  has  been  fitted  into  the  framework  of  the 
period  of  the  Judges,  as  conceived  by  the  writer  of  the  book  called  after  them.”* 


Again  be  says : 


“ The  myth  that  lies  at  the  foundation  of  this  story  is  a description  of  the 
sun’s  course  during  the  six  winter  months.  The  god  is  gradually  encompassed 
by  his  enemies,  mist  and  darkness.  At  first  he  easily  maintains  his  freedom, 
and  gives  glorious  proofs  of  his  strength;  but  the  fetters  grow  stronger  and 
stronger,  until  at  last  he  is  robbed  of  his  crown  of  rays,  and  loses  all  his  power 
and  glory.  Such  is  the  Sun  in  Winter.  But  he  has  not  lost  his  splendor  forever. 
Gradually  his  strength  returns,  at  last  he  reappears;  and  though  he  still  seems  to 
allow  himself  to  be  mocked,  yet  the  power  of  avenging  himself  has  returned, 
and  in  the  end  he  triumphs  over  his  enemies  once  more.”1 

Other  nations  beside  the  Hebrews  and  Greeks  had  their 
u mighty  men  ” and  lion-killers.  The  Hindoos  had  their  Samson. 
His  name  was  Bala-Rama,  the  “ Strong  Hama .”  He  was  con- 
sidered by  some  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu.8 


1 The  Legend  of  Samson,  p.  406. 

9 See  Higgins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  237. 

Goldzhier:  Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  22.  The 
Religion  of  Israel,  p.  61.  The  Bible  for 

Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  418.  Volney’s  Ruins,  p. 

41,  and  Stanley:  History  of  the  Jewish  Church, 

where  he  says:  “His  name,  which  Josephus 

interprets  in  the  sense  of  ‘ strong,’  was  still 
more  characteristic.  He  was  4 the  Sunny  ’ — 

the  bright  and  beaming,  though  wayward,  like- 
ness of  the  great  luminary.” 


8 Higgins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  237,  and 
Volney’s  Researches,  p.  43,  note. 

* See  chapter  ii. 

6 The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  61.  44  The  yellow 
hair  of  Apollo  was  a symbol  of  the  solar 
rays.”  (Inman:  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p» 
679.) 

* Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  414. 

’ Ibid,  p.  422. 

8 Williams’  Hinduism,  pp.  103  and  167. 


74 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Captain  Wilford  says,  in  “ Asiatic  Researches  : ” 

“The  Indian  Hercules,  according  to  Cicero,  was  called  Belus.  He  is  the 
same  as  Bala,  the  brother  of  Crishna,  and  both  are  conjointly  worshiped  at 
Mutra;  indeed,  they  are  considered  as  one  Avatar  or  Incarnation  of  Yishnou. 
Bala  is  represented  as  a stout  man,  with  a club  in  his  hand.  He  is  also  called 
Bala-rama.  ’n 

There  is  a Hindoo  legend  which  relates  that  Sevah  had  an  en  r 
counter  with  a tiger,  “ whose  mouth  expanded  like  a cave,  and 
whose  voice  resembled  thunder.”  He  slew  the  monster,  and,  like 
Hercules,  covered  himself  with  the  skin.2 

The  Assyrians  and  Lydians,  both  Semitic  nations,  worshiped 
a Sun-god  named  Sandan  or  Sandon.  He  also  was  believed  to 
be  a lion-killer , and  frequently  figured  struggling  with  the  lion, 
or  standing  upon  the  slain  lion.3 

Nine vah,  too,  had  her  mighty  hero  and  king,  who  slew  a lion 
and  other  monsters.  Layard,  in  his  excavations,  discovered  a bas- 
relief  representation  of  this  hero  triumphing  over  the  lion  and 
wild  bull.4 

The  Ancient  Babylonians  had  a hero  lion-slayer,  Izdubar  by 
name.  The  destruction  of  the  lion,  and  other  monsters,  by  Izdu- 
bar, is  often  depicted  on  the  cylinders  and  engraved  gems  belong- 
ing to  the  early  Babjdonian  monarchy.5 

Izdubar  is  represented  as  a great  or  mighty  man,  who,  in  the 
early  days  after  the  flood,  destroyed  wild  animals,  and  conquered 
a number  of  petty  kings.6 

Izdubar  resembles  the  Grecian  hero,  Hercules,  in  other  re- 
spects than  as  a destroyer  of  wild  animals,  &c.  We  are  told 
that  he  “ wandered  to  the  regions  where  gigantic  composite  mon- 
sters held  and  controlled  the  rising  and  setting  sun,  from  these 
learned  the  road  to  the  region  of  the  blessed , and  passing  across  a 
great  waste  of  land , he  arrived  at  a region  where  splendid  trees 
were  laden  with  jewels.”1 

He  also  resembles  Hercules,  Samson,  and  other  solar-gods,  in 
the  particular  of  long  flowing  locks  of  hair.  In  the  Babylonian 
and  Assyrian  sculptures  lie  is  always  represented  with  a marked 
physiognomy,  and  always  indicated  as  a man  with  masses  of  curls 
over  his  head  and  a large  curly  beard.8 


1 Vol.  v.  p.  270. 

2 Maurice:  Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p. 
155. 

8 Steinthal : The  Legend  of  Samson,  p. 
396. 

4 Buckley:  Cities  of  the  World,  41,  42. 


6 Smith:  Assyrian  Discoveries,  p.  167,  and 
Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  p.  174. 

® Assyrian  Discoveries,  p.  205,  and  Chal- 
dean Account  of  Genesis,  p.  174. 

7 Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  p.  310. 

« Ibid,  pp.  193,  194,  174. 


SAMSON  AND  HIS  EXPLOITS. 


75 


Here,  evidently,  is  the  Babylonian  legend  of  Hercules.  He  too 
was  a wanderer , going  from  the  furthest  East  to  the  furthest  West. 
He  crossed  “ a great  waste  of  land  ” (the  desert  of  Lybia),  visited 
“ the  region  of  the  blessed,”  where  there  were  “ splendid  trees  laden 
with  jewels  ” (golden  apples). 

The  ancient  Egyptians  had  their  Hercules.  According  to 
Herodotus,  he  was  known  several  thousand  years  before  the  Gre- 
cian hero  of  that  name.  This  the  Egyptians  affirmed,  and  that  he 
was  born  in  their  country.1 

The  story  of  Hercules  was  known  in  the 
Island  of  Thasos,  by  the  Phenician  colony 
settled  there,  five  centuries  before  he  was 
known  in  Greece.2  Fig.  No.  4 is  from  an 
ancient  representation  of  Hercules  in  con- 
flict with  the  lion,  taken  from  Gorio. 

Another  mighty  hero  was  the  Grecian 
Bellerophon.  The  minstrels  sang  of  the 
beauty  and  the  great  deeds  of  Bellerophon 
throughout  all  the  land  of  Argos.  His  arm 
was  strong  in  battle ; his  feet  were  swift  in 
the  chas$.  None  that  were  poor  and  weak 
and  wretched  feared  the  might  of  Beller- 
ophon. To  them  the  sight  of  his  beautiful 
form  brought  only  joy  and  gladness ; but  the  proud  and  boastful, 
the  slanderer  and  the  robber,  dreaded  the  glance  of  his  keen  eye. 
For  a long  time  he  fought  the  Solyini  and  the  Amazons,  until 
all  his  enemies  shrank  from  the  stroke  of  his  mighty  arm,  and 
sought  for  mercy.* 

The  second  of  the  principal  gods  of  the  Ancient  Scandinavians 
was  named  Thor,  and  was  no  less  known  than  Odin  among  the  Teu- 
tonic nations.  The  Edda  calls  him  expressly  the  most  valiant  of  the 
sons  of  Odin.  He  was  considered  the  “ defender  ” and  “ a/oenger .” 
He  always  carried  a mallet,  which,  as  often  as  he  discharged  it, 
returned  to  his  hand  of  itself ; he  grasped  it  with  gauntlets  of 
iron,  and  was  further  possessed  of  a girdle  which  had  the  virtue  of 
renewing  his  strength  as  often  as  was  needful.  It  was  with  these 
formidable  arms  that  he  overthrew  to  the  ground  the  monsters  and 
giants,  when  he  was  sent  by  the  gods  to  oppose  their  enemies.  He 
was  represented  of  gigantic  size,  and  as  the  stoutest  and  strongest 


1 See  Tacitus:  Annals,  book  ii.  ch.  lix. 

* Knight:  Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  02. 


* See  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  153. 


76 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


of  the  gods.1 *  Thor  was  simply  the  Hercules  of  the  Northern 
nations.  He  was  the  Sun  personified.3 

Without  enumerating  them,  we  can  safely  say,  that  there  was 
not  a nation  of  antiquity,  from  the  remotest  East  to  the  furthest 
West,  that  did  not  have  its  mighty  hero,  and  counterpart  of  Her- 
cules and  Samson.3 


1 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  pp. 

94,  417,  and  514. 

3 See  Cox : Aryan  Mythology. 

3 See  vol.  i.  of  Aryan  Mythology,  by  Rev. 
G.  W.  Cox. 


“Besides  the  fabulous  Hercules,  the  son  of 
Jupiter  and  Alcmena,  there  was,  in  ancient 
times,  no  warlike  nation  who  did  not  boast 
of  its  own  particular  Hercules.”  (Arthur  Mur- 
phy, Translator  cf  Tacitus.) 


CHAPTEE  IX. 


JONAH  SWALLOWED  BY  A BIG  FISH. 

In  the  book  of  Jonah,  containing  four  chapters,  we  are  told 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Jonah,  saying : “ Arise,  go  to  FTin- 
evah,  that  great  city,  and  cry  against  it,  for  their  wickedness  is  come 
up  against  me.” 

Instead  of  obeying  this  command  Jonah  sought  to  flee  “from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,”  by  going  to  Tarshish.  For  this  pur- 
pose he  went  to  Joppa,  and  there  took  ship  for  Tarshish.  But 
the  Lord  sent  a great  wind,  and  there  was  a mighty  tempest,  so 
that  the  ship  was  likely  to  be  broken. 

The  mariners  being  afraid,  they  cried  every  one  unto  his  God ; 
and  casting  lots — that  they  might  know  which  of  them  was  the 
cause  of  the  storm — the  lot  fell  upon  Jonah,  showing  him  to  be  the 
guilty  man. 

The  mariners  then  said  unto  him ; “ What  shall  we  do  unto  thee  ?” 
Jonah  in  reply  said,  “ Take  me  up  and  cast  me  forth  into  the  sea, 
for  I know  that  for  my  sake  this  great  tempest  is  upon  you.”  So 
they  took  up  Jonah,  and  cast  him  into  the  sea,  and  the  sea  ceased 
raging. 

And  the  Lord  prepared  a great  fish  to  swallow  up  Jonah,  and 
Jonah  was  in  the  belly  of  the  fish  three  days  (md  three  nights. 
Then  Jonah  prayed  unto  the  Lord  out  of  the  fish’s  belly.  And  the 
Lord  spake  unto  the  fish,  and  it  vomited  out  Jonah  upon  the  dry 
land. 

The  Lord  again  spake  unto  Jonah  and  said  : 

“ Go  unto  Ninevah  and  preach  unto  it.”  So  Jonah  arose  and 
went  unto  Ninevah,  according  to  the  command  of  the  Lord,  and 
preached  unto  it. 

There  is  a Hindoo  fable,  very  much  resembling  this,  to  be  found 
in  the  Somadeva  Bhatta , of  a person  by  the  name  of  Sahtideva 
who  was  swallowed  by  a huge  fish,  and  finally  came  out  unhurt. 
The  story  is  as  follows  : 

“ There  was  once  a king’s  daughter  who  would  marry  no  one 

[77] 


78 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


but  the  man  who  had  seen  the  Golden  City — of  legendary  fame — 
and  Saktideva  was  in  love  with  her ; so  he  went  travelling  about 
the  world  seeking  some  one  who  could  tell  him  where  this  Golden 
City  was.  In  the  course  of  his  journeys  he  embarked  on  board  a 
ship  bound  for  the  Island  of  Utsthala,  where  lived  the  King  of  the 
Fishermen,  who,  Saktideva  hoped,  would  set  him  on  his  way.  On 
the  voyage  there  arose  a great  storm  and  the  ship  went  to  pieces, 
and  a great  fish  swallowed  Saktideva  whole.  Then,  driven  by  the 
force  of  fate,  the  fish  went  to  the  Island  of  Utsthala,  and  there  the 
servants  of  the  King  of  the  Fishermen  caught  it,  and  the  king, 
wondering  at  its  size,  had  it  cut  open,  and  Saktideva  came  out 
unhurt”1 

In  Grecian  fable,  Hercules  is  said  to  have  been  swallowed  by  a 
whale,  at  a place  called  Joppa,  and  to  have  lain  three  days  in  his 
entrails. 

Bernard  de  Mon tfaucon,  speaking  of  Jonah  being  swallowed  by 
a whale,  and  describing  a piece  of  Grecian  sculpture  representing 
Hercules  standing  by  a huge  sea  monster,  says  : 

“Some  ancients  relate  to  the  effect  that  Hercules  was  also  swallowed  by 
the  whale  that  was  watching  Hesione,  that  he  remained  three  days  in  his  belly, 
and  that  he  came  out  bald-pated  after  his  sojourn  there.”2 

Bouchet,  in  his  “ Hist,  d’ Animal,”  tells  us  that : 

“The  great  fish  which  swallowed  up  Jonah , although  it  he  called  a whale 
(Matt.  xii.  40),  yet  it  was  not  a whale,  properly  so  called,  but  a Dog-fish , called 
Carcharias . Therefore  in  the  Grecian  fable  Hercules  is  said  to  have  been  swal- 
lowed up  of  a Dag , and  to  have  lain  three  days  in  his  entrails.”3 

Godfrey  Higgins  says,  on  this  subject : 

“The  story  of  Jonas  swallowed  up  by  a whale,  is  nothing  but  part  of  the 
fiction  of  Hercules,  described  in  the  Heracleid  or  Labors  of  Hercules,  of  whom 
the  same  story  was  told,  and  who  was  swallowed  up  at  the  very  same  place, 
Joppa,  and  for  the  same  period  of  time,  three  days.  Lycophron  says  that  Hercules 
was  three  nights  in  the  belly  of  a fish.”4 

We  have  still  another  similar  story  in  that  of  “ Avion  the  Musi- 
cian” who,  being  thrown  overboard,  was  caught  on  the  back  of  a 
Dolphin  and  landed  safe  on  shore.  The  story  is  related  in 
u Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,”  as  follows  : 

Arion  was  a Corinthian  harper  who  had  travelled  in  Sicily  and 


1 Tylor:  Early  Hist.  Mankind,  pp.  344,  345.  3 Bouchet:  Hist.  d’ Animal,  in  Auac.,  vol.  i. 

2 “ En  effet,  quelques  anciens  disent  qu1  Her-  p.  240. 

rule  fut  ausei  devora  par  la  beleine  qui  gurdoit  4 Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  G38.  Sec  also 
Uesioue,  qu’il  demeura  trois  jours  dans  eon  Tyloi  . Primitive  Cultnro,  vol.  i.  p.  306,  and 
ventre,  et  qu’il  sortit  chauve  de  ce  sejour.”  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “Jonah.” 

' 1/ Anti  quite  Expliquee,  vol.  i.  p.  204.) 


JONAH  SWALLOWED  BY  A BIG  FISH. 


79 


Italy,  and  had  accumulated  great  wealth.  Being  desirous  of  again 
seeing  his  native  city,  he  set  sail  from  Taras  for  Corinth.  The 
sailors  in  the  ship,  having  seen  the  large  boxes  full  of  money  which 
Arion  had  brought  with  him  into  the  ship,  made  up  their  minds  to 
kill  him  and  take  his  gold  and  silver.  So  one  day  when  he  was 
sitting  on  the  bow  of  the  ship,  and  looking  down  on  the  dark 
blue  sea,  three  or  four  of  the  sailors  came  to  him  and  said  they 
were  going  to  kill  him.  Now  Arion  knew  they  said  this  because 
they  wanted  his  money ; so  he  promised  to  give  them  all  he 
had  if  they  would  spare  his  life.  But  they  would  not.  Then 
he  asked  them  to  let  him  jump  into  the  sea.  When  they  had 
given  him  leave  to  do  this,  Arion  took  one  last  look  at  the  bright 
and  sunny  sky,  and  then  leaped  into  the  sea,  and  the  sailors  saw 
him  no  more.  But  Arion  was  not  drowned  in  the  sea,  for  a great 
fish  called  a dolphin  was  swimming  by  the  ship  when  Arion  leaped 
over ; and  it  caught  him  on  its  back  and  swam  away  with  him 
towards  Corinth.  So  presently  the  fish  came  close  to  the  shore  and 
left  Arion  on  the  beach,  and  swam  away  again  into  the  deep  sea.1 

There  is  also  a Persian  legend  to  the  effect  that  Jemshid  was 
devoured  by  a great  monster  waiting  for  him  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  but  afterwards  rises  again  out  of  the  sea,  like  Jonah  in  the 
Hebrew,  and  Hercules  in  the  Phenician  myth.2 3  This  legend  was 
also  found  in  the  myths  of  the  New  World? 

It  was  urged,  many  years  ago,  by  Rosenmuller — an  eminent 
German  divine  and  professor  of  theology — and  other  critics,  that 
the  miracle  recorded  in  the  book  of  Jonah  is  not  to  be  regarded  as 
an  historical  fact,  “ but  only  as  an  allegory,  founded  on  the  Pheni- 
cian myth  of  Hercules  rescuing  Hesione  from  the  sea  monster  by 
leaping  himself  into  its  jaws,  and  for  three  days  and  three  nights 
continuing  to  tear  its  entrails ?H 

That  the  story  is  an  allegory,  and  that  it,  as  well  as  that  of 
Saktideva,  Hercules  and  the  rest,  are  simply  different  versions  of 
the  same  myth,  the  significance  of  which  is  the  alternate  swallow- 
ing up  and  casting  forth  of  Pay,  or  the  Sun,  by  Night,  is  now  all 
but  universally  admitted  by  scholars.  The  Day,  or  the  Sun,  is 
swallowed  up  by  Night,  to  be  set  free  again  at  dawn,  and  from 
time  to  time  suffers  a like  but  shorter  durance  in  the  maw  of  the 
eclipse  and  the  storm-cloud.5 

Professor  Goldzhier  says : 

1 Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  296.  4 Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  Jonah. 

3 See  Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  203.  6 See  Fiske  : Myths  and  Myth  Makers,  p.  77, 

* See  Tylor’s  Early  Hist.  Mankind,  and  and  note ; and  Tylor  : Primitive  Culture,  i.  302. 

Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i. 


80 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ The  most  prominent  mythical  characteristic  of  the  story  of  Jonah  is  his 
celebrated  abode  in  the  sea  in  the  belly  of  a whale.  This  trait  is  eminently 
Solar.  ...  As  on  occasion  of  the  storm  the  storm-dragon  or  the  storm- 
serpent  swallows  the  Sun,  so  when  he  sets,  he  (Jonah,  as  a personification  of 
the  Sun)  is  swallowed  by  a mighty  fish,  waiting  for  him  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea.  Then,  when  he  appears  again  on  the  horizon,  he  is  spit  out  on  the  shore  by 
the  sea-monster.”1 2 

The  Sun  was  called  Jona,  as  appears  from  Gruter’s  inscriptions, 
and  other  sources.3 4 * * 

In  the  Vedas — the  four  sacred  books  of  the  Hindoos — when  Day 
and  Night , Sun  and  Darkness,  are  opposed  to  each  other,  the  one 
is  designated  Red , the  other  Black? 

The  Red  Sun  being  swallowed  up  by  the  Dark  Earth  at  Night 
— as  it  apparently  is  when  it  sets  in  the  west — to  be  cast  forth 
again  at  Day , is  also  illustrated  in  like  manner.  Jonah,  Hercules 
and  others  personify  the  Sun , and  a huge  Fish  represents  the 
Earth?  The  Earth  represented  as  a huge  Fish  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  ideas  of  the  Polynesian  mythology? 

At  other  times,  instead  of  a Fish,  we  have  a great  raving  Wolf, 
who  comes  to  devour  its  victim  and  extinguish  the  $im-light.9 
The  Wolf  is  particularly  distinguished  in  ancient  Scandinavian 
mythology,  being  employed  as  an  emblem  of  the  Destroying  Power, 
which  attempts  to  destroy  the  Sun?  This  is  illustrated  in  the 
story  of  Little  Red  Riding-Hood  (the  Sun)8  who  is  devoured  by 
the  great  Black  Wolf  (Night)  and  afterwards  comes  out  unhurt? 

The  story  of  Little  Red  Riding-Hood  is  mutilated  in  the  Eng- 
lish version.  The  original  story  was  that  the  little  maid,  in  her 
shinimg  Red  Cloak,  was  swallowed  by  the  great  Black  Wolf,  and 
that  she  came  out  safe  amd  sound  when  the  hunters  cut  open  the 
sleeping  beast.10 


1 Goldzbier:  Hebrew  Mythology,  pp.  102, 103. 

2 This  is  seen  from  the  following,  taken  from 
Pictet:  “ Du  Culte  des  Carabi ,”  p.  104,  and 
quoted  by  Higgins  : Anac.,  vol.  i.  p.  650  : “ Val- 
iancy dit  que  Ionn  etoit  le  meme  que  Baal. 
En  Gallois  Jon,  le  Seigneur,  Dieu,  la  cause 
premiere.  En  Basque  Jawna , Jon,  Jona,  &c., 
Dieu,  et  Seigneur,  Maitre.  Les  Scandinaves 
appeloient  le  Soleil  John.  . . . Une  des 
inscriptions  de  Gruter  montre  ques  les  Troyens 
adoroient  le  meme  astre  sous  le  nom  de  Jona. 
En  Persan  le  Soleil  est  appele  Jawnah."  Thus 
we  see  that  the  Sun  was  called  Jonah,  by  dif- 
ferent nations  of  antiquity. 

* See  Goldzhier  : Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  146. 

4 See  Tylor  : Early  History  of  Mankind,  p. 

•345,  and  Goldzhier : Hebrew  Mythology,  pp. 

102,  103. 


6 See  Tylor  : Early  History  of  Mankind,  p. 
345. 

• Piske  : Myths  and  Myth  Makers,  p.  77. 

7 See  Knight : Ancient  Art  and  Mythology, 
pp.  88,  89,  and  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities. 

8 In  ancient  Scandinavian  mythology,  the 
Sun  is  personified  in  the  form  of  a beautiful 
maiden.  (See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities, 
p.  458.) 

• See  Fiske  : Myths  and  Myth  Makers,  p.  77. 
Bunce  : Fairy  Tales,  161. 

i°  Tylor : Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  307. 

“ The  story  of  Little  Red  Riding-Hood,  as 
we  call  her,  or  Little  Red-Cap,  came  from  the 
same  (i.  e.,  the  ancient  Aryan)  source,  and  re- 
fers to  the  Sun  and  the  Night." 

“ One  of  the  fancies  of  the  most  ancient 
Aryan  or  Hindoo  stories  was  that  there  was  a 


JONAH  SWALLOWED  BY  A BIG  FISH. 


81 


In  regard  to  these  heroes  remaining  three  days  and  three  nights 
in  the  bowels  of  the  Fish,  they  represent  the  Sun  at  the  Winter  Sol- 
stice. From  December  22d  to  the  25th — that  is,  for  three  daps 
and  three  nights — the  Sun  remains  in  the  Lowest  Regions , in  the 
bowels  of  the  Earth,  in  the  belly  of  the  Fish ; it  is  then  cast  forth 
and  renews  its  career. 

Thus,  we  see  that  the  story  of  Jonah  being  swallowed  by  a big 
fish,  meant  originally  the  Sun  swallowed  up  by  Night,  and  that  it 
is  identical  with  the  well-known  nursery-tale.  How  such  legends 
are  transformed  from  intelligible  into  unintelligible  myths,  is  very 
clearly  illustrated  by  Prof.  Max  Muller,  who,  in  speaking  of  “ the 
comparison  of  the  different  forms  of  Aryan  Religion  and  Mythol- 
ogy,” in  India,  Persia,  Greece,  Italy  and  Germany,  says : 

“ In  each  of  these  nations  there  was  a tendency  to  change  the  original  concep- 
tion of  divine  powers;  to  misunderstand  the  many  names  given  to  these  powers, 
and  to  misinterpret  the  praises  addressed  to  them.  In  this  manner  some  of  the 
divine  names  were  changed  into  half-divine,  half-human  heroes,  and  at  last  the 
myths  which  were  true  and  intelligible  as  told  originally  of  the  Sun , or  the  Dawn, 
or  the  Storms,  were  turned  into  legends  or  fables  too  marvellous  to  be  believed  of 
common  mortals.  This  process  can  be  watched  in  India,  in  Greece,  and  in  Ger- 
many. The  same  story,  or  nearly  the  same,  is  told  of  gods,  of  heroes,  and  of 
men.  The  divine  myth  became  an  heroic  legend,  and  the  heroic  legend  fades  away 
into  a nursery  tale.  Our  nursery  tales  have  well  been  called  the  modern  patois 
of  the  ancient  sacred  mythology  of  the  Aryan  race.”1 

How  striking  are  these  words  ; how  plainly  they  illustrate  the 
process  by  which  the  story,  that  was  true  and  intelligible  as  told 
originally  of  the  Day  being  swallowed  up  by  Night , or  the  Sun 
being  swallowed  up  by  the  Earth , was  transformed  into  a legend 
or  fable,  too  marvellous  to  be  believed  by  common  mortals.  How 
the  “ divine  myth  ” became  an  “ heroic  legend ,”  and  how  the  heroic 
legend  faded  away  into  a “ nursery  taler 

In  regard  to  Jonah’s  going  to  the  city  of  Ninevah,  and  preach- 
ing unto  the  inhabitants,  we  believe  that  the  old  “ Myth  of  Civiliza- 


great  dragon  that  was  trying  to  devour  the  Sun, 
and  to  prevent  him  from  shining  upon  the 
earth  and  filling  it  with  brightness  and  life  and 
beauty,  and  that  Indra,  the  Sun-god,  killed  the 
dragon.  Now,  this  is  the  meaning  of  Little 
Red  Riding-Hood,  as  it  is  told  in  our  nursery 
tales.  Little  Red  Riding-Hood  is  the  evening 
Sun,  which  is  always  described  as  red  or  golden ; 
the  old  grandmother  is  the  earth,  to  whom  the 
rays  of  the  Sun  bring  warmth  and  comfort. 
The  wolf — which  is  a well-known  figure  for  the 
clouds  and  darkness  of  night— is  the  dragon  in 
another  form.  First  he  devours  the  grand- 
mother ; that  is,  he  wraps  the  earth  in  thick 
6 


clouds,  which  the  evening  Sun  is  not  strong 
enough  to  pierce  through.  Then,  with  the 
darkness  of  night,  he  swallows  up  the  evening 
Sun  itself,  and  all  is  dark  and  desolate.  Then, 
as  in  the  German  tale,  the  night-thunder  and 
the  storm-winds  are  represented  by  the  loud 
snoring  of  the  wolf ; and  then  the  huntsman, 
the  morning  Sun,  comes  in  all  his  strength  and 
majesty,  and  chases  away  the  night-clouds  and 
kills  the  wolf,  and  revives  old  Grandmother 
Earth,  and  brings  Little  Red  Riding-Hood  to 
life  again.'”  (Bunce,  Fairy  Tales,  their  Origin 
and  Meaning,  p.  161.) 

i Miiller’s  Chips,  vol.  ii.  p.  260. 


82 


BIBLE  MYTIIS. 


tion,”  so  called,1  is  partly  interwoven  here,  and  that,  in  this  re- 
spect, he  is  nothing  more  than  the  Indian  Fish  Avatar  of  Vish- 
nou , or  the  Chaldean  Cannes . At  his  first  Avatar,  Vishnou  is 

alleged  to  have  appeared  to  humanity  in  form  like  a fish,2 3  or  half- 
man  and  half-fish,  just  as  Oannes  and  Dagon  were  represented  among 
the  Chaldeans  and  other  nations.  In  the  temple  of  Rama , in  India, 
there  is  a representation  of  Vishnou  which  answers  perfectly  to 
that  of  Dagon?  Mr.  Maurice,  in  his  “Hist.  Hindostan,”  has 
proved  the  identity  of  the  Syrian  Dagon  and  the  Indian  Fish 
Avatar,  and  concludes  by  saying : 

“ From  the  foregoing  and  a variety  of  parallel  circumstances,  I am  inclined 
to  think  that  the  Chaldean  Oannes , the  Phenician  and  Philistian  Dagon,  and  the 
Pisces  of  the  Syrian  and  Egyptian  Zodiac,  were  the  same  deity  with  the  Indian 
Vishnu."4 * 

In  the  old  mythological  remains  of  the  Chaldeans,  compiled  by 
Berosus,  Abydenus,  and  Polyhistor,  there  is  an  account  of  one 
Oannes , a fish-god,  who  rendered  great  service  to  mankind.6  This 
being  is  said  to  have  come  out  of  the  Erythraean  Sea.6  This  is 
evidently  the  Sun  rising  out  of  the  sea , as  it  apparently  does,  in 
the  East.7 

Prof.  Goldzhier,  speaking  of  Oannes,  says  : 

“That  this  founder  of  cizilization  has  a Solar  character,  like  similar  heroes 
in  all  other  nations,  is  shown  ...  in  the  words  of  Berosus,  who  says: 
‘ During  the  day-time  Oannes  held  intercourse  with  man,  but  when  the  Sun  set, 
Oannes  fell  into  the  sea,  where  he  used  to  pass  the  night.  ’ Here,  evidently,  only 
the  Sun  can  be  meant,  who,  in  the  evening,  dips  into  the  sea,  and  comes  forth 
again  in  the  morning,  and  passes  the  day  on  the  dry  land  in  the  company  of 
men.”8 

Dagon  was  sometimes  represented  as  a man  emerging  from  a 
fish's  mouth , and  sometimes  as  half-man  and  half-fish.*  It  was 
believed  that  he  came  in  a ship , and  taught  the  people.  Ancient 
history  abounds  with  such  mythological  personages.10  There  was  also 
a Durga , a fish  deity,  among  the  Hindoos , represented  as  a full 
grown  man  emerging  from  a fish's  mouth?  The  Philistines  wor- 


1 See  Goldzhier’s  Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  198, 
et  seq. 

2 See  Maurice  : Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii. 
p.  277. 

3 See  Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  259.  Also, 
Fig.  No.  5,  nest  page. 

4 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  i.  pp.  418-419. 

6  See  Prichard’s  Egyptian  Mythology,  p.  190. 

Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  87.  Higgins  : 

Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  646.  Cory’s  Ar.cient 

Fragments,  p.  57. 


8 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  646. 
Smith  : Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  p.  39, 
and  Cory’s  Ancient  Fragments,  p.  57. 

7 Civilizing  gods,  who  diffuse  intelligence 
and  instruct  barbarians,  are  also  Solar  Deities. 
Among  these  Oannes  takes  his  place,  as  the 
Sun-gocl,  giving  knowledge  and  civilization. 
(Rev.  S.  Baring-Gould  : Curious  Myths,  p.  307. 

8 Goldzhier  : Hebrew  Mythology,  pp.  214, 
215. 

9 See  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  I.  p.  111. 
10  See  Chamber’s  Encyclo.,  art  “ Dagon.’’ 


JONAH  SWALLOWED  BY  A BIG  FISH. 


83 


sliiped  Dagon,  and  in  Babylonian  Mythology  Oddkon  is  applied  to 
a fish-like  being,  who  rose  from,  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  as  one  of 
the  benefactors  of  men.1 

On  the  coins  of  Ascalon,  where  she  was  held  in  great  honor, 
the  goddess  Derceto  or  Atergatis  is  represented  as  a woman  with 
her  lower  extremities  like  a fish.  This  is  Semiramis,  who  appeared 
at  Joppa  as  a mermaid.  She  is  simply  a personification  of  the 
Moon , who  follows  the  course  of  the  Sun.  At  times  she  manifests 
herself  to  the  eyes  of  men,  at  others  she  seeks  concealment  in  the 
Western  flood.2 * 

The  Sun-god  Phoibos  traverses  the  sea  in  the  form  of  a fish, 
and  imparts  lessons  of  wisdom  and  goodness  when  he  has  come 
forth  from  the  green  depths.  All  these  powers  or  qualities  are 
shared  by  Proteus  in  Hellenic  story,  as  well  as  by  the  fish-god, 
Dagon  or  Oannes.8 

In  the  Iliad  and  Odyssey,  Atlas  is  brought  into  close  connection 
with  Helios,  the  bright  god,  the  Latin  Sol,  and  our  Sun.  In  these 
poems  he  rises  every  morning  from  a beautiful  lake  by  the  deep- 
flowing stream  of  Ocean,  and  having  accomplished  his  journey 
across  the  heavens,  plunges  again  into  the  Western  waters.4 * 

The  ancient  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  had  likewise  semi-fish  gods.1* 

Jonah  then,  is  like  these  other  personages,  in  so  far  as  they 
are  all  personifications  of  the  Sun  ; they  all  come  out  of  the  sea  ; 
they  are  all  represented  as 
a man  emerging  from  a 
fish's  mouth  ; and  they  are 
all  benefactors  of  mankind. 

W e believe,  therefore, 
that  it  is  one  and  the 
same  myth,  whether  Oan- 
nes, Joannes,  or  Jonas,6 *  dif- 
fering to  a certain  extent 
among  different  nations,  just 
as  we  find  to  be  the  case  with  other  legends.  This  we  have  just 
seen  illustrated  in  the  story  of  “ Little  Red  Riding-Hood,”  which 
is  considerably  mutilated  in  the  English  version. 

1 See  Smith's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  and  ogy " (vol.  ii.  p.  291),  speaking  of  the  mystical 

Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Dagon  ” in  both.  nature  of  the  name  John , which  is  the  same  as 

2 See  Baring-Gould’s  Curious  Myths.  Jonah,  says:  ‘‘ The  prophet  who  was  sent  upon 

8 See  Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  26.  an  embassy  to  the  Ninevites,  is  styled  Ionas : 

4 Ibid.  p.  38.  a title  probably  bestowed  upon  him  as  a mes- 

6 Curious  Myths,  p.  372.  senger  of  the  Deity.  The  great  Patriarch  who 

6 Since  writing  the  above  we  find  that  Mr.  preached  righteousness  to  the  Antediluvians, 

Bryant,  in  his  “ Analysis  of  Ancient  Mythol - is  styled  Oan  and  Oannes , which  is  the  samt 

a*  Jonah." 


84 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Fig.  No.  5 is  a representation  of  Dagon , intended  to  illustrate  a 
creature  lialf-man  and  half-fish  ; or,  perhaps,  a man  emerging  from  a 
fish’s  mouth.  It  is  taken  from  Layard.  Fig.  No.  61  is  a repre- 
sentation of  the  Indian  Avatar  of  Yishnou, 
coming  forth  from  the  fish.2  It  would  an- 
swer just  as  well  for  a representation  of 
Jonah,  as  it  does  for  the  Hindoo  divinity.  It 
should  be  noticed  that  in  both  of  these,  the 
god  has  a crown  on  his  head,  surmounted 
with  a triple  ornament,  both  of  which  had 
evidently  the  same  meaning,  i.  e .,  an  emblem 
of  the  trinity  2 The  Indian  Avatar  being 
represented  with  four  arms,  evidently  means 
that  he  is  god  of  the  whole  world,  his  four 
arms  extending  to  th zfour  corners  of  the 
world.  The  circle , which  is  seen  in  one 
hand,  is  an  emblem  of  eternal  reward.  The 
shell , with  its  eight  convolutions,  is  intended 
to  show  the  place  in  the  number  of  the  cycles  which  he  occupied. 
The  book  and  sword  are  to  show  that  he  ruled  both  in  the  right  of 
the  book  and  of  the  sword.4 


1 From  Maurice : Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  i.  3 See  the  chapter  on  “ The  Trinity,”  is 

p.  495.  part  second. 

2 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  634.  See  4 See  Higgins  : Anacalypeis,  vol.  i.  p.  640. 

also,  Calmet’s  Fragments,  2d  Hundred,  p.  78. 


CHAPTEK  X. 


CIRCUMCISION. 

In  the  words  of  the  Key.  Dr.  Giles : 

“ The  rite  of  circumcision  must  not  be  passed  over  in  any  work  that  concerns 
the  religion  and  literature  of  that  (the  Jewish)  people.”1 

The  first  mention  of  Circumcision,  in  the  Bible,  occurs  in 
Genesis,2 *  where  God  is  said  to  have  commanded  the  Israelites  to 
perform  this  rite,  and  thereby  establish  a covenant  between  him  and 
his  chosen  people : 

‘ ‘ This  is  my  covenant  (said  the  Lord),  which  ye  shall  keep,  between  me  and 
you  and  thy  seed  after  thee;  every  male  child  among  you  shall  be  circumcised.” 

“We  need  not  doubt”  says  the  Kev.  Dr.  Giles,  “that  a Divine 
command  was  given  to  Abraham  that  all  his  posterity  should  prac- 
tice the  rite  of  circumcision.”9 

Such  may  be  the  case.  If  we  believe  that  the  Lord  of  the 
Universe  communes  with  man,  we  need  not  doubt  this ; yet,  we  are 
compelled  to  admit  that  nations  other  than  the  Hebrews  practiced 
this  rite.  The  origin  of  it,  however,  as  practiced  among  other 
nations,  has  never  been  clearly  ascertained.  It  has  been  maintained 
by  some  scholars  that  this  rite  drew  its  origin  from  considerations  of 
health  and  cleanliness,  which  seems  very  probable,  although  doubted 
by  many.4 * * * *  Whatever  may  have  been  its  origin,  it  is  certain 
that  it  was  practiced  by  many  of  the  ancient  Eastern  nations, 
who  never  came  in  contact  with  the  Hebrews,  in  early  times,  and, 
therefore,  could  not  have  learned  it  from  them. 

The  Egyptians  practiced  circumcision  at  a very  early  period,9 


1 Giles  : Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,  vol. 
i.  p.  249. 

a Genesis,  xvii.  10. 

* Giles  : Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,  vol. 
i.  p.  251. 

4 Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  shows  (Principles  of 

Sociology,  pp.  290,  295)  that  the  sacrificing  of  a 

part  of  the  body  as  a religious  offering  to  their 

deity,  was,  and  is  a common  practice  among 

savage  tribes.  Circumcision  may  have  origin- 


ated in  this  way.  And  Mr.  Wake,  speaking  of  it, 
says:  “ The  origin  of  this  custom  has  not  yet,  so 
far  as  I am  aware,  been  satisfactorily  explained. 
The  idea  that,  under  certain  climatic  con- 
ditions, circumcision  is  necessary  for  cleanli- 
ness and  comfort,  does  not  appear  to  be  well 
founded,  as  the  custom  is  not  universal  even 
within  the  tropics.”  (Phallism  in  Ancient 
Religs.,  p.  36.) 

‘ “ Other  men  leave  their  private  part* 


86 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


at  least  as  early  as  the  fourth  dynasty — pyramid  one — and  therefore, 
long  before  the  time  assigned  for  Joseph’s  entry  into  Egypt,  from 
whom  some  writers  have  claimed  the  Egyptians  learned  it.1 

In  the  decorative  pictures  of  Egyptian  tombs,  one  frequently 
meets  with  persons  on  whom  the  denudation  of  the  prepuce  is 
manifested*3 

On  a stone  found  at  Thebes,  there  is  a representation  of  the 
circumcision  of  Ramses  II.  A.  mother  is  seen  holding  her  boy’s 
arms  back,  while  the  operator  kneels  in  front.3  All  Egyptian 
priests  were  obliged  to  be  circumcised,4  and  Pythagoras  had  to 
submit  to  it  before  being  admitted  to  the  Egyptian  sacerdotal 
mysteries.6 

Herodotus,  the  Greek  historian,  says  : 

“As  this  practice  can  he  traced  both  in  Egypt  and  Ethiopia,  to  the  remotest 
antiquity,  it  is  not  possible  to  say  which  first  introduced  it.  The  Phenicians 
and  Syrians  of  Palestine  acknowledge  that  they  borrowed  it  from  Egypt.”6 

It  has  been  recognized  among  the  Kaffirs  and  other  tribes  of 
Africa .7  It  was  practiced  among  the  Fijians  and  Samoans  of 

Polynesia , and  some  races  of  Australia .8  The  Suzees  and  the 

Mandingoes  circumcise  their  women.9  The  Assyrians , Colchins , 
Phenicians , and  others,  practiced  it.10  It  has  been  from  time  im- 
memorial a custom  among  the  Abyssinians , though,  at  the  present 
time,  Christians.11 

The  antiquity  of  the  custom  may  be  assured  from  the  fact  of 
the  New  Hollanders , (never  known  to  civilized  nations  until  a few 
years  ago)  having  practiced  it.13 

The  Troglodytes  on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  ldumeans , 
Ammonites , Moabites  and  Ishmaelites , had  the  practice  of  circum- 
cision.11 

The  ancient  Mexicans  also  practiced  this  rite.18  It  was  also 


as  they  are  formed  by  nature,  except  those 
who  have  learned  otherwise  from  them;  but 
the  Egyptians  are  circumcised.  . . . They 

are  circumcised  for  the  sake  of  cleanliness, 
thinking  it  better  to  be  clean  than  handsome.” 
(Herodotus,  Hook  ii.  ch.  3G.) 

1 We  have  it  also  on  the  authority  of  Sir 
J.  G.  Wilkinson,  that:  “this  custom  was  estab- 
lished long  before  the  arrival  of  Joseph  in 
Egypt,”  and  that  “ this  is  proved  by  the  ancient 
monuments.” 

2 Bonwick:  Egyptian  Belief,  pp.  414,  415. 

3 Ibid.  p.  415. 

4 Ibid,  and  Knight:  Ancient  Art  and  Mythol- 
ogy, p.  89. 

5 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  415. 


6 Herodotus:  Book  ii.  ch.  36. 

7 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  114. 
Amberly:  Analysis  Religious  Belief,  p.  67,  and 
Higgins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  309. 

8 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  414,  and 
Amberly’s  Analysis,  pp.  63,  73. 

9 Amberly:  Analysis  of  Relig.  Belief,  p.  73. 

10  Bonwick:  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  414;  Am- 
berly’s Analysis,  p.  63;  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas, 
vol.  i.  p.  163,  and  Inman:  Ancient  Faiths,  vol. 
ii.  pp.  18,  19. 

11  Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  414. 

12  Kendrick’s  Egypt,  quoted  by  Dunlap; 
Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  146. 

13  Amberly’s  Analysis,  p.  G3,  Higgins:  Ana- 
calypsis, vol.  ii.  p.  309,  and  Acosta,  ii.  369. 


CIRCUMCISION. 


87 


found  among  the  Amazon  tribes  of  South  America .*  These  In- 

dians, as  well  as  some  African  tribes,  were  in  the  habit  of  circumcis-’ 
ing  their  women.  Among  the  Oampas , the  women  circumcised 
themselves,  and  a man  would  not  marry  a woman  who  was  not 
circumcised.1 2  They  performed  this  singular  rite  upon  arriving  at 
the  age  of  puberty.3 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  circumcised,4 *  and  had  he  been  really  the 
founder  of  the  Christian  religion,  so-called,  it  would  certainly  be 
incumbent  on  all  Christians  to  be  circumcised  as  he  was,  and  to 
observe  that  Jewish  law  which  he  observed,  and  which  he  was 
so  far  from  abrogating,  that  he  declared : “ heaven  and  earth 
shall  pass  away  ” ere  “ one  jot  or  one  tittle  ” of  that  law  should  be 
dispensed  with.6  But  the  Christians  are  not  followers  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus.6  They  are  followers  of  the  religion  of  the 
Pagans.  This,  we  believe,  we  shall  be  able  to  show  in  Part  Second 
of  this  work. 


1 Orton  : The  Andes  and  the  Amazon,  p. 
322. 

2 This  was  done  by  cutting  off  the  clytoris. 

3 Orton : The  Andes  and  the  Amazon,  p. 

322.  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iv.  p.  5C3,  and  Bible 

for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  319. 

“At  the  time  of  the  conquest,  the  Span- 
iards found  circumcised  nations  in  Central 
America,  and  on  the  Amazon,  the  Tecuna  and 
Manaos  tribes  still  observe  this  practice.  In 
the  South  Seas  it  has  been  met  with  among 
three  different  races,  but  it  is  performed  in  a 
somewhat  different  manner.  On  the  Austral- 
ian continent,  not  all,  but  the  majority  of 
tribes,  practiced  circumcision.  Among  the 
Papuans,  the  inhabitants  of  New  Caledonia 
and  the  New  Hebrides  adhere  to  this  custom. 
In  his  third  voyage,  Captain  Cook  found  it 


among  the  inhabitants  of  the  Friendly  Islands, 
in  particular  at  Tongataboo,  and  the  younger 
Pritchard  bears  witness  to  its  practice  in  the 
Samoa  or  Fiji  groups.”  (Oscar  Peschel  : The 
Races  of  Man,  p.  22.) 

4  Luke,  ii.  21. 

6 Matthew,  v.  18. 

6 In  using  the  words  “the  religion  of 
Jesus,”  we  mean  simply  the  religion  of  Israel. 
We  believe  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  a Jew, 
in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and  that  he  did 
not  establish  a new  religion,  or  preach  a new 
doctrine,  in  any  way,  shape,  or  form.  “ The 
preacher  from  the  Mount,  the  prophet  of  the 
Beatitudes,  does  but  repeat  with  persuasive 
lips  what  the  law-givers  of  his  race  proclaimed 
in  mighty  tones  of  command.”  (See  chap. 
*1.) 


CHAPTER  XI. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PANT  FIRST. 

There  are  many  other  legends  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament 
which  might  be  treated  at  length,  but,  as  we  have  considered  the 
principal  and  most  important,  and  as  we  have  so  much  to  examine 
in  Part  Second,  which  treats  of  the  New  Testament,  we  shall  take 
but  a passing  glance  at  a few  others. 

In  Genesis  xli.  is  to  be  found  the  story  of 

pharaoh’s  two  dreams, 

which  is  to  the  effect  that  Pharaoh  dreamed  that  he  stood  by  a 
river,  and  saw  come  up  out  of  it  seven  fat  kine,  and  seven  lean 
kine,  which  devoured  the  fat  ones.  He  then  dreamed  that  he 
saw  seven  good  ears  of  corn,  on  one  stalk,  spring  up  out  of  the 
ground.  This  was  followed  by  seven  poor  ears,  which  sprang  up 
after  them,  and  devoured  the  good  ears. 

Pharaoh,  upon  awaking  from  his  sleep,  and  recalling  the 
dreams  which  he  dreamed,  was  greatly  troubled,  “ and  he  sent  and 
called  for  all  the  magicians  of  Egypt,  and  all  the  wise  men  thereof* 
and  Pharaoh  told  them  his  dreams,  but  there  was  none  that  could 
interpret  them  unto  Pharaoh.”  Finally,  his  chief  butler  tells  him 
of  one  Joseph,  who  was  skilled  in  interpreting  dreams,  and  Pharaoh 
orders  him  to  be  brought  before  his  presence.  He  then  repeats 
his  dreams  to  Joseph,  who  immediately  interprets  them  to  the 
great  satisfaction  of  the  king. 

A very  similar  story  is  related  in  the  Buddhist  Fo-jpen-hing — 
one  of  their  sacred  books,  which  has  been  translated  by  Prof. 
Samuel  Beal — which,  in  substance,  is  as  follows : 

Suddhodana  Raja  dreamed  seven  different  dreams  in  one  night* 
when,  “ awaking  from  his  sleep,  and  recalling  the  visions  he  had 
seen,  was  greatly  troubled,  so  that  the  very  hair  on  his  body  stood 
erect,  and  his  limbs  trembled.”  He  forthwith  summoned  to  his 
side,  within  his  palace,  all  the  great  ministers  of  his  council,  and 
[88] 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


89 


exhorted  them  in  these  words : “ Most  honorable  Sirs ! be  it  known 
to  you  that  during  the  present  night  I have  seen  in  my  dreams 
strange  and  potent  visions — there  were  seven  distinct  dreams,  which 
I will  now  recite  (he  recites  the  dreams).  I pray  you,  honorable 
Sirs ! let  not  these  dreams  escape  your  memories,  but  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  I am  seated  in  my  palace,  and  surrounded  by  my  attend- 
ants, let  them  be  brought  to  my  mind  (that  they  may  be  inter- 
preted.)” 

At  morning  light,  the  king,  seated  in  the  midst  of  his  attendants, 
issued  his  commands  to  all  the  Brahmans,  interpreters  of  dreams, 
within  his  kingdom,  in  these  terms,  “ All  ye  men  of  wisdom,  explain 
for  me  by  interpretation  the  meaning  of  the  dreams  I have  dreamed 
In  my  sleep.” 

Then  all  the  wise  Brahmans,  interpreters  of  dreams,  began  to 
consider,  each  one  in  his  own  heart,  what  the  meaning  of  these 
visions  could  be ; till  at  last  they  addressed  the  king,  and  said : 
“ Maha-raja ! be  it  known  to  you  that  we  never  before  have  heard 
such  dreams  as  these,  and  we  cannot  interpret  their  meaning .” 

On  hearing  this,  Suddhodana  was  very  troubled  in  his  heart,  and 
exceeding  distressed.  He  thought  within  himself  : “ Who  is  there 
that  can  satisfy  these  doubts  of  mine  ?” 

Finally  a “ holy  one,”  called  T’so-Ping , being  present  in  the 
inner  palace,  and  perceiving  the  sorrow  and  distress  of  the  king, 
assumed  the  appearance  of  a Brahman,  and  under  this  form  he 
stood  at  the  gate  of  the  king’s  palace,  and  cried  out,  saying  : “ I am 
able  fully  to  interpret  the  dreams  of  Suddhodana  Raja,  and  with 
certainty  to  satisfy  all  the  doubts.” 

The  king  ordered  him  to  be  brought  before  his  presence,  and 
then  related  to  him  his  dreams.  Upon  hearing  them,  T’ so  Ping 
immediately  interpreted  them,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  king.* * 
In  the  second  chapter  of  Exodus  we  read  of 

MOSES  THROWN  INTO  THE  NILE, 

which  is  done  by  comma/nd  of  the  king. 

There  are  many  counterparts  to  this  in  ancient  mythology; 
among  them  may  be  mentioned  that  of  the  infant  Perseus,  who 
was,  by  command  of  the  king  (Acrisius  of  Argos),  shut  up  in  a 
chest,  and  cast  into  the  sea.  He  was  found  by  one  Dictys,  who 
took  great  care  of  the  child,  and — as  Pharoah’s  daughter  did  with 
the  child  Moses — educated  him.2 

1 See  Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  Ill,  etseq.  Ancient  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  178,  and  Bulfinch : 

* Bell’s  Pantheon,  under  “Perseus;”  Knight : Age  of  Fables,  p.  161. 


90 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  infant  Bacchus  was  confined  in  a chest,  by  order  of  Cadmus, 
King  of  Tliebes , and  thrown  into  the  Nile.1  He,  like  Moses,  had 
two  mothers,  one  by  nature,  the  other  by  adoption.2 3  He  was  also, 
like  Moses,  represented  horned .* 

Osiris  was  also  confined  in  a chest,  and  thrown  into  the  river 
Nile.4 * 

When  Osiris  was  shut  into  the  coffer,  and  cast  into  the  river,  he 
floated  to  Phenicia,  and  was  there  received  under  the  name  of 
Adonis.  Isis  (his  mother,  or  wife)  wandered  in  quest  of  him, 
came  to  Byblos,  and  seated  herself  by  a fountain  in  silence  and 
tears.  She  was  then  taken  by  the  servants  of  the  royal  palace,  and 
made  to  attend  on  the  young  prince  of  the  land.  In  like  manner. 
Demeter,  after  Aidoneus  had  ravished  her  daughter,  went  in  pur- 
suit, reached  Eleusis,  seated  herself  by  a well,  conversed  with  the 
daughters  of  the  queen,  and  became  nurse  to  her  son?  So  likewise, 
when  Moses  was  put  into  the  ark  made  of  bulrushes,  and  cast 
into  the  Nile,  he  was  found  by  the  daughters  of  Pharaoh,  and  his 
own  mother  became  his  nurse.6  This  is  simply  another  version  of 
the  same  myth. 

In  the  second  chapter  of  the  second  book  of  Kings,  we  read  of 

$ 

ELIJAH  ASCENDING  TO  HEAVEN. 

There  are  many  counterparts  to  this,  in  heathen  mythology. 

Hindoo  sacred  writings  relate  many  such  stories — how  some  of 
their  Holy  Ones  were  taken  up  alive  into  heaven — and  impressions 
on  rocks  are  shown,  said  to  be  foot-prints,  made  when  they 
ascended.7 

According  to  Babylonian  mythology,  Xisuthrus  was  translated 
to  heaven.8 

The  story  of  Elijah  ascending  to  heaven  in  a chariot  of  fire  may 
also  be  compared  to  the  fiery,  flame-red  chariot  of  Ushas?  This 
idea  of  some  Holy  One  ascending  to  heaven  without  dying  was 
found  in  the  ancient  mythology  of  the  Chinese?* 

The  story  of 

DAVID  KILLING  GOLIATH, 

by  throwing  a stone  and  hitting  him  in  the  forehead,11  may  be  com- 

i Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  118.  Taylor’s  6 Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  i.  159. 

Diegesis,  p.  190.  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  6 Exodus,  ii. 

ii.  p.  i9.  a Ibid.  7 See  Child  : Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  6, 

3 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  122.  Dupuis  : and  most  any  work  on  Buddhism. 

Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  174.  Goldziher  : 8 See  Smith  : Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis. 

Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  179.  Higgins  : Anaca-  9 See  Goldziher  : Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  128., 
lypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  19.  note. 

4 Bell’s  Pantheon,  art.  “ Osiris  and  Bui-  See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  pp.  213,  214 

finch  : Age  of  Fable,  p.  391.  11 1.  Samuel,  xvii. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


93 


pared  to  the  story  of  Thor , the  Scandinavian  hero,  throwing  a 
hammer  at  Hrungnir,  and  striking  him  in  the  forehead.1 

We  read  in  Numbers2  that 

Balaam’s  ass  spoke 

to  his  master,  and  reproved  him. 

In  ancient  fables  or  stories  in  which  animals  play  prominent 
parts,  each  creature  is  endowed  with  the  power  of  speech.  This 
idea  was  common  in  the  whole  of  Western  Asia  and  Egypt.  It  is 
found  in  various  Egyptian  and  Chaldean  stories.3  Homer  has  re- 
corded that  the  horse  of  Achilles  spoke  to  him.4 * 

We  have  also  a very  wonderful  story  in  that  of 

Joshua’s  command  to  the  sun. 

This  story  is  related  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  the  book  oi  Joshua, 
and  is  to  the  effect  that  the  Israelites,  who  were  at  battle  with  the 
Amorites,  wished  the  day  to  be  lengthened  that  they  might  con- 
tinue their  slaughter,  whereupon  Joshua  said : “ Sun,  stand  thou 
still  upon  Gibeon,  and  thou,  Moon,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon.  And 
the  sun  stood  still , and  the  moon  stayed,  until  the  people  had 
avenged  themselves  upon  their  enemies.  . . . And  there  was 

no  day  like  that  before  it  or  after  it.” 

There  are  many  stories  similar  to  this,  to  be  found  among  other 
nations  of  antiquity.  We  have,  as  an  example,  that  which  is  re- 
lated of  Bacchus  in  the  Orphic  hymns,  wherein  it  says  that  this 
god-man  arrested  the  course  of  the  sun  and  the  moon.6 

An  Indian  legend  relates  that  the  sun  stood  still  to  hear  the 
pious  ejaculations  of  Arjouan  after  the  death  of  Crishna.6 

A holy  Buddhist  by  the  name  of  Matanga  prevented  the  sun, 
at  his  command,  from  rising,  and  bisected  the  moon.7  Arresting 
the  course  of  the  sun  was  a common  thing  among  the  disciples  of 
Buddha.8 

The  Chinese  also,  had  a legend  of  the  sun  standing  still,9  and 
a legend  was  found  among  the  Ancient  Mexicans  to  the  effect 
that  one  of  their  holy  persons  commanded  the  sun  to  stand  still, 
which  command  was  obeyed.10 


1 See  Goldzhier  : Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  430, 

and  Bulfinch  : Age  of  Fable,  440. 

3 Chapter  xxii. 

3 See  Smith’s  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis, 
p.  138,  et  seq. 

4 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  323. 

* See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 


6 Ibid,  i.  191,  and  ii.  241;  Franklin  : Bud.  & 
Jeynes,  174. 

7 Hardy  : Buddhist  Legends,  pp.  50,  53,  and 
140. 

8 See  Ibid. 

• Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  191. 
i*  Ibid,  p.  39. 


92 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


We  shall  now  endeavor  to  answer  the  question  which  must 
naturally  arise  in  the  minds  of  all  who  see,  for  the  first  time,  the 
similarity  in  the  legends  of  the  Hebrews  and  those  of  other  nations, 
namely : have  the  Hebrews  copied  from  other  nations,  or,  have 
other  nations  copied  from  the  Hebrews  ? To  answer  this  question 
we  shall ; first,  give  a brief  account  or  history  of  the  Pentateuch 
and  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament  from  which  we  have  taken 
legends,  and  show  about  what  time  they  were  written ; and,  second, , 
show  that  other  nations  were  possessed  of  these  legends  long 
before  that  time,  and  that  the  Jews  copied  from  them. 

The  Pentateuch  is  ascribed,  in  our  modern  translations,  to 
Moses , and  he  is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  author.  This  is 
altogether  erroneous,  as  Moses  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
these  five  books.  Bishop  Colenso,  speaking  of  this,  says : 

“ The  books  of  the  Pentateuch  are  never  ascribed  to  Moses  in  the  inscriptions  of 
Hebrew  manuscripts , or  in  printed  copies  of  the  Hebrew  Bible.  Nor  are  they  styled 
the  ‘ Books  of  Moses  ’ in  the  Septuagint1  or  Vulgate,2  but  only  in  our  modem 
translations,  after  the  example  of  many  eminent  Fathers  of  the  Church,  who, 
with  the  exception  of  Jerome,  and,  perhaps,  Origen,  were,  one  and  all  of  them, 
very  little  acquainted  with  the  Hebrew  language,  and  still  less  with  its  criti- 
cism.”3 

The  author  of  “ The  Keligion  of  Israel,”  referring  to  this  subject, 
says : 

“ The  Jews  who  lived  after  the  Babylonish  Captivity,  and  the  Christians  fol- 
lowing their  examples,  ascribed  these  books  (the  Pentateuch)  to  Moses;  and  for 
many  centuries  the  notion  was  cherished  that  he  had  really  written  them.  But 
strict  and  impartial  investigation  has  shown  that  this  opinion  must  be  given  up  ; and 
that  nothing  in  the  whole  Law  really  comes  from  Moses  himself  except  the  Ten 
Commandments.  And  even  these  were  not  delivered  by  him  in  the  same  form  as  we  find 
them  now.  If  we  still  call  these  books  by  his  name,  it  is  only  because  the  Israel- 
ites always  thought  of  him  as  their  first  and  greatest  law-giver,  and  the  actual 
authors  grouped  all  their  narratives  and  laws  around  his  figure,  and  associated  them 
with  his  name .”4 * 

As  we  cannot  go  into  an  extended  account,  and  show  how  this 
is  known , we  will  simply  say  that  it  is  principally  by  internal 
evidence  that  these  facts  are  ascertained.6 


1 “Septuagint.” — The  Old  Greek  vereion  of 

the  Old  Testament. 

3 “ Vulgate.” — The  Latin  version  of  the  Old 
Testament. 

3 The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  ii.  pp.  186, 
187. 

4 The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  9. 

6 Besides  the  many  other  facts  which  show 
that  the  Pentateuch  was  not  composed  until 

long  after  the  time  of  Moses  and  Joshua,  the 
following  may  be  mentioned  as  examples : 

I 


Gilgal , mentioned  in  Deut.  xi.  30,  was  not  given 
as  the  name  of  that  place  till  after  the  entrance 
into  Canaan.  Dan,  mentioned  in  Genesis  xiv. 
14,  was  not  so  called  till  long  after  the  time  of 
Moses.  In  Gen.  xxxvi.  31,  tie  beginning  of  the 
reign  of  the  kings  over  Israel  is  spoken  of  his- 
torically, an  event  which  did  not  occur  before 
the  time  of  Samuel.  (See,  for  further  informa- 
tion,  Bishop  Colenso’s  Pentateuch  Examined, 
vol.  ii.  ch.  v.  and  vi. 


93 


j \ 

CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 

Now  that  we  have  seen  that  Moses  did  not  write  the  books  of 
the  Pentateuch,  our  next  endeavor  will  be  to  ascertain  when  they 
were  written,  and  by  whom. 

We  can  say  that  they  were  not  written  by  any  one  person,  nor 
were  they  written  at  the  same  time. 

We  can  trace  three  principal  redactions  of  the  Pentateuch,  that 
is  to  say,  the  material  was  worked  over , and  re-edited , with  mod- 
ifications and  additions , by  different  people,  at  three  distinct 
epochs. 1 

The  two  principal  writers  are  generally  known  as  the  Jehovistic 
and  the  Elohistic.  We  have — in  speaking  of  the  “Eden  Myth” 
and  the  legend  of  the  “ Deluge” — already  alluded  to  this  fact,  and 
have  illustrated  how  these  writers’  narratives  conflict  with  each 
other. 

The  Jehovistic  writer  is  supposed  to  have  been  a prophet,  who, 
it  would  seem,  was  anxious  to  give  Israel  a history.  He  begins 
at  Genesis,  ii.  4,  with  a short  account  of  the  “ Creation ,”  and  then 
he  carries  the  story  on  regularly  until  the  Israelites  enter  Canaan. 
It  is  to  him  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  charming  pictures  of  the 
patriarchs.  He  took  these  from  other  writings , or  from  the  popu- 
lar legends .2 

About  725  b.  c.  the  Israelites  were  conquered  by  Salmanassar, 
King  of  Assyria,  and  many  of  them  were  carried  away  captives. 
Their  place  was  supplied  by  Assyrian  colonists  from  Babylon , 
Persia , and  other  places. * This  fact  is  of  the  greatest  importance, 
and  should  not  be  forgotten,  as  we  And  that  the  first  of  the  three 
writers  of  the  Pentateuch,  spoken  of  above,  wrote  about  this  time , 
and  the  Israelites  heard,  from  the  colonists  from  Babylon , 
Persia , and  other  places— for  the  first  time — many  of  the  legends 
which  this  writer  wove  into  the  fabulous  history  which  he  wrote , 
especially  the  accounts  of  the  Creation  and  the  Deluge. 

The  Pentateuch  remained  in  this,  its  first  form,  until  the  year 
620  b.  c.  Then  a certain  priest  of  marked  prophetic  sympathies 
wrote  a book  of  law  which  has  come  down  to  us  in  Deuteronomy, 
iv.  44,  to  xxvi.,  and  xxviii.  Here  we  find  the  demands  which  the 
Mosaic  party  at  that  day  were  making  thrown  into  the  form  of 
laws.  It  was  by  King  Josiah  that  this  book  was  first  introduced 
and  proclaimed  as  authoritative.4  It  was  soon  afterwards  wove  into 
the  work  of  tli q first  Pentateucliian  writer,  and  at  the  same  time 
^ 


1 The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  9 
* Ibid.  p.  10. 


* Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “Jews.” 
'4  The  Religion  of  Israel,  pp.  10.  11. 


94 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ a few  new  passages  ” were  added,  some  of  which  related  to 
Joshua,  the  successor  of  Moses.1 

At  this  period  in  Israel’s  history,  Jehovah  had  become  almost 
forgotten,  and  uotlier  gods”  had  taken  his  place.2  The  Mosaic 
party,  so  called — who  worshiped  Jehovah  exclusively — were  in  the 
minority,  but  when  King  Ainon — who  was  a worshiper  of  Moloch 
— died,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Josiah,  a change  imme- 
diately took  place.  This  young  prince,  who  was  only  eight  years 
old  at  the  death  of  his  father,  the  Mosaic  party  succeeded  in 
winning  over  to  their  interests.  In  the  year  621  b.  c.,  Josiah, 
now  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign,  began  a thorough  ref- 
ormation which  completely  answered  to  the  ideas  of  the  Mosaic 
party.3 

It  was  during  this  time  that  the  second  Pentateuchian  writer 
wrote,  and  lie  makes  Moses  speak  as  the  law-giver.  This  writer 
was  probably  Ililkiah,  who  claimed  to  have  found  a book,  written 
by  Moses,  in  the  temple ,4  although  it  had  only  just  been  drawn 
up? 

The  principal  objections  which  were  brought  against  the  claims 
of  Hilkiah,  but  which  are  not  needed  in  the  present  age  of  inquiry, 
was  that  Shaphan  and  Josiah  read  it  off,  not  as  if  it  were  an  old 
book,  but  as  though  it  had  been  recently  written,  when  any  person 
who  is  acquainted,  in  the  slightest  degree,  with  language,  must 
know  that  a man  could  not  read  off,  at  once,  a book  written  eight 
hundred  years  before.  The  phraseology  would  necessarily  be  so 
altered  by  time  as  to  render  it  comparatively  unintelligible. 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  third  Pentateuchian  writer,  whose 
writings  were  published  444  b.  c. 

At  that  time  Ezra  (or  Ezdras)  added  to  the  work  of  his  two 
predecessors  a series  of  laws  and  narratives  which  had  been  drawn 
up  by  some  of  the  priests  in  Babylon ? This  “series  of  laws  and 
narratives,”  which  was  written  by  “ some  of  the  (Israelitish)  priests 
in  Babylon,”  was  called  “ The  Book  of  Origins  ” (probably  con- 
taining the  Babylonian  account  of  the  “ Origin  of  Things ,”  or  the 
“ Creation  ”).  Ezra  brought  the  book  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem. 
He  made  some  modifications  in  it  and  constituted  it  a code  of 
law  for  Israel,  dove-tailing  it  into  those  parts  of  the  Pentateuch 
which  existed  before.  A few  alterations  and  additions  were  subse- 


1 The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  11.  Hilkiah  is  to  be  found  in  II.  Chronicles,  ch. 

2 See  Ibid,  pp.  120,  122.  xxxiv. 

* See  Ibid,  p.  122.  * See  Religion  of  Israel,  pp.  124, 125. 

4 The  account  of  the  finding  of  this  book  by  6 Tbid,  p.  11. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


95 


quently  made,  but  these  are  of  minor  importance,  and  we  may 
fairly  say  that  Ezra put  the  Pentateuch  into  the  form  in  which  we 
have  it  (about  444  b.  c.). 

These  priestly  passages  are  partly  occupied  with  historical 
matter,  comprising  a very  free  account  of  things  from  the  creation 
of  the  world  to  the  arrival  of  Israel  in  Canaan.  Everything  is 
here  presented  from  the  priestly  point  of  view ; some  events,  else- 
where recorded,  are  touched  up  in  the  priestly  spirit , and  others 
are  entirely  invented } 

It  was  the  belief  of  the  Jews,  asserted  by  the  Pirhe  Aboth 
(Sayings  of  the  Fathers),  one  of  the  oldest  books  of  the  Talmud 
as  well  as  other  Jewish  records,  that  Ezra,  acting  in  accordance 
with  a divine  commission,  re-wrote  the  Old  Testament,  the  manu- 
scripts of  which  were  said  to  have  been  lost  in  the  destruction  of 
the  first  temple,  when  Nebuchadnezzar  took  Jerusalem.3  This  we 
lenow  could  not  have  been  the  case.  The  fact  that  Ezra  wrote — 
adding  to,  and  taking  from  the  already  existing  books  of  the 
Pentateuch — was  probably  the  foundation  for  this  tradition.  The 
account  of  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  Apocryphal  book  of  Esdras,  a 
book  deemed  authentic  by  the  Greek  Church. 

Dr.  Knappert,  speaking  of  this,  says : 

“ For  many  centuries,  both  the  Christians  and  the  Jews  supposed  that  Ezra 
had  brought  together  the  sacred  writings  of  his  people,  united  them  in  one  whole, 
and  introduced  them  as  a book  given  by  the  Spirit  of  God — a Holy  Scripture. 

‘ * The  only  authority  for  this  supposition  was  a very  modern  and  altogether 
untrustworthy  tradition.  The  historical  and  critical  studies  of  our  times  have 
been  emancipated  from  the  influence  of  this  tradition,  and  the  most  ancient 
statements  with  regard  to  the  subject  have  been  hunted  up  and  compared  to- 
gether. These  statements  are,  indeed,  scanty  and  incomplete,  and  many  a 
detail  is  still  obscure;  but  the  main  facts  have  been  completely  ascertained. 

“ Before  the  Babylonish  captivity,  Israel  had  no  sacred  writings.  There  were 
certain  laws,  prophetic  writings,  and  a few  historical  books,  but  no  one  had 
ever  thought  of  ascribing  binding  and  divine  authority  to  these  documents. 

‘ ‘ Ezra  brought  the  priestly  law  with  him  from  Babylon , altering  it  and  amalga- 
mating it  with  the  narratives  and  laws  already  in  existence , and  thus  produced  the 
Pentateuch  in  pretty  much  the  same  form  (though  not  quite,  as  we  shall  show) 
as  we  still  have  it.  These  books  got  the  name  of  the  ‘ Law  of  Moses,’  or  simply  the 
‘ Law.’  Ezra  introduced  them  into  Israel  (b.  c.  444),  and  gave  them  binding 
authority,  and  from  that  time  forward  they  were  considered  divine .”4 

From  the  time  of  Ezra  until  the  year  287  b.  c.,  when  the 
Pentateuch  was  translated  into  Greek  by  order  of  Ptolemy  Phila- 


1 The  Religion  of  Israel,  pp.  186, 187.  * See  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Bible.” 

8 “ Talmud."— The  books  containing  the  « The  Religion  of  Israel,  pp.  340,  341. 
Jewish  traditions. 


96 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


delphus,  King  of  Egypt,  these  books  evidently  underwent  some 
changes.  This  the  writer  quoted  above  admits,  in  saying : 

“ Later  still  (viz.,  after  the  time  of  Ezra),  a few  more  changes  and  additions 
were  made , and  so  the  Pentateuch  grew  into  its  present  form.”1 

In  answer  to  those  who  claim  that  the  Pentateuch  was  written 
by  one  person,  Bishop  Colenso  says : 

“ It  is  certainly  inconceivable  that,  if  the  Pentateuch  he  the  production  of  one 
and  the  same  hand  throughout,  it  should  contain  such  a number  of  glaring  incon- 
sistencies. . . . No  single  author  could  have  been  guilty  of  such  absurdi- 

ties ; but  it  is  quite  possible,  and  what  was  almost  sure  to  happen  in  such  a case, 
that,  if  the  Pentateuch  be  the  work  of  different  authors  in  different  ages,  this 
fact  should  betray  itself  by  the  existence  of  contradictions  in  the  narrative ,”2 

Having  ascertained  the  origin  of  the  Pentateuch,  or  first  five 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  refer  to  the 
others  here , as  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  them  in  our  investiga- 
tions. Suffice  it  to  say  then,  that : “ In  the  earlier  period  after 
Ezra,  none  of  the  other  boohs  which  already  existed,  enjoyed  the 
same  authority  as  the  Pentateuch.”3 

It  is  probable4  that  Nehemiah  made  a collection  of  historical 
and  prophetic  books,  songs,  and  letters  from  Persian  icings , not 
to  form  a second  collection,  but  for  the  purpose  of  saving  them 
from  being  lost.  The  scribes  of  Jerusalem,  followers  of  Ezra, 
who  were  known  as  “ the  men  of  the  Great  Synagogue,”  were  the 
collectors  of  the  second  and  third'  divisions  of  the  Old  Testament. 
They  collected  together  the  historical  and  prophetic  books,  songs, 
<fcc.,  which  were  then  in  existence,  and  after  altering  many  of 
them , they  were  added  to  the  collection  of  sacred  books.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  any  fixed  plan  was  pursued  in  this  work,  or 
that  the  idea  was  entertained  from  the  first,  that  these  books  would 
one  day  stand  on  the  same  level  with  the  Pentateuch  f 

In  the  course  of  time,  however,  many  of  the  Jews  began  to 
consider  some  of  these  books  as  sacred.  The  Alexandrian  Jews 
adopted  books  into  the  canon  which  those  of  Jerusalem  did  not, 
and  this  difference  of  opinion  lasted  for  a long  time,  even  till  the 
second  century  after  Christ.  It  was  not  until  this  time  that  all 
the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  acquired  divine  authority .e  It 
is  not  known,  however,  just  when  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament 
was  closed.  The  time  and  manner  in  which  it  was  done  is  alto- 


1 The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  11. 

8 The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  ii.  p.  173. 

* The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  241. 


4 On  the  strength  of  II.  Maccabees,  ii.  13. 

• The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  242. 

• Ibid,  p.  243. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


97 


qetlier  obscure}  Jewish  tradition  indicates  that  the  full  canonicity 
of  several  books  was  not  free  from  doubt  till  the  time  of  the 
famous  Rabbi  Akiba,1 2  who  flourished  about  the  beginning  of  the 
second  century  after  Christ.3 

After  giving  a history  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the 
author  of  “ The  Religion  of  Israel,’’  whom  we  have  followed  in  this 
investigation,  says : 

“The  great  majority  of  the  writers  of  the  Old  Testament  had  no  other  source 
of  information  about  the  past  history  of  Israel  than  simple  tradition.  Indeed,  it 
could  not  have  been  otherwise,  for  in  primitive  times  no  one  used  to  record  any- 
thing in  writing,  and  the  only  way  of  preserving  a knowledge  of  the  past  was  to 
hand  it  down  by  word  of  mouth.  The  father  told  the  son  what  his  elders 
had  told  him,  and  the  son  handed  it  on  to  the  next  generation. 

“ Not  only  did  the  historian  of  Israel  draw  from  tradition  with  perfect  free- 
dom, and  write  down  without  hesitation  anything  they  heard  and  what  was 
current  in  the  mouths  of  the  people,  but  they  did  not  shrink  from  modifying  their 
representation  of  the  past  in  any  way  that  they  thought  would  be  good  and  useful. 
It  is  difficult  for  us  to  look  at  things  from  this  point  of  view,  because  our  ideas 
of  historical  good  faith  are  so  utterly  different.  When  we  write  history,  we 
know  that  we  ought  to  be  guided  solely  by  a desire  to  represent  facts  exactly  as 
they  really  happened.  All  that  we  are  concerned  with  is  reality ; we  want  to 
make  the  old  times  live  again,  and  we  take  all  possible  pains  not  to  remodel  the 
past  from  the  point  of  view  of  to  day.  All  we  want  to  know  is  what  happened, 
and  how  men  lived,  thought,  and  worked  m those  days.  The  Israelites  had  a 
very  different  notion  of  the  nature  of  historical  composition.  When  a prophet 
or  a priest  related  something  about  bygone  times,  his  object  was  not  to  convey 
knowledge  about  those  times ; on  the  contrary,  he  used  history  merely  as  a 
vehicle  for  the  conveyance  of  instruction  and  exhortation.  Not  only  did  he 
confine  his  narrative  to  such  matters  as  he  thought  would  serve  his  purpose 
but  he  never  hesitated  to  modify  what  he  knew  of  the  past,  and  he  did  not  think 
twice  about  touching  it  up  from  his  own  imagination,  simply  that  it  might  be  more 
conducive  to  the  end  he  had  in  view  and  chime  in  better  with  his  opinions.  All  the 
past  became  colored  through  and  through  with  the  tinge  of  his  own  mind.  Our  own 
notions  of  honor  and  good  faith  would  never  permit  all  this;  but  we  must  not 
measure  ancient  writers  by  our  own  standard ; they  considered  that  they  were 
acting  quite  within  their  rights  and  in  strict  accordance  with  duty  and  con- 
science.”4 

It  will  be  noticed  that,  in  our  investigations  on  the  authority  of 
the  Pentateuch,  we  have  followed,  principally,  Dr.  Knappert’s 
ideas  as  set  forth  in  “ The  Religion  of  Israel.” 

This  we  have  done  because  we  could  not  go  into  an  extended 
investigation,  and  because  his  words  are  very  expressive,  and  just 
to  the  point.  To  those  who  may  think  that  his  ideas  are  not  the 
same  as  those  entertained  by  other  Biblical  scholars  of  the  present 


1 Chambers's  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Bible.”  * Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “Akiba.” 

2 Ibid.  < The  Religion  of  Israel,  pp.  19,  23. 


7 


98 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


day,  we  subjoin,  in  a note  below,  a list  of  works  to  which  they  are 
referred.1 

We  shall  now,  after  giving  a brief  history  of  the  Pentateuch, 
refer  to  the  legends  of  which  we  have  been  treating,  and  endeavor 
to  show  from  whence  the  Hebrews  borrowed  them.  The  first  of 
these  is  “ The  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man.” 

Egypt,  the  country  out  of  which  the  Israelites  came,  had  no 
story  of  the  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man,  such  as  we  ha/ve  found 
among  the  Hebrews ; they  therefore  could  not  have  learned  it  from 
them.  The  Chaldeans , however,  as  we  saw  in  our  first  chapter, 
had  this  legend,  and  it  is  from  them  that  the  Hebrews  borrowed 
it. 

The  account  which  we  have  given  of  the  Chaldean  story  of  the 
Creation  and  Fall  of  Man,  was  taken,  as  we  stated,  from  the  writings 
of  Berosus,  the  Chaldean  historian,  who  lived  in  the  time  of 
Alexander  the  Great  (356-325  b.  c.),  and  as  the  Jews  were  ac- 
quainted with  the  story  some  centuries  earlier  than  this,  his  works 
did  not  prove  that  these  traditions  were  in  Babylonia  before  the 
Jewish  captivity,  and  could  not  afford  testimony  in  favor  of  the 
statement  that  the  Jews  borrowed  this  legend  from  the  Babylonians 
at  that  time.  It  was  left  for  Mr.  George  Smith,  of  the  British 
Museum,  to  establish,  without  a doubt,  the  fact  that  this  legend 
was  known  to  the  Babylonians  at  least  two  thousand  years  before 
the  time  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Jesus.  . The  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tions discovered  by  him,  while  on  an  expedition  to  Assyria, 
organized  by  the  London  “ Daily  Telegraph,”  was  the  means  of 
doing  this,  and  although  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  these 
tablets  belong  to  the  age  of  Assurbanipal,  who  reigned  over 
Assyria  b.  c.  670,  it  is  “ acknowledged  on  all  hands  that  these 
tablets  are  not  the  originals,  but  are  only  copies  from  earlier 
texts.”  “ The  Assyrians  acknowledge  themselves  that  this  litera- 
ture was  borrowed  from  Babylonian  sources,  and  of  course  it  is  to 
Babylonia  we  have  to  look  to  ascertain  the  approximate  dates  of 
the  original  documents.”2  Mr.  Smith  then  shows,  from  “ frag- 
ments of  the  Cuneiform  account  of  the  Creation  and  Fall  ” which 
have  been  discovered,  that,  “ in  the  period  from  b.  c.  2000  to 


1 “ What  is  the  Bible,”  by  J.  T.  Sunderland. 
41  The  Bible  of  To-day,”  by  J.  W.  Chadwick. 

41  Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,”  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Giles,  2.  vols.  Prof.  W.  R.  Smith’s  article 
on  44  The  Bible,”  in  the  last  edition  of  the  En- 
cyclopaedia Britannica.  44  Introduction  to  the 
Old  Testament,”  by  Davidson.  The  Penta- 
teuch and  the  Book  of  Joshua  Examined,”  by 


Bishop  Colenso.  Prof.  F.  W.  Newman’s  “He- 
brew Monarchy.”  “The  Bible  for  Learners” 
(vols.  i.  and  ii.),  by  Prof.  Oot  and  others.  44  The 
Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church,”  by 
Prof.  Robertson  Smith,  and  Kuenen’s  “Re- 
ligion of  Israel.” 

3 Smith  : Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  pp. 
22,  29. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


99 


1500,  the  Babylonians  believed  in  a story  similar  to  that  in 
Genesis .”  It  is  probable,  however,  sajs  Mr.  Smith,  that  this 

legend  existed  as  traditions  in  the  country  long  before  it  was 
committed  to  writing , and  some  of  these  traditions  exhibited  great 
difference  in  details,  showing  that  they  had  passed  through  many 
changes \ 

Professor  James  Fergusson,  in  his  celebrated  work  on  “ Tree 
and  Serpent  Worship,”  says  : 

“ The  two  chapters  which  refer  to  this  (i.  e.,  the  Garden,  the  Tree,  and  the 
Serpent),  as  indeed  the  whole  of  the  first  eight  of  Genesis,  are  now  generally 
admitted  by  scholars  to  be  made  up  of  fragments  of  earlier  books  or  earlier  tra- 
ditions, belonging,  properly  speaking,  to  Mesopotamia  rather  than  to  Jewish 
history,  the  exact  meaning  of  which  the  writers  of  the  Pentateuch  seem  hardly 
to  have  appreciated  when  they  transcribed  them  in  the  form  in  which  they  are 
now  found.”1 2 

John  Fiske  says : 

“The  story  of  the  Serpent  in  Eden  is  an  Aryan  story  in  every  particular. 
The  notion  of  Satan  as  the  author  of  evil  appears  only  in  the  later  books,  com- 
posed after  the  Jews  had  come  into  close  contact  with  Persian  ideas.  ”3 

Prof.  John  W.  Draper  says  : 

“ In  the  old  legends  of  dualism,  the  evil  spirit  was  said  to  have  sent  a serpent 
to  ruin  Paradise.  These  legends  became  known  to  the  Jews  during  their  Baby- 
lonian captivity .”4 

Professor  Goldziher  also  shows,  in  his  “ Mythology  Among 
the  Hebrews,”5  that  the  story  of  the  creation  was  borrowed  by  the 
Hebrews  from  the  Babylonians.  He  also  informs  us  that  the 
notion  of  the  bore  and  ydser,  “ Creator”  (the  term  used  in  the 
cosmogony  in  Genesis)  as  an  integral  part  of  the  idea  of  God,  are 
first  brought  into  use  by  the  prophets  of  the  captivity.  “Thus 
also  the  story  of  the  Garden  of  Eden , as  a supplement  to  the 
history  of  the  Creation,  was  written  down  at  BabylonP 

Strange  as  it  may  appear,  after  the  Genesis  account,  we  may  pass 
through  the  whole  Pentateuch,  and  other  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, clear  to  the  end,  and  will  find  that  the  story  of  the  “ Garden 
of  Eden  ” and  uFall  of  Man ,”  is  hardly  alluded  to,  if  at  all.  Leng- 
kerke  says  : “ One  single  certain  trace  of  the  employment  of  the 
story  of  Adam’s  fall  is  entirely  wanting  in  the  Hebrew  Canon 
(after  the  Genesis  account).  Adam,  Eve,  the  Serpent,  the  woman’s 


1 Ibid,  pp.  29,  100.  Also,  Assyrian  Discoy-  3 Myths  and  Myth-Makers,  p.  112. 

eries,  p.  397.  4 Draper:  Religion  and  Science,  p.  62. 

2 Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  pp.  6,  7.  5 Goldziher:  Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  323,  et 


100 


BIBLE  MYTIIS. 


seduction  of  her  husband,  &c.,  are  all  images,  to  which  the  remain- 
ing words  of  the  Israelites  never  again  recur  I1 

This  circumstance  can  only  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the 
first  chapters  of  Genesis  were  not  written  until  after  the  other 
portions  had  been  written. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  this  story  of  the  Fall  of  Man,  upon 
which  the  whole  orthodox  scheme  of  a divine  Saviour  or  Re- 
deemer is  based,  was  not  considered  by  the  learned  Israelites  as 
fact.  They  simply  looked  upon  it  as  a story  which  satisfied  the 
ignorant,  but  which  should  be  considered  as  allegory  by  the 
learned.2 

Rabbi  Maimonides  (Moses  Ben  Maimon),  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated of  the  Rabbis,  says  on  this  subject  :■ — 

“We  must  not  understand,  or  take  in  a literal  sense,  what  is  written  in  the 
booh  on  the  Creation,  nor  form  of  it  the  same  ideas  which  are  participated  by  the 
generality  of  mankind;  otherwise  our  ancient  sages  would  not  have  so  much  recom- 
mended to  us,  to  hide  the  real  meaning  of  it,  and  not  to  lift  the  allegorical  veil,  which 
covers  the  truth  contained  therein.  When  taken  in  its  literal  sense,  the  work  gives 
the  most  absurd  and  most  extravagant  ideas  of  the  Deity.  ‘ Whosoever  should 
divine  its  true  meaning  ought  to  take  great  care  in  not  divulging  it.’  This  is  a 
maxim  repeated  to  us  by  all  our  sages,  principally  concerning  the  understanding 
of  the  work  of  the  six  days.”3 

Philo,  a Jewish  writer  contemporary  with  Jesus,  held  the  same 
opinion  of  the  character  of  the  sacred  books  of  the  Hebrews.  He 
has  made  two  particular  treatises,  bearing  the  title  of  “ The 
Allegories ,”  and  lie  traces  back  to  the  allegorical  sense  the  u Tree 
of  Life,”  the  “ Rivers  of  Paradise,”  and  the  other  fictions  of  the 
Genesis.4 

Many  of  the  early  Christian  Fathers  declared  that,  in  the  story 
of  the  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man,  there  was  but  an  allegorical 
fiction.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  St.  Augustine,  who 
speaks  of  it  in  his  “ City  of  God,”  and  also  Origen,  who  says : 

“What  man  of  sense  will  agree  with  the  statement  that  the  first,  second,  and 
third  days,  in  which  the  evening  is  named  and  the  morning,  were  without  sun, 
moon  and  stars  ? What  man  is  found  such  an  idiot  as  to  suppose  that  God 
planted  trees  in  Paradise  like  an  husbandman?  1 believe  that  every  mart  must 
hold  these  things  for  images  under  which  a hidden  sense  is  concealed .”5 


1 Quoted  by  Bishop  Colenso  : The  Penta- 
teuch Examined,  iv.  285. 

2 “ Much  of  the  Old  Testament  which  Chris- 
tian divines,  in  their  ignorance  of  Jewish  lore, 
have  insisted  on  receiving  and  interpreting 
literally , the  informed  Rabbis  never  dreamed 

of  regarding  as  anything  but  allegorical.  The 

‘ literalists'  they  called  fools.  The  account  of 

the  Creation  was  one  of  the  portions  which 


the  unlearned  were  specially  forbidden  to  med- 
dle with.”  (Greg  : The  Creed  of  Christendom, 
p.  80.) 

8 Quoted  by  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious 
Belief,  p.  226. 

* See  Ibid.  p.  227. 

6 Quoted  by  Dunlap  : Mysteries  of  Adoni, 
p.  176.  See  also,  Bunsen  : Keys  of  St.  Peter, 
p.  406. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


101 


Origen  believed  aright,  as  it  is  now  almost  universally  admitted, 
that  the  stories  of  the  “ Garden  of  Eden,”  the  “ Elysian  Fields,” 
the  “ Garden  of  the  Blessed,”  &c.,  which  were  the  abode  of  the 
blessed,  where  grief  and  sorrow  could  not  approach  them,  where 
plague  and  sickness  could  not  touch  them,  were  founded  on  alle- 
gory. These  abodes  of  delight  were  far  away  in  the  West,  where 
the  sun  goes  down  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  earth.  They  wrere  the 
“ Golden  Islands  ” sailing  in  a sea  of  blue — the  burnished  clouds 
floating  in  the  pure  ether . In  a word,  the  66  Elysian  Fields  ” are 
the  clouds  at  eventide.  The  picture  was  suggested  by  the  images 
drawn  from  the  phenomena  of  sunset  and  twilight.1 

Eating  of  the  forbidden  fruit  wTas  simply  a figurative  mode  of 
expressing  the  performance  of  the  act  necessary  to  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  human  race.  The  “ Tree  of  Knowledge  ” was  a Phallic 
tree,  and  the  fruit  which  grew  upon  it  was  Phallic  fruit.2 

In  regard  to  the  story  of  “ The  Delugefl  we  have  already  seen3 
that  “ Eg}rptian  records  tell  nothing  of  a cataclysmal  deluge,”  and 
that,  “ the  land  was  never  visited  by  other  than  its  annual  benefi- 
cent overflow  of  the  river  Kile.”  Also,  that  “the  Pharaoh  Khou- 
fou-cheops  was  building  his  pyramid,  according  to  Egyptian  chroni- 
cle, when  the  whole  world  was  under  the  waters  of  a universal 
deluge,  according  to  the  Hebrew  chronicle.”  This  is  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  Hebrews  did  not  borrow  the  legend  from  the 
Egyptians. 

We  have  also  seen,  in  the  chapter  that  treated  of  this  legend, 
that  it  corresponded  in  all  the  principal  features  with  the  Chaldean 
account.  We  shall  now  show  that  it  was  taken  from  this. 

Mr.  Smith  discovered,  on  the  site  of  Ninevali,  during  the  years 
1873-4,  cylinders  belonging  to  the  early  Babylonian  monarchy, 
(from  2500  to  1500  b.  c.)  which  contained  the  legend  of  the  flood,4 
and  which  we  gave  in  Chapter  II.  This  was  the  foundation  for 
the  Hebrew  legend,  and  they  learned  it  at  the  time  of  the  Cap- 
tivity. 6 The  myth  of  Deucalion,  the  Grecian  hero,  wras  also  taken 
from  the  same  source.  The  Greeks  learned  it  from  the  Chaldeans. 

We  read  in  Chambers’s  Encyclopedia,  that : 

“It  was  at  one  time  extensively  believed,  even  by  intelligent  scholars,  that 


1 See  Appendix,  c. 

2 See  Westopp  & Wakes,  “ Phallic  Wor- 
ship.” 

3 In  chap.  ii. 

4 See  Assyrian  Discoveries,  pp.  167, 168,  and 
Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis. 


6 “Upon  the  carrying  away  of  the  Jews  to 
Babylon,  they  were  brought  into  contact  with  a 
flood  of  Iranian  as  well  as  Chaldean  myths,  and 
adopted  them  without  hesitation."  (S.  Baring- 
Gould  : Curious  Myths,  p.  316.) 


102 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


the  myth  of  Deucalion  was  a corrupted  tradition  of  the  Noacfiian  deluge,  but 
this  untenable  opinion  is  now  all  but  universally  abandoned.”1 

This  idea  was  abandoned  after  it  was  found  that  the  Deu- 
calion myth  was  older  than  the  Hebrew. 

What  was  said  in  regard  to  the  Eden  story  not  being  mentioned 
in  other  portions  of  the  Old  Testament  save  in  Genesis,  also  ap- 
plies to  this  story  of  the  Deluge.  Nowhere  in  the  other  books  of 
the  Old  Testament  is  found  any  reference  to  this  story,  except  in 
Isaiah,  where  “the  waters  of  Noah”  are  mentioned,  and  in  Ezekiel, 
where  simply  the  name  of  Noah  is  mentioned. 

We  stated  in  Chapter  II.  that  some  persons  saw  in  this  story  an 
astronomical  myth.  Although  not  generally  admitted,  yet  there 
are  very  strong  reasons  for  believing  this  to  be  the  case. 

According  to  the  Chaldean  account — which  is  the  oldest  one 
known — there  were  seven  persons  saved  in  the  ark.2  There  were 
also  seven  persons  saved,  according  to  some  of  the  Hindoo  ac- 
counts.3 That  this  referred  to  the  sun,  moon,  and  five  planets  looks 
very  probable.  We  have  also  seen  that  Noah  was  the  tenth  patri- 
arch, and  Xisthrus  (who  is  the  Chaldean  hero)  was  the  tenth  king.4 * 
Now,  according  to  the  Babylonian  table,  their  Zodiac  contained 
ten  gods  called  the  “ Ten  Zodiac  gods.”6  They  also  believed  that 
whenever  all  the  planets  met  in  the  sign  of  Capricorn,  the  whole 
earth  was  overwhelmed  with  a deluge  of  water?  The  Hindoos  and 
other  nations  had  a similar  belief.7 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Chaldeans  were  great  astronomers. 
When  Alexander  the  Great  conquered  the  city  of  Babylon,  the 
Chaldean  priests  boasted  to  the  Greek  philosophers,  who  followed 
his  army,  that  they  had  continued  their  astronomical  calculations 
through  a period  of  more  than  forty  thousand  years.8  Although 
this  statement  cannot  be  credited,  yet  the  great  antiquity  of  Chal- 
dea cannot  be  doubted,  and  its  immediate  connection  with  Hin- 
dostan,  or  Egypt,  is  abundantly  proved  by  the  little  that  is  known 
concerning  its  religion,  and  by  the  few  fragments  that  remain  of 
its  former  grandeur. 

In  regard  to  the  story  of  “ The  Tower  of  Babel  ” little  need  be 
said.  This,  as  well  as  the  story  of  the  Creation  and  Fall  of  Man, 
and  the  Deluge,  was  borrowed  from  the  Babylonians.9 


1 Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Deucalion.” 

2 See  chapter  ii. 

8 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  185,  and 
Maurice  : Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p.  277. 

4 Chapter  ii. 

6 See  Dunlap’s  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  153,  note. 


• See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  254. 
i See  Ibid,  p.  367. 

8 See  Ibid,  p.  252. 

® Goldzhier  : Hebrew  Mythology,  pp.  ISO- 
135,  and  Smith’s  Chaldean  Account  of  Gene- 
sis. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


103 


“ It  seems,”  says  George  Smith,  “ from  the  indications  in  the 
(cuneiform)  inscriptions,  that  there  happened  in  the  interval  be- 
tween 2000  and  1850  b.  c.  a general  collection  of  the  development 
of  the  various  traditions  of  the  Creation,  Flood,  Tower  of  Babel, 
and  other  similar  legends.”  “ These  legends  were,  however,  tra- 
ditions before  they  were  committed  to  writing,  and  were  common 
in  some  form  to  all  the  country.”' 

The  Tower  of  Babel,  or  the  confusion  of  tongues,  is  nowhere 
alluded  to  in  the  Old  Testament  outside  of  Genesis,  where  the 
story  is  related. 

The  next  story  in  order  is  “ The  Trial  of  Abraham's  Faith'' 

In  this  connection  we  have  shown  similar  legends  taken  from 
Grecian  mythology,  which  legends  may  have  given  the  idea  to  the 
writer  of  the  Hebrew  story. 

It  may  appear  strange  that  the  Hebrews  should  have  been 
acquainted  with  Grecian  mythology,  yet  we  know  this  was  the 
case.  The  fact  is  accounted  for  in  the  following  manner : 

Many  of  the  Jews  taken  captive  at  the  Edomite  sack  of  Jerusa- 
lem were  sold  to  the  Grecians ,a  who  took  them  to  their  country. 
While  there,  they  became  acquainted  with  Grecian  legends,  and 
when  they  returned  from  “ the  Islands  of  the  Sea” — as  they  called 
the  Western  countries — they  brought  them  to  Jerusalem .* 

This  legend,  as  we  stated  in  the  chapter  which  treated  of  it,  was 
written  at  the  time  when  the  Mosaic  party  in  Israel  were  endeavor- 
ing to  abolish  human  sacrifices  and  other  “ abominations,”  and  the 
author  of  the  story  invented  it  to  make  it  appear  that  the  Lord 
had  abolished  them  in  the  time  of  Abraham.  The  earliest  Targurri 1 2 3 4 
knows  nothing  about  the  legend,  showing  that  the  story  was  not 
in  the  Pentateuch  at  the  time  this  Targum  was  written. 

We  have  also  seen  that  a story  written  by  Sanchoniatlion  (about 
b.  c.  1300)  of  one  Saturn,  whom  the  Phenicians  called  Israel , bore 
a resemblance  to  the  Hebrew  legend  of  Abraham.  How,  Count 
de  Volney  tells  us  that  “a  similar  tradition  prevailed  among  the 
Chaldeans ,”  and  that  they  had  the  history  of  one  Zerban — which 
means  “ rich-in-gold  ”5 — that  corresponded  in  many  respects  with 
the  history  of  Abraham.6  It  may,  then,  have  been  from  the  Chal- 
dean story  that  the  Hebrew  fable  writer  got  his  idea. 


1 Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  pp.  27,  28. 

2 See  Note,  p.  109. 

3 See  Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  685. 

4 “ Targum.'"— The  general  term  for  the  Ara- 

maic versions  of  the  Old  Testament. 


6 In  Genesis  xxiii.  2,  Abrahamis  called  rich 
in  gold  and  in  silver. 

• See  Volney’s  Researches  in  Ancient  His- 
tory, pp.  144-147. 


104 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  next  legend  which  we  examined  was  that  of  “Jacob's 
Vision  of  the  Ladder .”  We  claimed  that  it  probably  referred  to 

the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls  from  one  body  into 
another,  and  also  gave  the  apparent  reason  for  the  invention  of  the 
story. 

The  next  story  was  “ The  Exodus  from  Egypt , and  Passage 
through  the  Red  /Sea,"  in  which  we  showed,  from  Egyptian  history, 
that  the  Israelites  w'ere  turned  out  of  the  country  on  account  of 
their  uncleanness,  and  that  the  wonderful  exploits  recorded  of 
Moses  were  simply  copies  of  legends  related  of  the  sun-god 
Bacchus.  These  legends  came  from  “ the  Islands  of  the  Sea,”  and 
came  in  very  handy  for  the  Hebrew  fable  writers  ; they  saved  them 
the  trouble  of  inventing. 

We  now  come  to  the  story  relating  to  “ The  Receiving  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  ” by  Moses  from  the  Lord,  on  the  top  of  a 
mountain,  ’mid  thunders  and  lightnings. 

All  that  is  likely  to  be  historical  in  this  account,  is  that  Moses 
assembled,  not,  indeed,  the  whole  of  the  people,  but  the  heads  of 
the  tribes,  and  gave  them  the  code  which  he  had  prepared.1 2  The 
marvellous  portion  of  the  story  was  evidently  copied  from  that 
related  of  the  law-giver  Zoroaster,  by  the  Persians , and  the  idea, 
that  there  were  two  tables  of  stone  with  the  Law  written  thereon 
was  evidently  taken  from  the  story  of  Bacchus,  the  Law-giver,  who 
had  his  laws  written  on  two  tables  of  stone? 

The  next  legend  treated  was  that  of  “ Samson  and  his  Exploits .” 

Those  who,  like  the  learned  of  the  last  century , maintain  that 
the  Pagans  copied  from  the  Hebrews,  may  say  that  Samson  was 
the  model  of  all  their  similar  stories,  but  now  that  our  ideas  con- 
cerning antiquity  are  enlarged,  and  when  we  know  that  Hercules  is 
well  known  to  have  been  the  God  Sol,  whose  allegorical  history 
was  spread  among  many  nations  long  before  the  Hebrews  were 
ever  heard  of,  we  are  authorized  to  believe  and  to  say  that  some 
Jewish  mythologist — for  what  else  are  their  so-called  historians — 
composed  the  anecdote  of  Samson,  by  partly  disfiguring  the 
popular  traditions  of  the  Greeks,  Phenicians  and  Chaldeans,  and 
claiming  that  hero  for  his  own  nation.3 

The  Babylonian  story  of  Izdubar,  the  lion-killer,  who  wandered 


1 The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  49.  fore  them.  The  Greeks  claimed  Hercules  as 

2 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  122.  Higgins  : their  countryman  ; stated  wnere  he  was  born, 

vol.  ii.  p.  19.  and  showed  his  tomb.  The  Egyptians  affirmed 

* In  claiming  the  “ mighty  man  ” and  “ lion-  that  he  was  born  in  their  country  (see  Taci- 

killer  ” as  one  of  their  own  race,  the  Jews  were  tus,  Annals,  b.  ii.  ch.  lix.),  and  so  did  many 

simply  doing  what  other  nations  had  done  be-  other  nations. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


105 


to  the  regions  of  the  blessed  (the  Grecian  Elysium),  who  crossed  a 
great  waste  of  land  (the  desert  of  Lybia , according  to  the  Grecian 
mythos),  and  arrived  at  a region  where  splendid  trees  were  laden 
with  jewels  (the  Grecian  Garden  of  the  Plesperides),  is  probably  the 
foundation  for  the  Hercules  and  other  corresponding  myths.  This 
conclusion  is  drawn  from  the  fact  that,  although  the  story  of 
Hercules  was  known  in  the  island  of  Thasus,  by  the  Phenician 
colony  settled  there,  five  centuries  before  he  was  known  in  Greece j 
yet  its  antiquity  among  the  Babylonians  antedates  that. 

The  age  of  the  legends  of  Izdubar  among  the  Babylonians 
cannot  be  placed  with  certainty,  yet,  the  cuneiform  inscriptions 
relating  to  this  hero,  which  have  been  found,  may  be  placed  at 
about  2000  years  b.  c.1 2  “ As  these  stories  were  traditions fi  says 
Mr.  Smith,  the  discoverer  of  the  cylinders,  “before  they  were 
committed  to  writing,  their  antiquity  as  tradition  is  probably 
much  greater  than  that.”3 

With  these  legends  before  them,  the  Jewish  priests  in  Babylon 
had  no  difficulty  in  arranging  the  story  of  Samson,  and  adding  it 
to  their  already  fabulous  history. 

As  the  Rev.  Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise  remarks,  in  speaking  of  the 
ancient  Hebrews  : “ They  adopted  forms,  terms,  ideas  and  myths 
of  all  nations  with  whom  they  came  in  contact,  and,  like  the 
Greeks,  in  their  way,  cast  them  all  in  a peculiar  Jewish  religious 
moldP 

We  have  seen,  in  the  chapter  which  treats  of  this  legend,  that 
it  is  recorded  in  the  book  of  Judges.  This  book  was  not  written 
till  after  the  first  set  of  Israelites  had  been  carried  into  captivity, 
and  perhaps  still  later? 

After  this  we  have  “ Jonah  swallowed  by  a Big  Fishfi  which 
is  the  last  legend  treated. 

We  saw  that  it  was  a solar  myth , known  to  many  nations  of 
antiquity.  The  writer  of  the  book — whoever  he  may  have  been — 
lifted  in  the  fifth  century  before  Christ — after  the  Jews  had 
become  acquainted  and  had  mixed  with  other  nations.  The  writer 
of  this  wholly  fictitious  story,  taking  the  prophet  Jonah — who  was 
evidently  an  historical  personage — for  his  hero,  was  perhaps 
intending  to  show  the  loving-kindness  of  Jehovah.6 


1 See  Knight : Ancient  Art-  and  Mythology,  4 See  The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  12;  and  Chad- 

pp.  92,  93.  wick’s  Bible  of  To-Day,  p.  55. 

3 Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  pp.  168  and  5 See  The  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  41,  and 

174;  and  Assyrian  Discoveries,  p.  167.  Chadwick’s  Bible  of  To-Day,  p.  24. 

3 Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  p.  168. 


106 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


We  have  now  examined  all  the  principal  Old  Testament 
legends,  and,  after  what  has  been  seen,  we  think  that  no  impartial 
person  can  still  consider  them  historical  facts.  That  so  great  a 
number  of  educated  persons  still  do  so  seems  astonishing,  in  our 
way  of  thinking.  They  have  repudiated  Greek  and  Roman 
mythology  with  disdain ; why  then  admit  with  respect  the  mythol- 
ogy of  the  Jews  ? Ought  the  miracles  of  Jehovah  to  impress  us 
more  than  those  of  Jupiter?  We  think  not;  they  should  all  be 
looked  upon  as  relics  of  the  past. 

That  Christian  writers  are  beginning  to  be  aroused  to  the  idea 
that  another  tack  should  be  taken,  differing  from  the  old,  is  very 
evident.  This  is  clearly  seen  by  the  words  of  Prof.  Richard  A. 
Armstrong,  the  translater  of  Dr.  Knappert’s  “ Religion  of  Israel  ” 
into  English.  In  the  Preface  of  this  work,  he  says : 

‘ ‘ It  appears  to  me  to  be  profoundly  important  that  the  youthful  English 
mind  should  be  faithfully  and  accurately  informed  of  the  results  of  modern 
research  into  the  early  development  of  the  Israelitish  religion.  Deplorable  and 
irreparable  mischief  will  be  done  to  the  generation  now  passing  into  manhood 
and  womanhood,  if  their  educators  leave  them  ignorant  or  loosely  informed  on 
these  topics ; for  they  will  then  be  rudely  awakened  by  the  enemies  of  Christi- 
anity from  a blind  and  unreasoning  faith  in  the  supernatural  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures;  and  being  suddenly  and  bluntly  made  aware  that  Abraham,  Moses, 
David,  and  the  rest  did  not  say,  do,  or  write  what  has  been  ascribed  to  them, 
they  will  fling  away  all  care  for  the  venerable  religion  of  Israel  and  all  hope 
that  it  can  nourish  their  own  religious  life.  How  much  happier  will  those  of 
our  children  and  young  people  be  who  learn  what  is  now  known  of  the  actual 
origin  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Writings,  from  the  same  lips  which  have 
taught  them  that  the  Prophets  indeed  prepared  the  way  for  Jesus,  and  that  God 
is  indeed  our  Heavenly  Father.  For  these  will,  without  difficulty,  perceive  that 
God’s  love  is  none  the  feebler  and  that  the  Bible  is  no  less  precious,  because 
Moses  knew  nothing  of  the  Levitical  legislation,  or  because  it  was  not  the 
warrior  monarch  on  his  semi-barbaric  throne,  but  some  far  later  son  of  Israel, 
who  breathed  forth  the  immortal  hymn  of  faith,  ‘The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd;  I 
shall  not  want.’  ” 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  think  that  the  evidence  of 
plagiarism  on  the  part  of  the  Hebrew  writers  has  not  been  suf- 
ficiently substantiated,  we  will  quote  a few  words  from  Prof.  Max 
Muller,  who  is  one  of  the  best  English  authorities  on  this  subject 
that  can  be  produced.  In  speaking  of  this  he  says  : 

“ The  opinion  that  the  Pagan  religions  were  mere  corruptions  of  the  religion 
of  the  Old  Testament,  once  supported  by  men  of  high  authority  and  great  learn- 
ing, is  now  as  completely  surrendered  as  the  attempts  of  explaining  Greek  and 
Latin  as  the  corruptions  of  Hebrew 

Again  he  says : 


1 The  Science  of  Religion,  p.  40. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


107 


“ As  soon  as  the  ancient  language  and  religion  of  India  became  known  in 
Europe  it  was  asserted  that  Sanskrit,  like  all  other  languages,  was  to  be  derived 
from  Hebrew,  and  the  ancient  religion  of  the  Brahmans  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. There  was  at  that  time  an  enthusiasm  among  Oriental  scholars,  particu- 
larly at  Calcutta,  and  an  interest  for  Oriental  antiquities  in  the  public  at  large, 
of  which  we,  in  these  days  of  apathy  for  Eastern  literature,  can  hardly  form  an 
adequate  idea.  Everybody  wished  to  be  first  in  the  field,  and  to  bring  to  light  some 
of  the  treasures  which  were  supposed  to  be  hidden  in  the  sacred  literature  of 
the  Brahmans.  . . . No  doubt  the  temptation  was  great.  No  one  could  look 

down  for  a moment  into  the  rich  mine  of  religious  and  mythological  lore  that 
was  suddenly  opened  before  the  eyes  of  scholars  and  theologians,  without  being 
struck  by  a host  of  similarities,  not  only  in  the  languages,  but  also  in  the  ancient 
traditions  of  the  Hindoos,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Romans;  and  if  at  that  time  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  were  still  supposed  to  have  borrowed  their  language  and 
their  religion  from  Jewish  quarters,  the  same  conclusion  coidd  hardly  be  avoided 
with  regard  to  the  language  and  the  religion  of  the  Brahmans  of  India.  . . . 

' ‘The  student  of  Pagan  religion  as  well  as  Christian  missionaries  were  bent  on 
discovering  more  striking  and  more  startling  coincidences,  in  order  to  use  them 
in  confirmation  of  their  favorite  theory  that  some  rays  of  a primeval  revelation,  or 
some  reflection  of  the  Jewish  religion,  had  reached  the  uttermost  ends  of  the  world”1 

The  result  of  all  this  is  summed  up  by  Prof.  Muller  as  follows  • 

“ It  was  the  fate  of  all  (these)  pioneers,  not  only  to  be  left  behind  in  the  assault 
which  they  had  planned,  but  to  find  that  many  of  their  approaches  were  made  in 
a false  direction,  and  had  to  be  abandoned .”2 

Before  closing  this  chapter,  we  shall  say  a few  words  on  the 
religion  of  Israel.  It  is  supposed  by  many — in  fact,  we  have  heard 
it  asserted  by  those  who  should  know  better — that  the  Israelites 
were  always  monotheists , that  they  worshiped  One  God  only — 
Jehovah .3  This  is  altogether  erroneous ; they  were  not  different 
from  their  neighbors — the  Heathen,  so-called — in  regard  to  their 
religion. 

In  the  first  place,  we  know  that  they  revered  and  worshiped 
a Bull , called  Ajpis ,4  just  as  the  ancient  Egyptians  did.  They 


1 They  even  claimed  that  one  of  the  “ lost 
tribes  of  Israel  ” had  found  their  way  to  Amer- 
ica, and  had  tanght  the  natives  Hebrew. 

2 The  Science  of  Religion,  pp.  285, 
292. 

3 “It  is  an  assumption  of  the  popular  theol- 
ogy, and  an  almost  universal  belief  in  the  pop- 
ular mind,  that  the  Jewish  nation  was  selected 
by  the  Almighty  to  preserve  and  carry  down  to 
later  ages  a knowledge  of  the  One  and  true 

God— that  the  Patriarchs  possessed  this  knowl- 
edge—that  Moses  delivered  and  enforced  this 
doctrine  as  the  fundamental  tenet  of  the  na- 
tional creed  ; and  that  it  was,  in  fact,  the  re- 
ceived and  distinctive  dogma  of  the  Hebrew 
people.  This  alleged  possession  of  the  true 


faith  by  one  only  people,  while  all  surrounding 
tribes  were  lost  in  Polytheism,  or  something 
worse,  has  been  adduced  by  divines  in  general 
as  a proof  of  the  truth  of  the  sacred  history, 
and  of  the  divine  origin  of  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sation.” (Greg  : The  Creed  of  Christendom, 
p.  145.) 

Even  such  authorities  as  Paley  and  Milman 
have  written  in  this  strain.  (See  quotations 
from  Paley’s  “ Evidences  of  Christianity ,”  and 
Dean  Milman’s  “ History  of  the  Jews,"  made 
by  Mr.  Greg  in  his  “ Creed  of  Christendom ,” 
p.  145.) 

4  See  the  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  321, 
vol.  ii.  p.  102;  and  Dunlap  : Mysteries  of  Adoni, 
p.  108. 


108 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


worshiped  the  sun?  the  moon?  the  stars  and  all  the  host  of 
heaven.1 * 3 

They  worshiped  fire , and  kept  it  burning  on  an  altar,  just  as 
the  Persians  and  other  nations.4 * *  They  worshiped  stones?  revered 
an  oak  tree?  and  “ bowed  down  ” to  images .7  They  worshiped 
a “ Queen  of  Heaven  ” called  the  goddess  Astarte  or  Mylitta , and 
“ burned  incense  ” to  her.8 9  They  worshiped  Baal?  Moloch,10 * * *  and 
Chemosh ,"  and  offered  up  human  sacrifices  to  them?*  after  which 
in  some  instances,  they  ate  the  victim.™ 

It  was  during  the  Captivity  that  idolatry  ceased  among  the 
Israelites.14 *  The  Babylonian  Captivity  is  clearly  referred  to  in  the 
book  of  Deuteronomy,  as  the  close  of  Israel’s  idolatry.16 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  real  genius  of  the  people  was 
first  called  into  full  exercise,  and  put  on  its  career  of  development 
at  this  time ; that  Babylon  was  a forcing  nursery , not  a prison  cell ; 
creating  instead  of  stifling  a nation.  The  astonishing  outburst  of 
intellectual  and  moral  energy  that  accompanied  the  return  from  the 
Babylonish  Captivity,  attests  the  spiritual  activity  of  that  “ mysteri- 
ous and  momentous”  time.  As  Prof.  Goldziher  says:  “ The  intel- 
lect of  Babylon  and  Assyria  exerted  a more  than  passing  influence 
on  that  of  the  Hebrews , not  merely  touching  it,  but  entering  deep 
into  it , and  leaving  its  own  impression  upon  it.”™ 


1 See  the  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  pp.  317, 
418  ; vol.  li.  p.  301.  Dunlap’s  Son  of  the  Man, 
p.  3,  and  his  Spirit  Hist.,  pp.  68  and  182.  In- 
man : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  pp.  782,  783;  and 

Goldziher  : Hebrew  Mythol.,  pp.  227,  240,  242. 

3 The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  317. 
Dunlap's  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  3 ; and  Spirit  Hist., 
p.  68.  Also,  Goldziher:  Hebrew  Mythol.,  p.159. 

s The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  26,  and 
317  ; vol.  ii.  p.  301  and  328.  Dunlap’s  Son  of 
the  Man,  p.  3.  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  68; 
Mysteries  of  Adoni,  pp.  xvii.  and  108  ; and  The 
Religion  of  Israel,  p.  38. 

4 Bunsen  : Keys  of  St.  Peter,  pp.  101,  102. 

6 The  Bible  for  Learner*,  vol.  i.  pp.  175-178, 
317,  322,  448. 

« Ibid.  115. 

7 Ibid.  i.  23,  321  ; ii.  102,  103,  109,  264,  274. 
Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  p.  108.  Inman  : Ancient 
Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  438  ; vol.  ii.  p.  30. 

8 The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  pp.  88,  318  ; 
vol.  ii.  pp.  102,  113,  300.  Dunlap  : Son  of  the 
Man,  p.  3;  and  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  xvii. 
Muller  : The  Science  of  Religion,  p.  261. 

9 The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  pp.  21-25, 

105,  391  ; vol.  ii.  pp.  102,  135-138.  Dunlap  : 

Son  of  the  Man,  p.  3.  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  pp. 

108,  177.  Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  pp. 

782,  783.  Bunsen  : The  Keys  of  St.  Peter,  p. 

91.  Muller  : The  Science  of  Religion,  p.  181. 

Bal , Bel,  or  Belus  was  an  idol  of  the  Chal- 


deans and  Phenicians  or  Canaanites.  The 
word  Bal,  in  the  Punic  language,  signifies  Lord 
or  Master.  The  name  Bal  is  often  joined  with 
some  other,  as  Ra£-berith,  Ra^-peor,  Bal- 
zephon,  &c.  “ The  Israelites  made  him  their 

god,  and  erected  altars  to  him  on  which  they 
offered  human  sacrifices,”  and  “what  is  still 
more  unnatural,  they  ate  of  the  victims  they 
offered.”  (Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  pp.  113, 114.) 

10  The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  pp.  17,  26  ; 
vol.  ii.  pp.  102,  299,  300.  Bunsen  : Keys  of  St. 
Peter,  p.  110.  Muller  : The  Science  of  Relig- 
ion, p.  285.  Moloch  was  a god  of  the  Ammon- 
ites, also  worshiped  among  the  Israelites.  Sol- 
omon built  a temple  to  him,  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  and  human  sacrifices  were  offered  to 
him.  (Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  pp.  84,  85.) 

“ The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  153;  vol. 
ii.  pp.  71,  83,  125.  Smith’s  Bible  Dictionary, 
art.  “Chemosh.” 

12  The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  pp.  26,  147 ; 
148,  319,  320  ; vol.  ii.  pp.  16,  17,  299,  300.  Dum 
lap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  pp.  108,  222.  Inman  : An 
cient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  pp.  100, 101.  Muller : 
Sciencg  of  Religion,  p.  261.  Bell’s  Pantheon, 
vol.  i.  113,  114 ; vol.  ii.  84,  85. 

13  See  note  9 above. 

14  See  Bunsen  : Keys  of  St.  Peter,  291. 

Ibid,  p.  27. 

J6  Goldziher  : Hebrew  Mythology,  p 319. 


CONCLUSION  OF  PART  FIRST. 


109 


This  impression  we  have  already  partly  seen  in  the  legends  which 
they  borrowed,  and  it  may  also  be  seen  in  the  religious  ideas  which 
they  imbibed. 

The  Assyrian  colonies  which  came  and  occupied  the  land  of  the 
tribes  of  Israel  filled  the  kingdom  of  Samaria  with  the  dogma  of 
the  Magi,  which  very  soon  penetrated  into  the  kingdom  of  Judah. 
Afterward,  Jerusalem  being  subjugated,  the  defenseless  country  was 
entered  by  persons  of  different  nationalities,  who  introduced  their 
opinions,  aDd  in  this  way,  the  religion  of  Israel  was  doubly  mutilated. 
Besides,  the  priests  and  great  men,  who  were  transported  to  Baby- 
lon, were  educated  in  the  sciences  of  the  Chaldeans,  and  imbibed, 
during  a residence  of  fifty  years,  nearly  the  whole  of  their  theology. 
It  was  not  until  this  time  that  the  dogmas  of  the  hostile  genius 
(Satan),  the  angels  Michael,  Uriel,  Yar,  Nisan,  &c.,  the  rebel  angels, 
the  battle  in  heaven,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  the  resurrec- 
tion, were  introduced  and  naturalized  among  the  Jews.1 


1 The  Talmud  of  Jerusalem  expressly  states 
that  the  names  of  the  angels  and  the  months, 
such  as  Gabriel,  Michael,  Yar,  Nisan,  &c., 
came  from  Babylon  with  the  Jews.  (Goldziher, 
p.  319.)  “ There  is  no  trace  of  the  doctrine  of 

Angels  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  composed  or 
written  before  the  exile.”  (Bunsen : The 


Angel  Messiah,  p.  285.)  “ The  Jews  adopted, 
during  the  Captivity,  the  idea  of  angels, 
Michael,  Raphael,  Uriel,  Gabriel,”  &c.  (Knight: 
Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  p.  54.)  See,  for 
further  information  on  this  subject,  Dr.  Knap- 
pert’s  “Religion  of  Israel,”  or  Prof.  Kuenen’s 
“ Religion  of  Israel.” 


Note.— It  is  not  generally  known  that  the  Jews  were  removed  from  their  own  land  until  the 
time  of  the  Babylonian  Nebuchadnezzar,  but  there  is  evidence  that  Jerusalem  was  plundered  by  the 
Edomites  about  800  B.  C.,  who  sold  some  of  the  captive  Jews  to  the  Greeks  (Joel.  iii.  6).  When 
the  captives  returned  to  their  country  from  “ the  Islands  which  are  beyond  the  sea  ” (Jer.  xxv.  18, 
22),  they  would  naturally  bring  back  with  them  much  of  the  Hellenic  lore  of  their  conquerors.  In 
Isaiah  (xi.  11),  we  find  a reference  to  this  first  captivity  in  the  following  words  : “ In  that  day  the 
Lord  shall  set  his  hand  again  the  second  time  to  recover  the  remnant  of  his  people,  which  shall 
be  left,  from  Assyria,  and  from  Egypt,  and  from  Pathros,  aud  from  Cush,  and  from  Elam,  aud 
from  Shinar,  and  from  Hamath,  aud  from  the  Islands  of  the  sea  ; ” i.  e.,  Greece. 


PART  II, 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 

According  to  the  dogma  of  the  deity  of  Jesus,  he  who  is  said  to 
have  lived  on  earth  some  eighteen  centuries  ago,  as  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, is  second  of  the  three  persons  in  the  Trinity,  the  Son,  God  as 
absolutely  as  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  except  as  eternally 
deriving  his  existence  from  the  Father.  What,  however,  especially 
characterizes  the  Son,  and  distinguishes  him  from  the  two  other 
persons  united  with  him  in  the  unity  of  the  Deity,  is  this,  that  the 
Son,  at  a given  moment  of  time,  became  incarnate,  and  that,  with- 
out losing  anything  of  his  divine  nature,  he  thus  became  possessed 
of  a complete  human  nature ; so  that  he  is  at  the  same  time,  with- 
out injury  to  the  unity  of  his  person,  “ truly  man  and  truly  God? 

The  story  of  the  miraculous  birth  of  J esus  is  told  by  the 
Matthew  narrator  as  follows  i1 

“Now  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ  was  on  this  wise:  When  as  his  mother  Mary 
was  espoused  to  Joseph,  before  they  came  together,  she  was  found  with  child  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Then  Joseph,  her  husband,  being  a just  man,  and  not  willing 
to  make  her  a public  example,  was  minded  to  put  her  away  privily.  But 
while  he  thought  on  these  things,  behold,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  unto 
him  in  a dream,  saying,  Joseph,  thou  son  of  David,  fear  not  to  take  unto  thee 
Mary  thy  wife : for  that  which  is  conceived  in  her  is  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And 
she  shall  bring  forth  a son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus,  for  he  shall  save 
his  people  from  their  sins.  Now  all  this  was  done,  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which 
was  spoken  of  the  Lord  by  the  prophet,  saying:  Behold,  a virgin  shall  be 

with  child,  and  shall  bring  forth  a son,  and  they  shall  call  his  name  Emmanuel, 
which  being  interpreted  is,  God  with  us.”2 


1 Matthew,  i.  18-25.  recorded  in  the  Koran,  which  says  that  Gabriel 

a The  Luke  narrator  tells  the  story  in  a dif-  appeared  unto  Mary  in  the  shape  of  a perfect 

ferent  manner.  His  account  is  more  like  that  man,  that  Mary,  upon  seeing  him,  and  seoming 

[111] 


112 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


A Deliverer  was  hoped  for,  expected,  prophesied,  in  the  time  of 
Jewish  misery1  (and  Cyrus  was  perhaps  the  first  referred  to) ; but 
as  no  one  appeared  who  did  what  the  Messiah,  according  to  proph- 
ecy, should  do,  they  went  on  degrading  each  successive  conqueror 
and  hero  from  the  Messianic  dignity,  and  are  still  expecting  the 
true  Deliverer.  Hebrew  and  Christian  divines  both  start  from  the 
same  assumed  unproven  premises,  viz. : that  a Messiah,  having  been 
foretold,  must  appear;  but  there  they  diverge,  and  the  Jews  show 
themselves  to  be  the  sounder  logicians  of  the  two  : the  Christians 
assuming  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah  intended  (though  not  the  one 
expected ),  wrest  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  prophecies  to  show 
that  they  were  fufilled  in  him  ; while  the  Jews,  assuming  the  ob 
vious  meaning  of  the  prophecies  to  be  their  real  meaning,  argue 
that  they  were  not  fulfilled  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  therefore  that  the 
Messiah  is  yet  to  come. 

We  shall  now  see,  in  the  words  of  Bishop  Hawes:  “ that  God 
should,  in  some  extraordinary  manner,  visit  and  dwell  with  man,  is 
an  idea  which,  as  we  read  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Heathens , 
meets  us  in  a thousand  different  forms.” 

Immaculate  conceptions  and  celestial  descents  were  so  currently 
received  among  the  ancients,  that  whoever  had  greatly  distinguished 
himself  in  the  affairs  of  men  was  thought  to  be  of  supernatural 
lineage.  Gods  descended  from  heaven  and  were  made  incarnate  in 
men,  and  men  ascended  from  earth,  and  took  their  seat  among  the 
gods,  so  that  these  incarnations  and  apotheosises  were  fast  filling 
Olympus  with  divinities. 

In  our  inquiries  on  this  subject  we  shall  turn  first  to  Asia , 
where,  as  the  learned  Thomas  Maurice  remarks  in  his  Inctian  An- 
tiquities, “ in  every  age,  and  in  almost  every  region  of  the  Asiatic 
world,  there  seems  uniformly  to  have  flourished  an  immemorial 
tradition  that  one  god  had,  from  all  eternity,  begotten  another 
god” 

In  India,  there  have  been  several  Avatars , or  incarnations  of 
Yishnu,3  the  most  important  of  which  is  Heri  Crishna  ,4  or  Crishna 
the  Saviour. 


to  understand  his  intentions,  said:  “If  thou 
fearest  God,  thou  wilt  not  approach  me.” 
Gabriel  answering  said:  “Verily,  I am  the 
messenger  of  the  Lord,  and  am  sent  to  give 
thee  a holy  son.”  (Koran,  ch.  xix.) 

1  Instead,  however,  of  the  benevolent  Jesus, 
the  “Prince  of  Peace” — as  Christian  writers 
make  him  out  to  be— the  Jews  were  expecting 
a daring  and  irresistible  warrior  and  conqueror, 
who,  armed  with  greater  power  than  Caesar, 
was  to  come  upon  earth  to  rend  the  fetters  in 


which  their  hapless  nation  had  so  long  groaned, 
to  avenge  them  upon  their  haughty  oppressors, 
and  to  re-establish  the  kingdom  of  J udah. 

2 Vol.  v.  p.  294. 

3 Moor,  in  his  “ Pantheon ,”  tells  us  that  a 
learned  Pandit  once  observed  to  him  that  the 
English  were  a new  people,  and  had  only  the 
record  of  one  Avatara,  but  the  Hindoos  were 
an  ancient  people,  and  had  accounts  of  a great 
many. 

4 This  name  has  been  spelled  in  many  dif- 


V 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS.  113 


In  the  Maha-bharata , an  Indian  epic  poem,  written  about 
the  sixth  century  B.  C.,  Crishna  is  associated  or  identified  with 
Vishnu  the  Preserving  god  or  Saviour.1 

Sir  William  Jones,  first  President  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 
instituted  in  Bengal,  says  of  him : 

“ Crishna  continues  to  this  hour  the  darling  god  of  the  Indian  woman.  The 
sect  of  Hindoos  who  adore  him  with  enthusiastic,  and  almost  exclusive  devotion, 
have  broached  a doctrine,  which  they  maintain  with  eagerness,  and  which  seems 
general  in  these  provinces,  that  he  was  distinct  from  all  the  Avatars  (incarna- 
tions) who  had  only  an  ansa , or  a portion,  of  his  ( Vishnu's)  divinity,  while 
Crishna  was  the  person  of  Vishnu  himself  inhuman  form.”'1 

The  Rev.  D.  O.  Allen,  Missionary  of  the  American  Board,  for 
twenty-five  years  in  India,  speaking  of  Crishna,  says  : 

“He  was  greater  than,  and  distinct  from,  all  the  Avatars  which  had  only  a 
portion  of  the  divinity  in  them,  while  he  was  the  very  person  of  Vishnu  himself 
in  human  form.”3 


Thomas  Maurice,  in  speaking  of  Mathura , says : 

“It  is  particularly  celebrated  for  having  been  the  birth-place  of  Crishna,  who 
is  esteemed  in  India,  not  so  much  an  incarnation  of  the  divine  Vishnu,  as  the 
deity  himself  in  human  form.”4. 

Again,  in  his  “ History  of  Hindostan he  says : 

“It  appears  to  me  that  the  Hindoos,  idolizing  some  eminent  character  of 
antiquity,  distinguished,  in  the  early  annals  of  their  nation,  by  heroic  fortitude 
and  exalted  piety,  have  applied  to  that  character  those  ancient  traditional  ac- 
counts of  an  incarnate  God,  or,  as  they  not  improperly  term  it,  an  Avatar, 
which  had  been  delivered  down  to  them  from  their  ancestors,  the  virtuous 
Koachidse,  to  descend  amidst  the  darkness  and  ignorance  of  succeeding  ages, 
at  once  to  reform  and  instruct  mankind.  We  have  the  more  solid  reason  to 
affirm  this  of  the  Avatar  of  Crishna,  because  it  is  allowed  to  be  the  most  illustri- 
ous of  them  all;  since  we  have  learned,  that,  in  the  seven  preceding  Avatars,  the 
deity  brought  only  an  ansa,  or  portion  of  his  divinity;  but,  in  the  eighth,  he 
•descended  in  all  the  plentitude  of  the  Godhead,  and  was  Vishnu  himself  in  a 
human  form.”* 

Crishna  was  born  of  a chaste  virgin,6  called  Devoid,  who,  on 
account  of  her  purity,  was  selected  to  become  the  “ mother  of 
GodP 

According  to  the  ‘‘  bhagavat  pooraun,”  Vishnu  said  : 

“ I will  become  incarnate  at  Mathura  in  the  house  of  Tadu,  and  will  issue 


ferent  ways,  such  as  Krishna,  Khrishna, 
Krishnu,  Chrisna,  Cristna,  Christna,  &c.  We 
have  followed  Sir  Wm.  Jones’s  way  of  spelling 
it,  and  shall  do  so  throughout. 

1 See  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  pp.  259-275. 

3 Ibid.  p.  260.  We  may  say  that,  “ In  him 
dwelt  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily.” 
(Colossians,  ii.  9.) 

8 


8 Allen’s  India,  p.  397. 

4 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  iii.  p.  45. 

6 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  270. 

8 Like  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  Devaki  is 
called  the  “ Virgin  Mother ,”  although  she,  as 
well  as  Mary,  is  said  to  have  had  other  chil- 
dren. 


114 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


forth  to  mortal  birth  from  the  womb  of  Devaki.  . . . It  is  time  I should 

display  my  power,  and  relieve  the  oppressed  earth  from  its  load.”1 

Then  a chorus  of  angels  exclaimed  : 

“In  the  delivery  of  this  favored  woman,  all  nature  shall  have  cause  to 
«xult.”2 

In  the  sacred  book  of  the  Hindoos,  called  “ Vishnu  Pur  ana” 
we  read  as  follows  : 

“Eulogized  by  the  gods,  Devaki  bore  in  her  womb  the  lotus-eyed  deity,  the 
protector  of  the  world.  . . . 

“No  person  could  bear  to  gaze  upon  Devaki,  from  the  light  that  invested  her, 
and  those  who  contemplated  her  radiance  felt  their  minds  disturbed.  The  gods, 
invisible  to  mortals,  celebrated  her  praises  continually  from  the  time  that 
Vishnu  was  contained  in  her  person.”3 

Again  we  read : 

“ The  divine  Vishnu  himself  ’ the  root  of  the  vast  universal  tree,  inscrutable  by 
the  understandings  of  all  gods,  demons,  sages,  and  men,  past,  present,  or  to 
come,  adored  by  Brahma  and  all  the  deities,  he  who  is  without  beginning, 
middle,  or  end,  being  moved  to  relieve  the  earth  of  her  load,  descended  into  the 
womb  of  Devaki,  and  was  born  as  her  son,  Vasudeva,”  i.  e.,  Grishna .4 * * 

Again : 

“ Crishna  is  the  very  Supreme  Brahma,  though  it  be  a mystery 6 how  the 
Supreme  should  assume  the  form  of  a man.”* 

The  Hindoo  belief  in  a divine  incarnation  has  at  least,  above 
many  others,  its  logical  side  of  conceiving  that  God  manifests 
himself  on  earth  whenever  the  weakness  or  the  errors  of  humanity 
render  his  presence  necessary.  We  find  this  idea  expressed  in 
one  of  their  sacred  books  called  the  “ Bhdgavat  Geeta”  wherein 
it  says : 

“ I (the  Supreme  One  said),  I am  made  evident  by  my  own  power,  and  as  often 
as  there  is  a decline  of  virtue,  and  an  insurrection  of  vice  and  injustice  in  the 
world,  I make  myself  evident,  and  thus  I appear  from  age  to  age,  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  just,  the  destruction  of  the  wicked,  and  the  establishment  of 
virtue.”7 

Crishna  is  recorded  in  the  “ Bhdgavat  Geeta  ” as  saying  to  his 
beloved  disciple  Arjouna  : 


1 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  327. 

2 Ibid.  p.  329. 

8 Vishnu  Purana,  p.  502. 

* Ibid.  p.  440. 

6 “ Now  to  him  that  is  of  power  to  establish 

you  according  to  my  gospel,  and  the  preaching 
of  Jesus  Christ,  according  to  the  revelation  of 

the  mystery , which  was  kept  secret  6ince  the 


world  began.”  (Romans,  xvi.  15.)  “ And  with- 
out controversy,  great  is  the  mystery  of  god- 
liness : God  was  manifest  in  the  flesh,  justi- 
fied in  the  spirit,  seen  of  angels,  preached 
unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the  world, 
received  up  into  glory.”  (1  Timothy,  iii.  10.) 

• Vishnu  Purana,  p.  492,  note  3. 

7 Geeta,  ch.  iv. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


115 


“ He,  O Arjoun,  who,  from  conviction,  acknowledged  my  divine  birth  (upon 
quitting  his  mortal  form),  entered  into  me.”1 

Again,  he  says : 

“The  foolish,  being  unacquainted  with  my  supreme  and  divine  nature , as 
Lord  of  all  things,  despise  me  in  this  human  form,  trusting  to  the  evil,  diabolic, 
and  deceitful  principle  within  them.  They  are  of  vain  hope,  of  vain  endeavors, 
of  vain  wisdom,  and  void  of  reason;  whilst  men  of  great  minds,  trusting  to  their 
divine  natures,  discover  that  I am  before  all  things  and  incorruptible,  and  serve  me 
with  their  hearts  undiverted  by  other  gods.  ”2 

The  next  in  importance  among  the  God-begotten  and  Virgin- 
born  Saviours  of  India,  is  Buddha ,3  who  was  born  of  the  Virgin 
Maya  or  Mary.  He  in  mercy  left  Paradise,  and  came  down  to 
earth  because  he  was  filled  with  compassion  for  the  sins  and 
miseries  of  mankind.  He  sought  to  lead  them  into  better  paths, 
and  took  their  sufferings  upon  himself,  that  he  might  expiate  their 
crimes,  and  mitigate  the  punishment  they  must  otherwise  inevita- 
bly undergo.4 * 

According  to  the  Fo-pen-hing ,&  when  Buddha  was  about  to 
descend  from  heaven,  to  be  born  into  the  world,  the  angels  in 
heaven,  calling  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  said  : 

“Ye  mortals!  adorn  your  earth!  for  Bodhisatwa,  the  great  Mahasatwa,  not 
long  hence  shall  descend  from  Tusita  to  be  born  amongst  you!  make  ready  and 
prepare!  Buddha  is  about  to  descend  and  be  born  !”6 

The  womb  that  bears  a Buddha  is  like  a casket  in  which  a 
relic  is  placed ; no  other  being  can  be  conceived  in  the  same  recep- 
tacle ; the  usual  secretions  are  not  formed  ; and  from  the  time  of 
conception,  Maha-maya  was  free  from  passion,  and  lived  in  the 
strictest  continence.7 

The  resemblance  between  this  legend  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
perpetual  virginity  of  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  cannot  but  be  re- 
marked. The  opinion  that  she  had  ever  borne  other  children  was 
called  heresy  by  Epiplianius  and  Jerome,  long  before  she  had  been 
exalted  to  the  station  of  supremacy  she  now  occupies.8 


1 Bhagavat  Geeta,  Lecture  iv.  p.  52. 

9 Ibid.,  Lecture  iv.  p.  79. 

3  It  is  said  that  there  have  been  several 

Buddhas  (see  ch.  xxix).  We  speak  of  Gautama. 
Buddha  is  variously  pronounced  and  express- 

ed Boudh,  Bod,  Bot,  But,  Bud,  Budd,  Buddou, 

Bouttu,  Bota,  Budso,  Pot,  Pout,  Pota,  Poti, 

and  Pouti.  The  Siamese  make  the  final  t 

or  d quiescent,  and  sound  the  word  Po ; 
whence  the  Chinese  still  further  vary  it  to  Pho 
or  Fo.  Buddha— which  means  awakened  or 
enlightened  (see  Muller  : Sci.  of  Kelig.,  p.  308) 
— is  the  proper  way  in  which  to  spell  the 


name.  We  have  adopted  this  throughout  this 
work,  regardless  of  the  manner  in  which  the 
writer  from  which  we  quote  spells  it. 

4 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  86. 

5 Fo-pen-hing  is  the  life  of  Gautama  Budd- 
ha, translated  from  the  Chinese  Sanskrit  by 
Prof.  Samuel  Beal. 

6 Beal  : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  25. 

7 Hardy  : Manual  of  Buddhism,  p.  141. 

8 A Christian  sect  called  Collyricrians  be- 
lieved that  Mary  was  born  of  a virgin,  as 
Christ  is  related  to  have  been  bom  of  her 
(See  note  to  the  “Gospel  of  the  Birth  of 


116 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


M.  l’Abbe  Hue,  a French  Missionary,  in  speaking  of  Buddha, 
says : 

“In  the  eyes  of  the  Buddhists,  this  personage  is  sometimes  a man  and  some- 
times a god,  or  rather  both  one  and  the  other,  a divine  incarnation,  a man-god  ; 
who  came  into  the  world  to  enlighten  men,  to  redeem  them,  and  to  indicate  to 
them  the  way  of  safety. 

“This  idea  of  redemption  by  a divine  incarnation  is  so  general  and  popular 
among  the  Buddhists,  that  during  our  travels  in  Upper  Asia,  we  everywhere  found 
it  expressed  in  a neat  formula.  If  we  addressed  to  a Mongol  or  a Thibetan  the 
question,  ‘Who  is  Buddha?’  he  would  immediately  reply:  ‘ The  Saviour  of 
Men.’"1 

He  further  says : 

“ The  miraculous  birth  of  Buddha,  his  life  and  instructions,  contain  a great 
number  of  the  moral  and  dogmatic  truths  professed  in  Christianity.’”2 

This  Angel-Messiah  was  regarded  as  the  divinely  chosen  and 
incarnate  messenger,  the  vicar  of  God.  He  is  addressed  as  “ God 
of  Gods,”  “Father  of  the  World,”  “Almighty  and  All-knowing 
Euler,”  and  “ Redeemer  of  All.”3  He  is  called  also  “ The  Holy 
One,”  “ The  Author  of  Happiness,”  “ The  Lord,”  “ The  Possessor  of 
All,”  “ He  who  is  Omnipotent  and  Everlastingly  to  be  Contem- 
plated,” “ The  Supreme  Being,  the  Eternal  One,”  “ The  Divinity 
worthy  to  be  Adored  by  the  most  praiseworthy  of  Mankind.”4  He 
is  addressed  by  Amora — one  of  his  followers — thus : 

“ Reverence  be  unto  thee  in  the  form  of  Buddha!  Reverence  be  unto  thee, 
the  Lord  of  the  Earth ! Reverence  be  unto  thee,  an  incarnation  of  the  Deity ! Of  the 
Eternal  One!  Reverence  be  unto  thee,  O God,  in  the  form  of  the  God  of  Mercy; 
the  dispeller  of  pain  and  trouble,  the  Lord  of  all  things,  the  deity,  the  guardian 
of  the  universe,  the  emblem  of  mercy.”5 

The  incarnation  of  Gautama  Buddha  is  recorded  to  have  been 
brought  about  by  the  descent  of  the  divine  power  called  The 
“ Holy  Ghost”  upon  the  Virgin  Maya?  This  Holy  Ghost,  or 


Mary”  [Apocryphal];  also  King  : The  Gnostics 
and  their  Remains,  p.  91,  and  Gibbon’s  Hist, 
of  Rome,  vol.  v.  p.  108,  note).  This  idea  has 
been  recently  adopted  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  They  now  claim  that  Mary  was  born 
as  immaculate  as  her  son.  (See  Inman’s 
Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  75,  and  The  Lily  of 
Israel,  pp.  6-15  ; also  fig.  17,  eh.  xxxii.) 

“ The  gradual  deification  of  Mary,  though 
slower  in  its  progress,  follows,  in  the  Romish 
Church,  a course  analogous  to  that  which  the 
Church  of  the  first  centuries  followed,  in  elab- 
orating the  deity  of  Jesus.  With  almost  all 
the  Catholic  writers  of  our  day,  Mary  is  the 
universal  mediatrix ; all  power  has  been  given 


to  her  in  heaven  and  upon  earth.  Indeed, 
more  than  one  serious  attempt  has  been  al- 
ready made  in  the  Ultramontane  camp  to 
unite  Mary  in  some  way  to  the  Trinity ; and  if 
Mariolatry  lasts  much  longer,  this  will  prob- 
ably be  accomplished  in  the  end.”  (Albert  Re- 
ville.) 

1 Hue’s  Travels,  vol.  i.  pp.  326,  327. 

a Ibid.  p.  327. 

3 Oriental  Religions,  p.  604. 

4 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah. 

6 Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  ii.  p.  309,  and 
King’s  Gnostics,  p.  167. 

6 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  10,  25 
and  44. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


117 


Spirit,  descended  in  the  form  of  a white  elephant.  The  Tilcas 
explain  this  as  indicating  power  and  wisdom.1 

The  incarnation  of  the  angel  destined  to  become  Buddha  took 
place  in  a spiritual  manner.  The  Elephant  is  the  symbol  of  power 
and  wisdom ; and  Buddha  was  considered  the  organ  of  divine 
power  and  wisdom,  as  he  is  called  in  the  Tikas.  For  these  reasons 
Buddha  is  described  by  Buddhistic  legends  as  having  descended 
from  heaven  in  the  form  of  an  Elephant  to  the  place  where  the 
Virgin  Maya  was.  But  according  to  Chinese  Buddhistic  writings, 
it  was  the  Holy  Ghost,  or  Shing-Shin , who  descended  on  the 
Virgin  Maya.2 

The  Fo-pen-hing  says : 

“ If  a mother,  in  her  dream,  behold 
A white  elephant  enter  her  right  side, 

That  mother,  when  she  bears  a son, 

Shall  bear  one  chief  of  all  the  world  (Buddha); 

Able  to  profit  all  flesh ; 

Equally  poised  between  preference  and  dislike; 

Able  to  save  and  deliver  the  world  and  men 
From  the  deep  sea  of  misery  and  grief.”3 

In  Prof.  Fergusson’s  “ Tree  and  Serpent  Worship  ” may  be 
seen  (Plate  xxxiii.)  a representation  of  Maya,  the  mother  of 
Buddha,  asleep,  and  dreaming  that  a white  elephant  appeared  to 
her,  and  entered  her  womb. 

This  dream  being  interpreted  by  the  Brahmans  learned  in  the 
Fig-  Veda , was  considered  as  announcing  the  incarnation  of  him 
who  was  to  be  in  future  the  deliverer  of  mankind  from  pain  and 
sorrow.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  form  which  the  Annunciation  took  in 
Buddhist  legends.4 

“ Awaked, 

Bliss  beyond  mortal  mother’s  filled  her  breast, 

And  over  half  the  earth  a lovely  light 
Forewent  the  morn.  The  strong  hills  shook;  the  waves 
Sank  lulled ; all  flowers  that  blow  by  day  came  forth 
As  ’twere  high  noon ; down  to  the  farthest  hells 
Passed  the  Queen’s  joy,  as  when  warm  sunshine  thrills 
Wood-glooms  to  gold,  and  into  all  the  deeps 
A tender  whisper  pierced.  ‘ Oh  ye,’  it  said, 

4 The  dead  that  are  to  live,  the  live  who  die. 

Uprise,  and  hear,  and  hope!  Buddha  is  come  !’ 

Whereat  in  Limbos  numberless  much  peace 

Spread,  and  the  world’s  heart  throbbed,  and  a wind  blew 


1 See  Beal:  Hist.  Buddha,  p.  36,  note.  Pantheon,  and  vol.  i.  of  Asiatic  Researches.) 

Ganesa,  the  Indian  God  of  Wisdom,  is  either  2 Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  33. 

represented  as  an  elephant,  or  a man  with  3 Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  38,  39. 

an  elephant’s  head.  (See  Moore’s  Hindu  4 Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  p.  131. 


118 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


With  unknown  freshness  over  land  and  seas. 

And  when  the  morning  dawned,  and  this  was  told, 

The  grey  dream-readers  said,  ‘ The  dream  is  good! 

The  Crab  is  in  conjunction  with  the  Sun; 

The  Queen  shall  bear  a boy,  a holy  child 
Of  wondrous  wisdom,  profiting  all  flesh, 

Who  shall  deliver  men  from  ignorance, 

Or  rule  the  world,  if  he  will  deign  to  rule.’ 

In  this  wise  was  the  holy  Buddha  born.” 

In  Fig.  4,  Plate  xci.,  the  same  subject  is  also  illustrated.  Prof. 
Fergusson,  referring  to  it,  says  : 

“Fig.  4 is  another  edition  of  a legend  more  frequently  repeated  than  almost 
any  other  in  Buddhist  Scriptures.  It  was,  with  their  artists,  as  great  a favorite 
as  the  Annunciation  and  Nativity  were  with  Christian  painters.”1 

When  Buddha  avatar  descended  from  the  regions  of  the  souls, 
and  entered  the  body  of  the  Virgin  Maya,  her  womb  suddenly 
assumed  the  appearance  of  clear,  transparent  crystal,  in  which 
Buddha  appeared,  beautiful  as  a flower,  kneeling  and  reclining  on 
his  hands.2 * 

Buddha’s  representative  on  earth  is  the  Dalai  Lama , or  Grand 
Lama , the  High  Priest  of  the  Tartars.  He  is  regarded  as  the 
vicegerent  of  God,  with  power  to  dispense  divine  blessings  on 
whomsoever  he  will,  and  is  considered  among  the  Buddhists  to  be 
a sort  of  divine  being.  He  is  the  Pope  of  Buddhism.8 

The  Siamese  had  a Virgin-born  God  and  Saviour  whom  they 
called  Codom.  His  mother,  a beautiful  young  virgin,  being  in- 
spired from  heaven,  quitted  the  society  of  men  and  wandered  into 
the  most  unfrequented  parts  of  a great  forest,  there  to  await  the 
coming  of  a god  which  had  long  been  announced  to  mankind. 
While  she  was  one  day  prostrate  in  prayer,  she  was  impregnated  by 
the  sunbeams.  She  thereupon  retired  to  the  borders  of  a lake, 
between  Siam  and  Cambodia,  where  she  was  delivered  of  au  heav- 
enly boy”  which  she  placed  within  the  folds  of  a lotus , that  opened 
to  receive  him.  When  the  boy  grew  up,  he  became  a prodigy 
of  wisdom,  performed  miracles,  &c.4 * * * 

The  first  Europeans  who  visited  Cape  Comorin,  the  most 


1 Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  p.  212. 

8 King  : The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains, 

p.  168,  and  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  485. 

R.  Spence  Hardy  says  : “ The  body  of  the 

Queen  was  transparent,  and  the  child  could 

be  distinctly  seen,  like  a priest  seated  upon  a 

throne  in  the  act  of  saying  bana,  or  like  a 
golden  image  enclosed  in  a vase  of  crystal ; 

so  that  it  could  be  known  how  much  he  grew 
every  sncceeding  day.”  (Hardy : Manual  of 


Buddhism,  p.  144.)  The  same  thing  was  said 
of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus.  Early  art  rep- 
resented the  infant  distinctly  visible  in  her 
womb.  (See  Inman’s  Ancient  Pagan  and 
Modern  Christian  Symbolism,  and  chap.  xxix. 
this  work.) 

8 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  34. 

4 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  185.  See  also 
Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  pp.  102  and  308. 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


119 


southerly  extremity  of  the  peninsula  of  Hindostan,  were  surprised 
to  find  the  inhabitants  worshiping  a Lord  and  Saviour  whom  they 
called  Salivahana.  They  related  that  his  father’s  name  was 
Taisliaca,  but  that  he  was  a divine  child  born  of  a Virgin , in  fact, 
an  incarnation  of  the  Supreme  Vishnu J 

The  belief  in  a virgin-born  god-man  is  found  in  the  religions 
of  China.  As  Sir  John  Francis  Davis  remarks,1 2  “ China  has  her 
mythology  in  common  with  all  other  nations,  and  under  this  head 
we  must  range  the  persons  styled  Fo-hi  (or  Fuh-he),  Shin-noong , 
Hoang-ty  and  their  immediate  successors,  who,  like  the  demi-gods 
and  heroes  of  Grecian  fable,  rescued  mankind  by  their  ability  or 
enterprise  from  the  most  primitive  barbarism,  and  have  since  been 
invested  with  superhuman  attributes.  The  most  extravagant  pro- 
digies are  related  of  these  persons,  and  the  most  incongruous 
qualities  attributed  to  them.” 

Dean  Milman,  in  his  ‘‘History  of  Christianity”  (Yol.  i.  p.  97), 
refers  to  the  tradition,  found  among  the  Chinese,  that  Fo-hi  was 
born  of  a virgin  ; and  remarks  that,  the  first  Jesuit  missionaries 
who  went  to  China  were  appalled  at  finding,  in  the  mythology  of 
that  country,  a counterpart  of  the  story  of  the  virgin  of  Judea. 

Fo-hi  is  said  to  have  been  born  3468  years  b.  c.,  and,  according 
to  some  Chinese  writers,  with  him  begins  the  historical  era  and  the 
foundation  of  the  empire.  When  his  mother  conceived  him  in 
her  womb,  a rainbow  was  seen  to  surround  her.8 

The  Chinese  traditions  concerning  the  birth  of  Fo-hi  are,  some 
of  them,  highly  poetical.  That  which  has  received  the  widest  ac- 
ceptance is  as  follows : 

“ Three  nymphs  came  down  from  heaven  to  wash  themselves  in  a river  ; 
but  scarce  had  they  got  there  before  the  herb  lotus  appeared  on  one  of  their 
garments,  with  its  coral  fruit  upon  it.  They  could  not  imagine  whence  it  pro- 
ceeded, and  one  was  tempted  to  taste  it,  whereby  she  became  pregnant  and  was 
delivered  of  a boy,  who  afterwards  became  a great  man,  a founder  of  religion,  a 
conqueror,  and  legislator.”4 

The  sect  of  Xaca , which  is  evidently  a corruption  of  Buddhism, 
claim  that  their  master  was  also  of  supernatural  origin.  Alvarez 
Semedo,  speaking  of  them,  says  : 

“The  third  religious  sect  among  the  Chinese  is  from  India,  from  the  parts  of 
Hindostan,  which  sect  they  call  Xaca,  from  the  founder  of  it,  concerning  whom 
they  fable — that  he  was  conceived  by  his  mother  Maya,  from  a white  elephant. 


1 See  Asiastic  Res.,  vol.  x.,  and  Anac.,  vol. 
i.  p.  662. 

2 Davis  : Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  p.  161. 


3 Thornton : Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  pp.  21, 

22. 

4 Squire:  Serpent  Symbol,  p.  184. 


120 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


which  she  saw  in  her  sleep,  and  for  more  purity  she  brought  him  from  one  of 
her  sides.”1 

Lao-lciun , sometimes  called  Lao-tsze , who  is  said  to  have  been 
born  in  the  third  year  of  the  emperor  Ting-wang , of  the  Chow 
dynasty  (604  b.  c.),  was  another  miraculously-born  man.  He  ac- 
quired great  reputation  for  sanctity,  and  marvelous  stories  were 
told  of  his  birth.  It  was  said  that  he  had  existed  from  all  eternity; 
that  he  had  descended  on  earth  and  was  born  of  a virgin , black  in 
complexion,  described  “ marvelous  and  beautiful  as  jasper.”  Splen- 
did temples  were  erected  to  him,  and  he  was  worshiped  as  a god . 
His  disciples  were  called  “ Heavenly  Teachers.”  They  inculcated 
great  tenderness  toward  animals,  and  considered  strict  celibacy 
necessary  for  the  attainment  of  perfect  holiness.  Lao-kiun  believed 
in  One  God  whom  he  called  Tao , and  the  sect  which  he  formed  i& 
called  Tao-tse , or  “ Sect  of  Reason.”  Sir  Thomas  Thornton,  speak- 
ing of  him,  says : 

“The  mythological  history  of  this  ‘prince  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Taou* 
which  is  current  amongst  his  followers,  represents  him  as  a divine  emanation  incar- 
nate in  a human  form.  They  term  him  the  ‘most  high  and  venerable  prince  of 
the  portals  of  gold  of  the  palace  of  the  genii'  and  say  that  he  condescended  to  a 
contact  with  lijimanity  when  he  became  incorporated  with  the  ‘ miraculous  and 
excellent  Virgin  of  jasper.’  Like  Buddha,  he  came  out  of  his  mother’s  side,  and 
was  born  under  a tree. 

“ The  legends  of  the  Taou-tse  declare  their  founder  to  have  existed  antecedent 
to  the  birth  of  the  elements,  in  the  Great  Absolute ; that  he  is  the  ‘ pure  essence 
of  the  teen;’  that  he  is  the  ‘ original  ancestor  of  the  prime  breath  of  life;’  and 
that  he  gave  form  to  the  heavens  and  the  earth.”2 

M.  Le  Compte  says  : 

“ Those  who  have  made  this  (the  religion  of  Taou-tsze)  their  professed  bus- 
iness, are  called  Tien-se,  that  is,  ‘Heavenly  Doctors;  ’ they  have  houses  (Monas- 
teries) given  them  to  live  together  in  society;  they  erect,  in  divers  parts,  temples 
to  their  master,  and  king  and  people  honor  him  with  divine  worship.” 

Yu  was  another  virgin-born  Chinese  sage,  who  is  said  to  have 
lived  upon  earth  many  ages  ago.  Confucius — as  though  he  had 
been  questioned  about  him — says  : “ I see  no  defect  in  the  character 

of  Yu.  He  was  sober  in  eating  and  drinking,  and  eminently  pious 
toward  spirits  and  ancestors.”3 

Hau-ki,  the  Chinese  hero,  was  of  supernatural  origin. 

The  following  is  the  history  of  his  birth,  according  to  the  “ Shill- 
King 


1 Semedo  : Hist.  China,  p.  89,  inAnac.,  vol.  137.  See  also  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  Lao- 
ii.  p.  227.  tsze. 

9 Thornton  : Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  pp.  134-  * Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  pp.  204,  205. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


121 


“His  mother,  who  was  childless,  had  presented  a pure  offering  and  sacri- 
ficed, that  her  childlessness  might  be  taken  away.  She  then  trod  on  a toe-print 
made  by  God,  and  was  moved,1  in  the  large  place  where  she  rested.  She  became 
pregnant;  she  dwelt  retired ; she  gave  birth  to  and  nourished  a son,  who  was 
Hdu-ki.  When  she  had  fulfilled  her  months,  her  first-born  son  came  forth  like  a 
lamb.  There  was  no  bursting,  no  rending,  no  injury,  no  hurt;  showing  how 
wonderful  he  would  be.  Did  not  God  give  her  comfort?  Had  he  not  accepted 
her  pure  offering  and  sacrifice,  so  that  thus  easily  she  brought  forth  her  son?”2 * 

Even  the  sober  Confucius  (born  b.  c.  501)  was  of  supernatural 
origin.  The  most  important  event  in  Chinese  literary  and  ethical 
history  is  the  birth  of  Kung-foo-tsze  (Confucius),  both  in  its  effects 
on  the  moral  organization  of  this  great  empire,  and  the  study  of 
Chinese  philosophy  in  Europe. 

Kung-foo-tsze  (meaning  “ the  sage  Kung  ” or  “ the  wise  excel- 
lence ”)  was  of  royal  descent ; and  his  family  the  most  ancient  in 
the  empire,  as  his  genealogy  was  traceable  directly  up  to  Hwang- 
te,  the  reputed  organizer  of  the  state,  the  first  emperor  of  the  semi- 
historical  period  (beginning  2696  b.  c.). 

At  his  birth  a prodigious  quadruped,  called  the  Ke-lin,  appeared 
and  prophesied  that  the  new-born  infant  “ would  be  a king  with- 
out throne  or  territory.”  Two  dragons  hovered  about  the  couch 
of  Yen-she  (his  mother),  and  five  celestial  sages,  or  angels,  entered 
at  the  moment  of  the  birth  of  the  wondrous  child ; heavenly 
strains  were  heard  in  the  air,  and  harmonious  chords  followed 
each  other,  fast  and  full.  Thus  was  Confucius  ushered  into  the 
world. 

His  disciples,  who  were  to  expound  his  precepts,  were  seventy- 
two  in  number,  twelve  of  whom  were  his  ordinary  companions,  the 
depositories  of  his  thoughts,  and  the  witnesses  of  all  his  actions. 
To  them  he  minutely  explained  his  doctrines,  and  charged  them 
with  their  propagation  after  his  death.  Yan-hwtjy  was  his  favorite 
disciple,  who,  in  his  opinion,  had  attained  the  highest  degree  of 
moral  perfection.  Confucius  addressed  him  in  terms  of  great 
affection,  which  denoted  that  he  relied  mainly  upon  him  for  the 
accomplishment  of  his  work. 8 

Even  as  late  as  the  seventeenth  century  of  our  era,  do  we  find 
the  myth  of  the  virgin-born  God  in  China.4 * * * 


1 “The  ‘ toe-print  made  by  God ’ has  occa- 

sioned much  speculation  of  the  critics.  We 

may  simply  draw  the  conclusion  that  the  poet 

meant  to  have  his  readers  believe  with  him 

that  the  conception  of  his  hero  was  super- 
natural.” (James  Legge.) 

a The  Shih-King,  Decade  ii.  Ode  1. 

• See  Thornton’s  Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  pp.  199, 

200,  and  Buckley’s  Cities  of  the  Ancient  World, 


pp.  168-170. 

4 “ Le  Dieu  La  des  Lamas  est  ne  d’une 
Vierge : plusieurs  princes  de  l’Asie,  entr’  autres 
VEmpereur  Kierdong,  aujourd’hui  regnant  a la 
Chine,  et  qui  est  de  la  race  de  ces  Tartares 
Mandhuis,  qui  conquirent  cet  empire  en  1644, 
croit,  et  assure  lui-meme,  etre  descendu  d’une 
Vierge .”  (D’Hancarville  : Res.  Sur  l’Orig.,  pv 
186,  in  Anac.,  vol.  ii.  p.  97.) 


122 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


All  these  god-begotten  and  virgin-born  men  were  called  Tien- 
tse , i.  e .,  “ Sons  of  Heaven.55 

If  from  China  we  should  turn  to  Egypt  we  would  find  that, 
for  ages  before  the  time  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  mediating  deity, 
born  of  a virgin,  and  without  a worldly  father,  was  a portion  of  the 
Egyptian  belief.1 

Horns , who  had  the  epithet  of  “Saviour”  was  b^rn  of  the 
virgin  Isis.  “ His  birth  was  one  of  the  greatest  Mysteries  of  the 
Egyptian  religion.  Pictures  representing  it  appear  on  the  walls  of 
temples.552 3 4 * 6 *  He  is  “ the  second  emanation  of  Amon , the  son  whom 
he  begot.553  Egyptian  monuments  represent  the  infant  Saviour  in 
the  arms  of  his  virgin  mother,  or  sitting  on  her  knee.4  An  inscrip- 
tion on  a monument,  translated  by  Champollion,  reads  thus  : 

“ O thou  avenger,  God,  son  of  a God;  O thou  avenger,  Horus,  manifested  by 
Osiris,  engendered  of  the  goddess  Isis.”5 

The  Egyptian  god  Ba  was  born  from  the  side  of  his  mother, 
but  was  not  engendered . 6 

The  ancient  Egyptians  also  deified  kings  and  heroes,  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Homans.  An  Egyptian 
king  became,  in  a sense,  “ the  vicar  of  God  on  earth,  the  infallible, 
and  the  personated  deity.557 

P.  Le  Page  Eenouf,  in  his  Hibbert  Lectures  on  the  Eeligion  of 
Ancient  Egypt,  says : 

“ I must  not  quit  this  part  of  my  subject  without  a reference  to  the  belief  that 
the  ruling  sovereign  of  Egypt  was  the  living  image  and  vicegerent  of  the  Sun- 
god  (Ba).  He  was  invested  with  the  attributes  of  divinity , and  that  in  the  earliest 
times  of  which  we  possess  monumental  evidence.  ”8 

Menes , who  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  king  of  Egypt,  was 
believed  to  be  a god.9 

Almost  all  the  temples  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Nile,  at  Thebes, 
had  been  constructed  in  view  of  the  worship  rendered  to  the 
Pharaohs,  their  founders,  after  their  death.10 

On  the  wall  of  one  of  these  Theban  temples  is  to  be  seen  a 
picture  representing  the  god  Thoth — the  messenger  of  God — telling 


1 See  Mahaffy : Proleg.  to  Anct.  Hist.,  p. 
416,  and  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  406. 

2 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  157. 

3 Renonf : Relig.  Anct.  Egypt,  p.  162. 

4 See  the  chapter  on  “ The  Worship  of  the 

Virgin  Mother.” 

6  “ O toi  vengeur,  Dieu  fils  d’un  Dieu ; 

O toi  vengeur,  Horus,  manifesto  par  Osiris,  en- 


gendr6  d’lsis  deesee.”  (Champollion,  p.  190.) 

6 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  406. 

7 Ibid,  p.  247. 

8 Renouf  : Religion  of  Ancient  Egypt,  p. 
161. 

9 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  pp.  67  and 
147. 

19  Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  248. 


TIIE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


123 


the  maiden , Queen  Mautmes,  that  she  is  to  give  birth  to  a divine 
son,  who  is  to  be  King  Amunothjph  III.1 

An  inscription  found  in  Egypt  makes  the  god  Ra  say  to  his  son 
Ramses  III. : 

“lam  thy  father;  by  me  are  begotten  all  thy  members  as  divine ; I have  formed 
thy  shape  like  the  Mendesian  god;  I have  begotten  thee,  impregnating  thy  ven- 
erable mother.”2 

Raam-ses,  or  Ra-me-ses,  means  “ Son  of  the  Sun,”  and  Ram- 
ses Hek  An,  a name  of  Ramses  III.,  means  “ engendered  by  Ra 
(the  Sun),  Prince  of  An  (Heliopolis).”3 

“ Thotmes  III.,  on  the  tablet  of  Karnak,  presents  offerings  to  his 
predecessors ; so  does  Ramses  on  the  tablet  of  Abydos.  Even  dur- 
ing his  life-time  the  Egyptian  king  was  denominated  ‘ Beneficent 
God:  ”4 

The  ancient  Babylonians  also  believed  that  their  kings  were 
gods  upon  earth.  A passage  from  Menaut’s  translation  of  the  great 
inscription  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  reads  thus : 

“ I am  Nabu-kuder-usur  . . . the  first-born  son  of  Nebu-pal-usur,  King 

of  Babylon.  The  god  Bel  himself  created  me,  the  god  Marduk  engendered  me, 
and  deposited  himself  the  germ  of  my  life  in  the  womb  of  my  mother.”5 

In  the  life  of  Zoroaster,  the  law-giver  of  the  Persians,  the 
common  mythos  is  apparent.  He  was  born  in  innocence,  of  an 
immaculate  conception,  of  a ray  of  the  Divine  Reason.  As  soon 
as  he  was  born  the  glory  from  his  body  enlightened  the  whole 
room.8  Plato  informs  us  that  Zoroaster  was  said  to  be  “ the  son  of 
Oromasdes,  which  was  the  name  the  Persians  gave  to  the  Supreme 
God  ”7 — therefore  he  was  the  Son  of  God. 

From  the  East  we  will  turn  to  the  West,  and  shall  find  that 
many  of  the  ancient  heroes  of  Grecian  and  Roman  mythology  were 
regarded  as  of  divine  origin,  were  represented  as  men,  possessed 
of  god-like  form,  strength  and  courage ; were  believed  to  have 
lived  on  earth  in  the  remote,  dim  ages  of  the  nation’s  history  ; to 
have  been  occupied  in  their  life-time  with  thrilling  adventures  and 
extraordinary  services  in  the  cause  of  human  civilization,  and  to 
have  been  after  death  in  some  cases  translated  to  a life  among  the 
gods,  and  entitled  to  sacrifice  and  worship.  In  the  hospitable 
Pantheon  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  a niche  was  always  in  readi- 


1 Bonwick : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  407.  6 Spencer’s  Principles  of  Sociology,  vol.  i. 

2 Renouf  : Relig.  of  Anct.  Egypt,  p.  163.  p.  421. 

8 See  Herbert  Spencer’s  Principles  of  Soci-  6 Malcolm  : Hist.  Persia,  vol.  i.  p.  494. 

ology,  vol.  i.  p.  420.  7 Anac.  vol.  i.  p.  117. 

* Kenrick’s  Egypt}-  vol.  i.  p.  431. 


124 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


ness  for  every  new  divinity  who  could  produce  respectable  cre- 
dentials. 

The  Christian  Father  Justin  Martyr,  says  : 

“ It  having  reached  the  Devil’s  ears  that  the  prophets  had  foretold  the  com- 
ing of  Christ  (the  Son  of  God),  he  set  the  Heathen  Poets  to  bring  forward  a great 
many  who  should  be  called  the  sons  of  Jove.  The  Devil  laying  his  scheme  in 
this,  to  get  men  to  imagine  that  the  true  history  of  Christ  was  of  the  same  char- 
acter as  the  'prodigious  fables  related  of  the  sons  of  Jove.” 

Among  these  “sons  of  Jove  ” may  be  mentioned  the  following  : 
Hercules  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  by  a mortal  mother,  Alcmene, 
Queen  of  Thebes.1 2  Zeus,  the  god  of  gods,  spake  of  Hercules,  his 
son,  and  said : “ This  day  shall  a child  be  born  of  the  race  of 

Perseus,  who  shall  be  the  mightiest  of  the  sons  of  men.’52 

Bacchus  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  a mortal  mother,  Semele, 
daughter  of  Kadmus,  King  of  Thebes.3  As  Montfaucon  says,  u It 
is  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  Semele  which  the  poets  celebrate,  and 
which  the  monuments  represent.”4 

Bacchus  is  made  to  say : 

“I,  son  of  Deus,  am  come  to  this  land  of  the  Thebans,  Bacchus,  whom  for- 
merly Semele  the  daughter  of  Kadmus  brings  forth,  being  delivered  by  the 
lightning-bearing  flame : and  having  taken  a mortal  form  instead  of  a god’s,  I 
have  arrived  at  the  fountains  of  Dirce  and  the  water  of  Ismenus.”5 

Amphion  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  a mortal  mother,  Antiope, 
daughter  of  Nicet.us,  King  of  Boeotia.6 

Prometheus , whose  name  is  derived  from  a Greek  word  signify- 
ing foresight  and  providence,  was  a deity  who  united  the  divine  and 
human  nature  in  one  person,  and  was  confessedly  both  man  and 

g°d-7 

Perseus  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  by  the  virgin  Danae,  daughter 
of  Acrisius,  King  of  Argos.8  Divine  honors  were  paid  him,  and  a 
temple  was  erected  to  him  in  Athens.9 

Justin  Martyr  (a.  d.  140),  in  his  Apology  to  the  Emperor 
Adrian,  says : 

“By  declaring  the  Logos,  the  first-begotten  of  God,  our  Master,  Jesus  Christ, 
to  be  born  of  a virgin,  without  any  human  mixture,  we  (Christians)  say  no  more 
in  this  than  what  you  (Pagans)  say  of  those  whom  you  style  the  Sons  of  Jove.  For 


1 Roman  Antiq.,  p.  124.  Bell’s  Panth.,  i. 
328.  Dupuis,  p.  258. 

2 Tales  of  Anct.  Greece,  p.  55. 

8 Greek  and  Italian  Mytho.,  p.  81.  Bell’s 
Panth.,  i.  117.  Roman  Antiq.,  p.  71,  and  Mur- 
ray’s Manual  Mytho.,  p.  118. 

4 L’Antiquite  Expliquee,  vol.  i.  p.  229. 

•Euripides:  Bacchae.  Quoted  by  Dunlap: 


Spirit  Hist,  of  Man,  p.  200. 

6 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  58.  Roman  An- 
tiquities, p.  133. 

7 See  the  chapter  on  “ The  Crucifixion  of 
Jesus,”  and  Bell’s  Pantheon,  ii.  195. 

8 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  170.  Bulfinch : 
The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  161. 

9 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  171. 


TIIE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


125 


you  need  not  be  told  what  a parcel  of  sons  the  writers  most  in  vogue  among  you 
assign  to  Jove.  . . . 

“ As  to  the  Son  of  God,  called  Jesus,  should  we  allow  him  to  be  nothing  more 
than  man,  yet  the  title  of  ‘ the  Son  of  God  ’ is  very  justifiable,  upon  the  account 
of  his  wisdom,  considering  that  you  (Pagans)  have  your  Mercury  in  worship 
under  the  title  of  the  Word,  a messenger  of  God.  . . . 

“ As  to  his  (Jesus  Christ’s)  being  born  of  a virgin,  you  have  your  Perseus  to 
balance  that”1 

Mercury  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  a mortal  mother,  Maia, 
daughter  of  Atlas.  Cyllene,  in  Arcadia,  is  said  to  have  been  the 
scene  of  his  birth  and  education,  and  a magnificent  temple  was 
erected  to  him  there.2 

MJolus,  king  of  the  Lipari  Islands,  near  Sicily,  was  the  son  of 
Jupiter  and  a mortal  mother,  Acasta.3 

Apollo  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  a mortal  mother,  Latona.4 * 
Like  Buddha  and  Lao-Kiun,  Apollo,  so  the  Ephesians  said,  was 
born  under  a tree ; Latona,  taking  shelter  under  an  olive-tree,  was 
delivered  there.6  Then  there  was  joy  among  the  undying  gods  in 
Olympus,  and  the  Earth  laughed  beneath  the  smile  of  Heaven.6 

Aethlius , who  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  institutors  of  the 
Orphic  games,  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  by  a mortal  mother,  Proto- 
genia.7 

Areas  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  a mortal  mother.8 

Aroclus  was  the  son  of  Jupiter  and  a mortal  mother.® 

We  might  continue  and  give  the  names  of  many  more  sons  of 
Jove,  but  sufficient  has  been  seen,  we  believe,  to  show,  in  the  words 
of  Justin,  that  Jove  had  a great  “ parcel  of  sons.”  “ The  images  of 
self-restraint,  of  power  used  for  the  good  of  others,  are  prominent 
in  the  lives  of  all  or  almost  all  the  Zeus-born  heroes.”10 

This  Jupiter,  who  begat  so  many  sons,  was  the  supreme  god  of 
the  Pagans.  In  the  words  of  Orpheus : 

“ Jupiter  is  omnipotent;  the  first  and  the  last,  the  head  and  the  midst;  Jupi- 
ter, the  giver  of  all  things,  the  foundation  of  the  earth,  and  the  starry  heavens.”11 

The  ancient  Romans  were  in  the  habit  of  deifying  their  living 
and  departed  emperors,  and  gave  to  them  the  title  of  Divus,  or  the 
Divine  One.  It  was  required  throughout  the  whole  empire  that 
divine  honors  should  be  paid  to  the  emperors.12  They  had  a cere- 


1 Ad'oI.  1.  ch.  xxii. 

2 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  67.  Bulflnch  : 
The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  19. 

3 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  25. 

4 Ibid,  p.  74,  and  Bulfinch  : p.  248. 

6 Tacitus  : Annals,  iii.  Ixi. 

6 Tales  of  Anct.  Greece,  p.  4. 


7 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  31. 

3 Ibid.  p.  81. 

» Ibid.  p.  16. 

10  Bell’s  Pantheon,  ii.  p.  30. 

11  Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  ii.  45. 

12  The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  3. 


126 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


mony  called  Apotheosis , or  deification.  After  this  ceremony, 
temples,  altars,  and  images,  with  attributes  of  divinity,  were  erected 
to  the  new  deity.  It  is  related  by  Eusebius,  Tertullian,  and  Chry- 
sostom, that  Tiberius  proposed  to  the  Roman  Senate  the  Apotheosis 
or  deification  of  Jesus  Christ.1  JSlius  Lampridius,  in  his  Life  of 
Alexander  Severus  (who  reigned  a.  d.  222-235),  says : 

“ This  emperor  had  two  private  chapels,  one  more  honorable  than  the  other; 
and  in  the  former  were  placed  the  deified  emperors,  and  also  some  eminent  good 
men,  among  them  Abraham,  Christ,  and  Orpheus.”2 

Romulus , who  is  said  to  have  been  the  founder  of  Rome,  was 
believed  to  have  been  the  son  of  God  by  a pure  virgin,  Rhea-Sylvia.3 
One  J ulius  Proculus  took  a solemn  oath,  that  Romulus  himself 
appeared  to  him  and  ordered  him  to  inform  the  Senate  of  his  be- 
ing called  up  to  the  assembly  of  the  gods,  under  the  name  of  Quiri- 
nus.4 * 

Julius  Ccesar  was  supposed  to  have  had  a god  for  a father.6 

Augustus  Crnar  was  also  believed  to  have  been  of  celestial  ori- 
gin, and  had  all  the  honors  paid  to  him  as  to  a divine  person.6  His 
divinity  is  expressed  by  Yirgil,  in  the  following  lines : 

“ Turn,  turn  thine  eyes,  see  here  thy  race  divine, 

Behold  thy  own  imperial  Roman  Sine: 

Caesar,  with  all  the  Julian  name  survey; 

See  -where  the  glorious  ranks  ascend  to-day  ! — 

This — this  is  he — the  chief  so  long  foretold, 

To  bless  the  land  where  Saturn  ruled  of  old, 

And  give  the  Learnearl  realms  a second  eye  of  gold! 

The  promised  prince,  Augustus  the  divine, 

Of  Caesar’s  race,  and  Jove’s  immortal  line.”7 

“The  honors  due  to  the  gods,”  says  Tacitus,  “were  no  longer 
sacred : Augustus  claimed  equal  worship.  Temples  were  built, 

and  statues  were  erected,  to  him ; a mortal  man  was  adored,  and 
priests  and  pontiffs  were  appointed  to  pay  him  impious  homage.”8 

Divine  honors  were  declared  to  the  memory  of  Claudius,  after 
his  death,  and  he  was  added  to  the  number  of  the  gods.  The  titles 
“ Our  Lord,”  “ Our  Master,”  and  “ Our  God,”  were  given  to  the 
Emperors  of  Rome,  even  while  living.9 


1 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  78. 

2 Quoted  by  Lardner,  vol.  iii.  p.  157. 

3 Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  p.  8. 

4 Middleton’s  Letters  from  Rome,  p.  37.  In 

the  case  of  Jesus , one  Saul  of  Tarsus,  said  to 

be  of  a worthy  and  upright  character,  declared 

most  solemnly,  that  Jesus  himself  appeared 

to  him  while  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  and 


again  while  praying  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem. 
(Acts  xxii.) 

6 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  345. 
Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  pp.  84,  85. 

6 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  611. 

* ASneid,  lib.  iv. 

8 Tacitus  : Annals,  bk.  i.  ch.  x. 

8 Ibid.  bk.  ii.  ch.  lxxxii.  and  bk.  xiii.  ch.  ii. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS 


127 


In  the  deification  of  the  Caesars,  a testimony  upon  oath,  of  an 
eagle’s  flying  out  of  the  funeral  pile,  toward  heaven,  which  was 
supposed  to  convey  the  soul  of  the  deceased,  was  the  established 
proof  of  their  divinity.1 

Alexander  the  Great , King  of  Macedonia  (born  356  b.  c.),  whom 
genius  and  uncommon  success  had  raised  above  ordinary  men,  was 
believed  to  have  been  a god  upon  earth.2  He  was  believed  to  have 
been  the  son  of  Jupiter  by  a mortal  mother,  Olympias. 

Alexander  at  one  time  visited  the  temple  of  Jupiter  Ammon, 
which  was  situated  in  an  oasis  in  the  Libyan  desert,  and  the  Oracle 
there  declared  him  to  be  a son  of  the  god.  He  afterwards  issued 
his  orders,  letters,  decrees,  &c.,  styling  himself  “ Alexander , son  of 
Jupiter  Ammon .”3 

The  words  of  the  oracle  which  declared  him  to  be  divine  were 
as  follows,  says  Socrates : 

“ Let  altars  burn  and  incense  pour,  please  Jove  Minerva  eke; 

The  potent  Prince  though  nature  frail,  his  favor  you  must  seek, 

For  Jove  from  heaven  to  earth  him  sent,  lo!  Alexander  king, 

As  God  he  comes  the  earth  to  rule,  and  just  laws  for  to  bring.”4 

Ptolemy , who  was  one  of  Alexander’s  generals  in  his  Eastern 
campaigns,  and  into  whose  hands  Egypt  fell  at  the  death  of 
Alexander,  was  also  believed  to  have  been  of  divine  origin.  At 
the  siege  of  Rhodes,  Ptolemy  had  been  of  such  signal  service  to 
its  citizens  that  in  gratitude  they  paid  divine  honors  to  him,  and 
saluted  him  with  the  title  of  Soter , i.  e .,  Saviour.  By  that  designa- 
tion, “ Ptolemy  Soter”  he  is  distinguished  from  the  succeeding 
kings  of  the  Macedonian  dynasty  in  Egypt.5 

Gyrus , King  of  Persia,  was  believed  to  have  been  of  divine 
origin ; he  was  called  the  “ Christ or  the  “ Anointed  of  God,” 
and  God’s  messenger.6 

Plato , born  at  Athens  429  b.  c.,  was  believed  to  have  been  the 
son  of  God  by  a pure  virgin,  called  Perictione.7 

The  reputed  father  of  Plato  (Aris)  was  admonished  in  a dream 
to  respect  the  person  of  his  wife  until  after  the  birth  of  the  child 
of  which  she  was  then  pregnant  by  a god.8 

Prof.  Draper,  speaking  of  Plato,  says : 


1 See  Middleton’s  Letters  from  Eome,  pp. 
37,  38. 

2 See  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Greeks,  p.  81, 
and  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  pp.  84,  85. 

3 Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  p.  8. 

4 Socrates  : Eccl.  Hist.  Lib.  3,  ch.  xix. 

6  Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  p.  17. 


6 See  Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  418. 
Bunsen  : Bible  Chronology,  p.  5,  and  Tbe  An- 
gel-Messiah,  pp.  80  and  298. 

7 See  Higgins  : Anaealypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  113, 
and  Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  p.  8. 

8 Hardy  : Manual  Budd.,  p.  141.  Higgins  : 
Anac.,  i.  618. 


128 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ The  Egyptian  disciples  of  Plato  would  have  looked  with  anger  on  those 
who  rejected  the  legend  that  Perietione,  the  mother  of  that  great  philosopher,  a 
pure  virgin,  had  suffered  an  immaculate  conception  through  the  influences  of 
(the  god)  Apollo,  and  that  the  god  had  declared  to  Aris,  to  whom  she  was  betrothed , 
the  parentage  of  the  child.  ”x 

Here  we  have  the  legend,  of  the  angel  appearing  to  Joseph — 
to  whom  Mary  was  betrothed — believed  in  by  the  disciples  of 
Plato  for  centuries  before  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus,  the  only 
difference  being  that  the  virgin’s  name  was  Perietione  instead  of 
Mary,  and  the  confiding  husband’s  name  Aris  instead  of  Joseph. 
We  have  another  similar  case. 

The  mother  of  Apollonius  (b.  c.  41)  was  informed  by  a god, 
who  appeared  to  her,  that  he  himself  should  be  born  of  her ? In 
the  course  of  time  she  gave  birth  to  Apollonius,  who  became  a 
great,  religious  teacher,  and  performer  of  miracles.1 * 3 

Pythagoras , born  about  570  B.  c.,  had  divine  honors  paid  him. 
His  mother  is  said  to  have  become  impregnated  through  a spectre , 
or  Holy  Ghost.  His  father — or  foster-father — was  also  informed 
that  his  wife  should  bring  forth  a son,  who  should  be  a benefactor 
to  mankind.4 

^Esculapius , the  great  performer  of  miracles,6  was  supposed  to 
be  the  son  of  a god  and  a worldly  mother,  Coronis.  The  Messe- 
nians,  who  consulted  the  oracle  at  Delphi  to  know  where  MCscula- 
pius  was  born,  and  of  what  parents,  were  informed  that  a god  was 
his  father,  Coronis  his  mother,  and  that  their  son  was  born  at  Epi- 
daurus. 

Coronis,  to  conceal  her  pregnancy  from  her  father,  went  to 
Epidaurus,  where  she  was  delivered  of  a son,  whom  she  exposed 
on  a mountain.  Aristhenes,  a goat-herd,  going  in  search  of  a goat 
and  a dog  missing  from  his  fold,  discovered  the  child,  whom  he 
would  have  carried  to  his  home,  had  he  not,  upon  approaching  to 
lift  him  from  the  earth,  perceived  his  head  encircled  with  fiery 
rays , which  made  him  believe  the  child  was  divine.  The  voice 
of  fame  soon  published  the  birth  of  a miraculous  infant,  upon 
which  the  people  flocked  from  all  quarters  to  behold  this  heaven- 
born  child* 

Being  honored  as  a god  in  Phenicia  and  Egypt,  his  worship 
passed  into  Greece  and  Rome.7 


1 Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  p.  8.  Com-  6 See  the  chapter  on  Miracles, 
pare  Luke  i.  26-35.  8 Bell’s  Pantheon,  i.  27.  Roman  Ant.,  136. 

'*  Philostratus,  p.  5.  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  150. 

8 See  the  chapter  on  Miracles.  7 Ibid. 

4 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  151. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


129 


Simon  the  Samaritan , surnamed  “ Magus  ” or  the  “ Magician,” 
who  was  contemporary  with  Jesus,  was  believed  to  be  a god . 
In  Rome,  where  he  performed  wonderful  miracles,  he  was  honored 
as  a god,  and  his  picture  placed  among  the  gods.1 

Justin  Martyr,  quoted  by  Eusebius,  tells  us  that  Simon  Magus 
attained  great  honor  among  the  Romans.  That  he  was  believed 
to  be  a god , and  that  he  was  worshiped  as  such.  Between  two 
bridges  upon  the  River  Tibris,  was  to  be  seen  this  inscription : 
“ Simoni  Deo  Sancto,”  i.  e.  “ To  Simon  the  Holy  God.”2 

It  was  customary  with  all  the  heroes  of  the  northern  nations 
(Danes,  Swedes,  Norwegians  and  Icelanders),  to  speak  of  them- 
selves as  sprung  from  their  supreme  deity,  Odin.  The  historians 
•of  those  times,  that  is  to  say,  the  poets,  never  failed  to  bestow  the 
same  honor  on  all  those  whose  praises  they  sang ; and  thus  they 
multiplied  the  descendants  of  Odin  as  much  as  they  found  con- 
venient. The  first-begotten  son  of  Odin  was  Thor,  whom  the 
Eddas  call  the  most  valiant  of  his  sons.  “ Baldur  the  Good,”  the 
“Beneficent  Saviour,”  was  the  son  of  the  Supreme  Odin  and  the 
goddess  Erigga,  whose  worship  was  transferred  to  that  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.3 4 

In  the  mythological  systems  of  America , a virgin-born  god 
was  not  less  clearly  recognized  than  in  those  of  the  Old  World. 
Among  the  savage  tribes  his  origin  and  character  were,  for  obvious 
reasons,  much  confused ; but  among  the  more  advanced  nations  he 
occupied  a well-defined  position.  Among  the  nations  of  Anahuac, 
he  bore  the  name  of  Quetzalcoatle , and  was  regarded  with  the 
highest  veneration. 

For  ages  before  the  landing  of  Columbus  on  its  shores,  the 
inhabitants  of  ancient  Mexico  worshiped  a “Saviour” — as  they 
called  him — ( Quetzalcoatle ) who  was  born  of  a pure  virgin*  A 
messenger  from  heaven  announced  to  his  mother  that  she  should 
bear  a son  without  connection  with  man .5  Lord  Kingsborough  tells 
us  that  the  annunciation  of  the  virgin  Sochiquetzal , mother  of 
Quetzalcoatle, — who  was  styled  the  “ Queen  of  Heaven  ”6 — was 
the  subject  of  a Mexican  hieroglyph.7 

The  embassador  was  sent  from  heaven  to  this  virgin,  who  had 
two  sisters,  Tzochitlique  and  Conatlique.  “ These  three  being 
alone  in  the  house,  two  of  them,  on  perceiving  the  embassador  from 
heaven,  died  of  fright,  Sochiquetzal  i*emaining  alive,  to  whom  the 

1 Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  2,  cb.  xiii.  vi.  166  and  175-6. 

2 Ibid.  ch.  xiii.  8 Ibid. 

8 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities.  8 See  Kingsborough  : Mexican  Antiquities, 

4 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  32,  vol.  vi.  p.  176.  ' 

Kingsborough : Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  7 Ibid.  p.  175. 

0 


130 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


embassador  announced  that  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  she 
should  conceive  a son.”1  She  therefore,  according  to  the  predic- 
tion, “ conceived  a son,  without  connection  with  man , who  was 
called  Quetzalcoatle.”2 

Dr.  Daniel  Brinton,  in  his  “ Myths  of  the  New  World,”  says: 

“ The  Central  figure  of  Toltec  mythology  is  Quetzalcoatle.  Not  an  author  on 
ancient  Mexico,  but  has  something  to  say  about  the  glorious  days  when  he  ruled 
over  the  land.  No  one  denies  him  to  have  been  a god.  He  was  born  of  a virgin 
in  the  land  of  Tula  or  Tlopallan .”3 

The  Mayas  of  Yucatan  had  a virgin-born  god,  corresponding 
entirely  with  Quetzalcoatle,  if  he  was  not  the  same  under  a differ- 
ent name,  a conjecture  very  well  sustained  by  the  evident  relation- 
ship between  the  Mexican  and  Mayan  mythologies.  He  was  named 
Zama , and  was  the  only-begotten  son  of  their  supreme  god,  Kin- 
chahan.4 * 

The  Muyscas  of  Columbia  had  a similar  hero-god.  Accord- 
ing to  their  traditionary  history,  he  bore  the  name  of  Bochica. 
He  was  the  incarnation  of  the  Great  Father,  whose  sovereignty  and 
paternal  care  he  emblematized.6 

The  inhabitants  of  Nicaragua  called  their  principal  god  Tliom- 
athoyo ; and  said  that  he  had  a son , who  came  down  to  earth, 
whose  name  was  Theotbilahe,  and  that  he  was  their  general  in- 
structor.6 

We  find  a corresponding  character  in  the  traditionary  history  of 
Peru.  The  Sun — the  god  of  the  Peruvians — deploring  their  mis- 
erable condition,  sent  down  his  son,  Manco  Capac,  to  instruct 
them  in  religion,  &c.7 

We  have  also  traces  of  a similar  personage  in  the  traditionary 
Yotan  of  Guatemala ; but  our  accounts  concerning  him  are  more 
vague  than  in  the  cases  above  mentioned. 

We  find  this  traditional  character  in  countries  and  among  tribes 
where  we  would  be  least  apt  to  suspect  its  existence.  In  Brazil , 
besides  the  common  belief  in  an  age  of  violence,  during  which  the 
world  was  destroyed  by  water,  there  is  a tradition  of  a supernatural 
personage  called  Zome , whose  history  is  similar,  in  some  respects, 
to  that  of  Quetzalcoatle.8 

The  semi-civilized  agricultural  tribes  of  Florida  had  like  tradi- 
tions. The  Cherohees , in  particular,  had  a priest  and  law-giver 


1 See  Kingsborough  : Mexican  Antiquities, 

vol.  vi  p.  176. 

a Ibitt.  p.  166. 

* Brinton : Myths  of  the  New  World,  pp. 

180, 181. 


4 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  187. 

6 Ibid.  p.  188. 

« Ibid. 

7 Ibid. 

8 Ibid.  p.  190. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


131 


essentially  corresponding  to  Quetzalcoatle  and  BocJiica.  He  was 
their  great  prophet,  and  bore  the  name  of  Wasi.  “ He  told  them 
what  had  been  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  and  what  would 
be,  and  gave  the  people  in  all  things  directions  what  to  do.  He 
appointed  their  feasts  and  fasts,  and  all  the  ceremonies  of  their  re- 
ligion, and  enjoined  upon  them  to  obey  his  directions  from  genera- 
tion to  generation.”1 

Among  the  savage  tribes  the  same  notions  prevailed.  The 
JEdues  of  the  Californians  taught  that  there  was  a supreme  Creator, 
Niparaga , and  that  his  son,  Quaagagp , came  down  upon  the  earth 
and  instructed  the  Indians  in  religion,  &c.  Finally,  through 
hatred,  the  Indians  killed  him  ; but  although  dead,  he  is  incorrup- 
tible and  beautiful.  To  him  they  pay  adoration,  as  the  mediatory 
power  between  earth  and  the  Supreme  Niparaga.2 

The  Iroquois  also  had  a beneficent  being,  uniting  in  himself  the 
character  of  a god  and  man , who  was  called  Tarengawagan.  He 
imparted  to  them  the  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  the  Great  Spirit,  es- 
tablished their  form  of  government,  &c.3 

Among  the  Algonquins , and  particularly  among  the  0 jibway s 
and  other  remnants  of  that  stock  of  the  North-west,  this  intermedi- 
ate great  teacher  (denominated,  by  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  in  his  “ Notes 
of  the  Iroquois ,”  “ the  great  incarnation  of  the  North-west  ”)  is  fully 
recognized.  He  bears  the  name  of  Michabou , and  is  represented 
as  the  first-born  son  of  a great  celestial  Manitou , or  Spirit , by  an 
earthly  mother , and  is  esteemed  the  friend  and  protector  of  the 
human  race.4 

I think  we  can  now  say  with  M.  Dupuis,  that  “ the  idea  of  a 
God,  who  came  down  on  earth  to  save  mankind,  is  neither  new  nor 
peculiar  to  the  Christians,”  and  with  Cicero,  the  great  Roman  ora- 
tor and  philosopher,  that  “ brave,  famous  or  powerful  men,  after 
death,  came  to  be  gods , and  they  are  the  very  ones  whom  we  are 
accustomed  to  worship,  pray  to  and  venerate.” 

Taking  for  granted  that  the  synoptic  Gospels  are  historical,  there 
is  no  proof  that  Jesus  ever  claimed  to  be  either  God,  or  a god  ; on 
the  other  hand,  it  is  quite  the  contrary.5  As  Yiscount  Amberly  says : 
“ The  best  proof  of  this  is  that  Jesus  never,  at  any  period  of  his  life, 


1 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  191. 

a Ibid, 

a Ibid. 

4 Ibid,  p.  192. 

5 “ If  we  seek,  in  tbe  first  three  Gospels,  to 
know  what  his  biographers  thought  of  Jesus, 
we  find  his  true  humanity  plainly  stated,  and  if 


we  possessed  only  the  Gospel  of  Mark  and  the 
discourses  of  the  Apostles  in  the  Acts,  the 
whole  Christology  of  the  New  Testament  would 
be  reduced  to  this  : that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
‘ a prophet  mighty  in  deeds  and  in  words, 
made  by  God  Christ  and  Lord.’  ” (Albert  Re- 
ville.) 


132 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


desired  his  followers  to  worship  him,  either  as  God,  or  as  the  Son 
of  God,”  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  now  understood.  Had  he  be- 
lieved of  himself  what  his  followers  subsequently  believed  of  him, 
that  he  was  one  of  the  constituent  persons  in  a divine  Trinity,  he 
must  have  enjoined  his  Apostles  both  to  address  him  in  prayer 
themselves,  and  to  desire  their  converts  ’to  do  likewise.  It  is 
quite  plain  that  he  did  nothing  of  the  kind,  and  that  they  never 
supposed  him  to  have  done  so. 

Belief  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  was  taught  as  the  first  dogma 
of  Christianity,  but  adoration  of  Jesus  as  God  was  not  taught 
at  all. 

But  we  are  not  left  in  this  matter  to  depend  on  conjectural 
inferences.  The  words  put  into  the  mouth  of  Jesus  are  plain. 
Whenever  occasion  arose,  he  asserted  his  inferiority  to  the  Father, 
though,  as  no  one  had  then  dreamt  of  his  equality,  it  is  natural  that 
the  occasions  should  not  have  been  frequent. 

He  made  himself  inferior  in  knowledge  when  he  said  that  of 
the  day  and  hour  of  the  day  of  judgment  no  one  knew,  neither  the 
angels  in  heaven  nor  the  Son  ; no  one  except  the  Father.1 * 

He  made  himself  inferior  in power  when  he  said  that  seats  on 
his  right  hand  and  on  his  left  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  were  not 
his  to  give.3 

He  made  himself  inferior  in  virtue  when  he  desired  a certain 
man  not  to  address  him  as  “ Good  Master,”  for  there  was  none  good 
but  God.3 

The  words  of  his  prayer  at  Gethsemane,  “ all  things  are  possible 
unto  theef  imply  that  all  things  were  not  possible  to  him , while  its 
conclusion  “ not  what  I will , but  what  thou  wiltf  indicates  submis- 
sion to  a superior,  not  the  mere  execution  of  a purpose  of  his  own.1 
Indeed,  the  whole  prayer  would  have  been  a mockery,  useless  for  any 
purpose  but  the  deception  of  his  disciples,  if  he  had  himself  been 
identical  with  the  Being  to  whom  he  prayed,  and  had  merely  been 
giving  effect  by  his  death  to  their  common  counsels.  While  the 
cry  of  agony  from  the  cross,  “ My  God , my  God ! why  hast 
thou  forsaken  me  f”5  would  have  been  quite  unmeaning  if  the 
person  forsaken , and  the  person  forsaking , had  been  one  and 
the  same. 

Either , then , we  must  assume  that  the  language  of  Jesus  has 
been  misreported , or  we  must  admit  that  he  never  for  a moment 
pretended  to  be  co-equal,  co-eternal  or  consubstantial  with  God. 


1 Mark,  xiii.  32. 

a Mark,  x.  40. 


a Mark,  x.  18. 

* Mark,  xiv.  36. 


• Mark,  xv.  34. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


133 


It  also  follows  of  necessity  from  both  the  genealogies,1  that  their 
compilers  entertained  no  doubt  that  Joseph  was  the  father  of  Jesus. 
Otherwise  the  descent  of  Joseph  would  not  have  been  in  the  least 
to  the  point.  All  attempts  to  reconcile  this  inconsistency  with  the 
doctrine  of  the  Angel- Messiah  has  been  without  avail,  although  the 
most  learned  Christian  divines,  for  many  generations  past,  have 
endeavored  to  do  so. 

So,  too,  of  the  stories  of  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple,2  and 
of  the  child  Jesus  at  Jerusalem,3  Joseph  is  called  his  father . 
Jesus  is  repeatedly  described  as  the  son  of  the  carpenter ,4 *  or  the 
son  of  Joseph,  without  the  least  indication  that  the  expression  is 
not  strictly  in  accordance  with  the  fact.6 

If  his  parents  fail  to  understand  him  when  he  says,  at  twelve 
years  old,  that  he  must  be  about  his  Father’s  business;®  if  he 
afterwards  declares  that  he  finds  no  faith  among  his  nearest  rela- 
tions;7 if  he  exalts  his  faithful  disciples  above  his  unbelieving 
mother  and  brothers  ;8 *  above  all,  if  Mary  and  her  other  sons  put 
down  his  prophetic  enthusiasm  to  insanity f — then  the  untrust- 
worthy nature  of  these  : stories  of  his  birth  is  absolutely  certain. 
If  even  a little  of  what  they  tell  us  had  been  true,  then  Mary  at 
least  would  have  believed  in  Jesus,  and  would  not  have  failed  so 
utterly  to  understand  him.10 

The  Gospel  of  Mark — which,  in  this  respect,  at  least,  abides 
most  faithfully  by  the  old  apostolic  tradition — says  not  a word 
about  Bethlehem  or  the  miraculous  birth.  The  congregation  of 
Jerusalem  to  which  Mary  and  the  brothers  of  Jesus  belonged,11  and 
over  which  the  eldest  of  them,  James,  presided,12  can  have  known 
nothing  of  it;  for  the  later  Jewish-Christian  communities,  the 
so-called  Ebionites,  who  were  descended  from  the  congregation  at 
Jerusalem,  called  Jesus  the  son  of  Joseph.  FTay,  the  story  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  father  of  Jesus,  must  have  risen  among 


1 Matt,  and  Luke. 

“The  passages  which  appear  most  con- 
firmatory of  Christ’s  Deity,  or  Divine  nature, 

are,  in  the  first  place,  the  narratives  of  the  In- 
carnation and  of  the  Miraculous  Conception,  as 

given  by  Matthew  and  Luke.  Now,  the  two 
narratives  do  not  harmonize  with  each  other  ; 

they  neutralize  and  negative  the  genealogies  on 
which  depend  so  large  a portion  of  the  proof  of 

Jesus  being  the  Messiah— the  marvellous  state- 

ment they  contain  is  not  referred  to  in  any 

subsequent  portion  of  the  two  Gospels,  and  is 

tacitly  but  positively  negatived  by  several  pas- 

sages—it  is  never  mentioned  in  the  Acts  or  in 

the  Epistles,  and  was  evidently  unknown  to  all 

the  Apostles— and,  finally,  the  tone  of  the  nar- 


rative, especially  in  Luke,  is  poetical  and  le- 
gendary, and  bears  a marked  similarity  to  the 
stories  contained  in  the  Apocryphal  Gospels.” 
(W.  R.  Greg  : The  Creed  of  Christendom,  p. 
229.) 

2 Luke,  ii.  27.  8 Luke,  ii.  41-48. 

4 Matt.  xiii.  55. 

6  Luke,  iv.  22.  John,  i.  46;  vi.  42.  Luke, 
iii.  23. 

6 Luke,  ii.  50. 

7 Matt.  xiii.  57.  Mark,  vi.  4. 

8 Matt.  xii.  48-50.  Mark,  iii.  33-35. 

9 Mark,  iii.  21. 

10  Dr.  Hooykaas. 

11  Acts,  i.  14. 

*2  Acts,  xxi.  18.  Gai.  ii.  19-21. 


134 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


the  Greeks , or  elsewhere,  and  not  among  the  first  believers,  who  were 
Jews,  for  the  Hebrew  word  for  spirit  is  of  th e feminine  gender ,l 
The  immediate  successors  of  the  “ congregation  at  Jerusalem  ” 
— to  which  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  his  brothers  belonged — 
were,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Ebionites.  Eusebius,  the  first  ecclesi- 
astical historian  (born  a.  d.  264),  speaking  of  the  JZbionites  ( i . e. 
“ poor  men  ”),  tell  us  that  they  believed  Jesus  to  be  “ a simple  and 
common  man”  born  as  other  men,  “ of  Mary  and  her  husband”'1 * 
The  views  held  by  the  Ebionites  of  Jesus  were,  it  is  said, 
derived  from  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  cmd  what  they  learned  direct 
from  the  Apostles.  Matthew  had  been  a hearer  of  Jesus,  a com- 
panion of  the  Apostles,  and  had  seen  and  no  doubt  conversed  with 
Mary.  When  he  wrote  his  Gospel  everything  was  fresh  in  his 
mind,  and  there  could  be  no  object,  on  his  part,  in  writing  the  life 
of  Jesus,  to  state  falsehoods  or  omit  important  truths  in  order  to 
deceive  his  countrymen.  If  what  is  stated  in  the  interpolated  first 
two  chapters,  concerning  the  miraculous  birth  of  Jesus,  were  true, 
Matthew  would  have  known  of  it ; and,  knowing  it,  why  should 
he  omit  it  in  giving  an  account  of  the  life  of  Jesus  V 

The  Ebionites,  or  Nazarenes,  as  they  were  previously  called, 
were  rejected  by  the  Jews  as  apostates,  and  by  the  Egyptian  and 
Roman  Christians  as  heretics , therefore,  until  they  completely 
disappear,  their  history  is  one  of  tyrannical  persecution.  Al- 
though some  traces  of  that  obsolete  sect  may  be  discovered  as  late 
as  the  fourth  century,  they  insensibly  melted  away,  either  into  the 
Roman  Christian  Church,  or  into  the  Jewish  Synagogue,4  and  with 
them  perished  the  original  Gospel  of  Matthew,  the  only  Gospel 
written  by  an  apostle. 

“ Who,  where  masses  of  men  are  burning  to  burst  the  bonds  of 
time  and  sense,  to  deify  and  to  adore,  wants  what  seems  earth-born, 
prosaic  fact?  Woe  to  the  man  that  dares  to  interpose  it!  Woe 
to  the  sect  of  faithful  Ebionites  even,  and  on  the  very  soil  of  Pales- 
tine, that  dare  to  maintain  the  earlier,  humbler  tradition  ! Swiftly 
do  they  become  heretics,  revilers,  blasphemers,  though  sanctioned 
by  a James,  brother  of  the  Lord.” 

Edward  Gibbon,  speaking  of  this  most  unfortunate  sect, 
says : 

“ A laudable  regard  for  the  honor  of  the  first  proselytes  has  countenanced  the 
belief,  the  hope,  the  wish,  that  the  Ebionites,  or  at  least  the  Nazarenes,  were 


1 See  The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  57.  gated  this  subject  in  his  “ Christ  of  Paul,”  to 

* Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  3,  ch.  xxiv.  Which  the  reader  is  referred. 

* Mr.  George  Reber  has  thoroughly  investi-  1 See  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  pp.  515-517. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


135 


distinguished  only  by  their  obstinate  perseverance  in  the  practice  of  the  Mosaic 
rites.  Their  churches  have  disappeared,  their  books  are  obliterated , their  obscure 
freedom  might  allow  a latitude  of  faith,  and  the  softness  of  their  infant  creed 
would  be  variously  moulded  by  the  zeal  of  prejudice  of  three  hundred  years. 
Yet  the  most  charitable  criticism  must  refuse  these  sectaries  any  knowledge  of 
the  pure  and  proper  divinity  of  Christ.  Educated  in  the  school  of  Jewish 
prophecy  and  prejudice,  they  had  never  been  taught  to  elevate  their  hope  above 
a human  and  temporal  Messiah.  If  they  had  courage  to  hail  their  king  when  he 
appeared  in  a plebeian  garb,  their  grosser  apprehensions  were  incapable  of  dis- 
cerning their  God,  who  had  studiously  disguised  his  celestial  character  under  the 
name  and  person  of  a mortal. 

“ The  familiar  companions  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  conversed  with  their  friend 
and  countryman,  who,  in  all  the  actions  of  rational  and  human  life,  appeared  of 
the  same  species  with  themselves.  His  progress  from  infancy  to  youth  and  man- 
hood was  marked  by  a regular  increase  in  stature  and  wisdom;  and  after  a pain- 
ful agony  of  mind  and  body,  he  expired  on  the  cross.”1 

The  Jewish  Christians  then — the  congregation  of  Jerusalem, 
and  their  immediate  successors,  the  Ebionites  or  Nazarenes — saw  in 
their  master  nothing  more  than  a man.  From  this,  and  the  other 
facts  which  we  have  seen  in  this  chapter,  it  is  evident  that  the 
man  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  deified  long  after  his  death,  just  as 
many  other  men  had  been  deified  centuries  before  his  time,  and 
even  after.  Until  it  had  been  settled  by  a council  of  bishops  that 
Jesus  was  not  only  a God , but  “ God  himself  in  human  formfi 
who  appeared  on  earth,  as  did  Crishna  of  old,  to  redeem  and 
save  mankind,  there  were  many  theories  concerning  his  nature. 

Among  the  early  Christians  there  were  a certain  class  called  by 
the  later  Christians  Heretics.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the 
“ Carpocratiansf  named  after  one  Carpocrates.  They  maintained 
that  Jesus  was  a mere  man , born  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  like  other 
men , but  that  he  was  good  and  virtuous.  “ Some  of  them  have  the 
vanity,”  says  Irenceus , “to  think  that  they  may  equal,  or  in  some 
respects  exceed,  Jesus  himself.”3 

These  are  called  by  the  general  name  of  Gnostics , and  compre- 
hend almost  ail  the  sects  of  the  first  two  ages.*  They  said  that  “all 
the  ancients,  and  even  the  Apostles  themselves,  received  and  taught 
the  same  things  which  they  held ; and  that  the  truth  of  the  Gospel 
had  been  preserved  till  the  time  of  Victor , the  thirteenth  Bishop  of 
Rome,  but  by  his  successor,  Zephyrinus , the  truth  had  been  cor- 
rupted.”4 

Eusebius,  speaking  of  Artemon  and  his  followers,  who  denied 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  says : 


1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iv.  pp.  488,  489. 

9 See  Lardner’s  Works,  vol.  viii.  pp.  395,  396. 


3 Ibid.  p.  306. 

4 Ibid.  p.  571. 


136 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ They  affirm  that  all  our  ancestors,  yea,  and  the  Apostles  themselves,  were 
of  the  same  opinion,  and  taught  the  same  with  them,  and  that  this  their  true 
doctrine  (for  so  they  call  it)  was  preached  and  embraced  unto  the  time  of  Victor, 
the  thirteenth  Bishop  of  Rome  after  Peter,  and  corrupted  by  his  successor 
Zephyrinus.”1 

There  were  also  the  “ Cerinthians named  after  one  Cerinthus,. 
who  maintained  that  Jesus  was  not  born  of  a virgin,  which  to  them 
appeared  impossible,  but  that  he  was  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary, 
born  altogether  as  other  men  are  / but  he  excelled  all  men  in  vir- 
tue, knowledge  and  wisdom.  At  the  time  of  his  baptism,  uthe 
Christ ” came  down  upon  him  in  the  shape  of  a dove,  and  left 
him  at  the  time  of  his  crucifixion.2 

Irenseus,  speaking  of  Cerinthus  and  his  doctrines,  says : 

“ He  represents  Jesus  as  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  according  to  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  human  generation,  and  not  as  having  been  born  of  a virgin.  He 
believed  nevertheless  that  he  was  more  righteous,  prudent  and  wise  than  most 
men,  and  that  the  Christ  descended  upon,  and  entered  into  him,  at  the  time 
of  his  baptism.’' 3 

The  Docetes  were  a numerous  and  learned  sect  of  Asiatic  Chris- 
tians who  invented  the  Phantastic  system,  which  was  afterwards  pro- 
mulgated by  the  Marcionites,  the  Manicheans,  and  various  other  sects. 

They  denied  the  truth  and  authenticity  of  the  Gospels,  as  far  as 
they  related  to  the  conception  of  Mary,  the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  the 
thirty  years  that  preceded  the  exercise  of  his  ministry. 

Bordering  upon  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  world,  the  Cerinthians 
labored  to  reconcile  the  Gnostic  and  the  Ebionite , by  confessing  in 
the  same  Messiah  the  supernatural  union  of  a man  and  a god ; and 
this  mystic  doctrine  was  adopted,  with  many  fanciful  improve- 
ments, by  many  sects.  The  hypothesis  was  this : that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  was  a mere  mortal,  the  legitimate  son  of  Joseph  and 
Mary,  but  he  was  the  best  and  wisest  of  the  human  race,  selected  as 
the  worthy  instrument  to  restore  upon  earth  the  worship  of  the 
true  and  supreme  Deity.  When  he  was  baptized  in  the  Jordan,. 
and  not  till  then , he  became  more  than  man.  At  that  time,  the 
Christ , the  first  of  the  JEons , the  Son  of  God  himself,  descended 
on  Jesus  in  the  form  of  a dove,  to  inhabit  his  mind , and  direct  his 
actions  during  the  allotted  period  of  his  ministry.  When  he  was 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  Jews,  the  Christ  forsook  him,  flew 
back  to  the  world  of  spirits,  and  left  the  solitary  Jesus  to  suffer,  to 


i Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  5,  ch.  xxv.  2 Lardner  : vol.  viii.  p.  404. 

3 Irenaeus:  Against  Heresies,  bk.  i.  c.  xxiv. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


137 


complain,  and  to  die.  This  is  why  he  said,  while  hanging  on  the 
cross  : “ My  God  ! My  God ! why  hast  thoa  forsaken  me  V 51 

Here,  then,  we  see  the  first  budding  out  of — what  was  termed  by 
the  true  followers  of  Jesus — heretical  doctrines.  The  time  had 
not  yet  come  to  make  Jesus  a god , to  claim  that  he  had  been 
born  of  a virgin.  As  he  must , however,  have  been  different  from 
other  mortals — throughout  the  period  of  his  ministry,  at  least — the 
Christ  must  have  entered  into  him  at  the  time  of  his  baptism,  and 
as  mysteriously  disappeared  when  he  was  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  the  Jews. 

In  the  course  of  time,  the  seeds  of  the  faith,  which  had  slowly 
arisen  in  the  rocky  and  ungrateful  soil  of  Judea,  were  transplanted, 
in  full  maturity,  to  the  happier  climes  of  the  Gentiles ; and  the 
strangers  of  Rome  and  Alexandria , who  had  never  beheld  the  man - 
hood,  were  more  ready  to  embrace  the  divinity  of  Jesus. 

The  polytheist  and  the  philosopher,  the  Greek  and  the  barba- 
rian, were  alike  accustomed  to  receive — as  we  have  seen  in  this 
chapter — a long  succession  and  infinite  chain  of  angels,  or  deities, 
or  aeons , or  emanations,  issuing  from  the  throne  of  light.  Hor  could 
it  seem  strange  and  incredible  to  them , that  the  first  of  the  aeons , 
the  Logos,  or  Word  of  God,  of  the  same  substance  with  the  Father, 
should  descend  upon  earth,  to  deliver  the  human  race  from  vice 
and  error.  The  histories  of  their  countries,  their  odes,  and  their 
religions  were  teeming  with  such  ideas,  as  happening  in  the  past, 
and  they  were  also  looking  for  and  expecting  an  Angel-Messiah . 2 

Centuries  rolled  by,  however,  before  the  doctrine  of  Christ 
Jesus,  the  Angel-Messiah,  became  a settled  question,  an  established 
tenet  in  the  Christian  faith.  The  dignity  of  Christ  Jesus  was 
measured  by  private  judgment , according  to  the  indefinite  rule  of 
Scripture , or  tradition  or  reason.  But  when  his  pure  and  proper 
divinity  had  been  established  on  the  ruins  of  Arianism,  the  faith 
of  the  Catholics  trembled  on  the  edge  of  a precipice  where  it  was 
impossible  to  recede,  dangerous  to  stand,  dreadful  to  fall ; and  the 
manifold  inconveniences  of  their  creed  were  aggravated  by  the  sub- 
lime character  of  their  theology.  They  hesitated  to  pronounce  that 
God  himself  \ the  second  person  of  an  equal  and  consubstantial 
Trinity,  was  manifested  in  the  flesh ,8  that  the  Being  who  pervades 
the  universe  had  been  confined  in  the  womb  of  Mary  • that  his 

1 See  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iv.  pp.  492-495.  question  why  Jesus  was  believed  to  be  an 

3 Not  a worldly  Messiah , as  the  Jews  looked  Avatar , by  the  Gentiles,  and  not  by  the  Jews; 

for,  but  an  Angel-Messiah,  such  an  one  as  why,  in  fact,  the  doctrine  of  Christ  incarnate 

always  came  at  the  end  of  a cycle.  We  shall  in  Jesus  succeeded  and  prospered, 

treat  of  this  subject  anon,  when  we  answer  the  3 * * * “ This  strong  expression  might  be  justified 


138 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


eternal  duration  had  been  marked  by  the  days,  and  months,  and 
years  of  human  existence;  that  the  Almighty  God  had  been 
scourged  and  crucified  / that  his  impassible  essence  had  felt  pain 
and  anguish  j that  his  omniscience  was  not  exempt  from  igno- 
rance ; and  that  the  source  of  life  and  immortality  expired  on 
Mount  Calvary. 

These  alarming  consequences  were  affirmed  with  unblushing 
simplicity  by  Apollinaris,  Bishop  of  Laodicea,  and  one  of  the  lumi- 
naries of  the  Church.  The  son  of  a learned  grammarian,  he  was 
skilled  in  all  the  sciences  of  Greece  ; eloquence,  erudition,  and  phil- 
osophy, conspicuous  in  the  volumes  of  Apollinaris,  were  humbly 
devoted  to  the  service  of  religion. 

The  worthy  friend  of  Athanasius,  the  worthy  antagonist  of 
Julian,  he  bravely  wrestled  with  the  Arians  and  polytheists,  and 
though  he  affected  the  rigor  of  geometrical  demonstration , his  com- 
mentaries revealed  the  literal  and  allegorical  sense  of  the  Scriptures. 

A mystery , which  had  long  floated  in  the  looseness  of  popular 
belief,  was  defined  by  his  perverse  diligence  in  a technical  form, 
and  he  first  proclaimed  the  memorable  words , “One  incarnate  na- 
ture of  Christ.^1 

This  was  about  a.  d.  362,  he  being  Bishop  of  Laodicea,  in  Syria, 
at  that  time.2 

The  recent  zeal  against  the  errors  of  Apollinaris  reduced  the 
Catholics  to  a seeming  agreement  with  the  double-nature  of  Cerin- 
thus.  But  instead  of  a temporary  and  occasional  alliance,  they 
established,  and  Christians  still  embrace,  the  substantial,  indissolu- 
ble, and  everlasting  union  of  a perfect  God  with  a perfect  man , 
of  the  second  person  of  the  Trinity  with  a reasonable  soul  and 
human  flesh.  In  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century , the  unity  of 
the  two  natures  was  the  prevailing  doctrine  of  the  church.3  From 
that  time,  until  a comparatively  recent  period,  the  cry  was: 
“ May  those  who  divide  Christ 4 be  divided  with  the  sword / may 


by  the  language  of  St.  Paul  ( God  was  manifest 
in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  spirit,  seen  of  an- 
gels, &c.  I.  Timothy,  iii.  16),  but  we  are  de- 
ceived by  our  modern  Bibles.  The  word  which 
was  altered  to  God  at  Constantinople  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  sixth  century  : the  true  meaning, 
which  is  visible  in  the  Latin  and  Syriac  ver- 
sions, still  exists  in  the  reasoning  of  the  Greek, 
as  well  as  of  the  Latin  fathers  ; and  this  fraud, 
with  that  of  the  three  witnesses  of  St.  John 
(I.  John,  v.  7),  is  admirably  detected  by  Sir 
Isaac  Newton.”  (Gibbon’s  Rome,  iv.  496,  note.) 
Dean  Milman  says : “ The  weight  of  au- 


thority is  so  much  against  the  common  read- 
ing of  both  these  points  ( i . e.,  I.  Tim.  iii.  16, 
and  I.  John,  v.  7),  that  they  are  no  longer 
urged  by  prudent  controversialists.”  (Note  in 
Ibid.) 

1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iv.  pp.  492-497. 

3 See  Chambers’s  Encyclopaedia,  art.  “Apol- 
linaris.” 

8 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iv.  p.  498. 

4 That  is,  separate  Aim  from  God  the  Father, 
by  saying  that  he,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  was  not 
really  and  truly  God  Almighty  himself  in  human 
form. 


THE  MIRACULOUS  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


139 


they  be  hewn  in  pieces,  may  they  be  burned  alive!”  These  were 
actually  the  words  of  a Christian  synod.1  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
after  this  came  the  dark  ages  f How  appropriate  is  the  name 
which  has  been  applied  to  the  centuries  which  followed ! Dark 
indeed  they  were.  How  and  then,  however,  a ray  of  light  was 
seen,  which  gave  evidence  of  the  coming  morn , whose  glorious 
light  we  now  enjoy.  But  what  a grand  light  is  yet  to  come  from 
the  noon-day  sun,  which  must  shed  its  glorious  rays  over  the  whole 
earth,  ere  it  sets. 


1 See  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iv.  p.  516. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


THE  STAR  OF  BETHLEHEM. 

Being  born  in  a miraculous  manner,  as  other  great  personages 
had  been,  it  was  necessary  that  the  miracles  attending  the  births  of 
these  virgin-born  gods  should  be  added  to  the  history  of  Christ 
Jesus,  otherwise  the  legend  would  not  be  complete. 

The  first  which  we  shall  notice  is  the  story  of  the  star 
which  is  said  to  have  heralded  his  birth,  and  which  was  designated 
“ his  star.”  It  is  related  by  the  Matthew  narrator  as  follows  :l 

“ When  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  of  Judea,  in  the  days  of  Herod  the 
king,  behold,  there  came  wise  men  from  the  east  to  Jerusalem,  saying:  * Where 
is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ? for  we  have  seen  Ms  star  in  the  east,  and 
are  come  to  worship  him. ' ” 

Herod  the  king,  having  heard  these  things,  he  privately  called 
the  wise  men,  and  inquired  of  them  what  time  the  star  ap- 
peared, at  the  same  time  sending  them  to  Bethlehem  to  search 
diligently  for  the  young  child.  The  wise  men,  accordingly,  de- 
parted and  went  on  their  way  towards  Bethlehem.  “The  star 
which  they  saw  in  the  east  went  before  them,  till  it  came  and 
stood  over  where  the  young  child  was.” 

The  general  legendary  character  of  this  narrative— its  similarity 
in  style  wuth  those  contained  in  the  apocryphal  gospels — and  more 
especially  its  conformity  with  those  astrological  notions  which, 
though  prevalent  in  the  time  of  the  Matthew  narrator,  have  been 
exploded  by  the  sounder  scientific  knowledge  of  our  days — all  unite 
to  stamp  upon  the  story  the  impress  of  poetic  or  mythic  fiction. 

The  fact  that  the  writer  of  this  story  speaks  not  of  a star  but 
of  his  star , shows  that  it  was  the  popular  belief  of  the  people 
among  whom  he  lived,  that  each  and  every  person  was  born  under 
a star,  and  that  this  one  which  had  been  seen  was  his  star. 

All  ancient  nations  were  very  superstitious  in  regard  to  the 
influence  of  the  stars  upon  human  affairs,  and  this  ridiculous  idea 


140 


1 Matthew,  ch.  ii. 


THE  STAR  OF  BETHLEHEM. 


141 


has  been  handed  down,  in  some  places,  even  to  the  present  day. 
Dr.  Hooykaas,  speaking  on  this  subject,  says : 

“ In  ancient  times  the  Jews,  like  other  peoples,  might  very  well  believe  that 
there  was  some  immediate  connection  between  the  stars  and  the  life  of  man — an 
idea  which  we  still  preserve  in  the  forms  of  speech  that  so-and-so  was  born 
under  a lucky  or  under  an  evil  star.  They  might  therefore  suppose  that  the 
birth  of  greatmen,  such  as  Abraham,  for  instance,  was  announced  in  the  heavens. 
In  our  century,  however,  if  not  before,  all  serious  belief  in  astrology  has  ceased, 
and  it  would  be  regarded  as  an  act  of  the  grossest  superstition  for  any  one  to 
have  his  horoscope  drawn;  for  the  course,  the  appearance  and  the  disappearance 
of  the  heavenly  bodies  have  been  long  determined  with  mathematical  precision 
by  science.”  1 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Geikie  says,  in  his  Life  of  Christ  :2 

“ The  Jews  had  already,  long  before  Christ’s  day,  dabbled  in  astrology,  and 
the  various  forms  of  magic  which  became  connected  with  it.  . . . They 

were  much  given  to  cast  horoscopes  from  the  numerical  value  of  a name. 
Everywhere  throughout  the  whole  Roman  Empire,  Jewish  magicians,  dream  ex- 
pounders, and  sorcerers,  were  found. 

“ ‘ The  life  and  portion  of  children,’  says  the  Talmud,  ‘hang not  on  righteous- 
ness, but  on  their  star.’  ‘ The  planet  of  the  day  has  no  virtue,  but  the  planet  of 
the  hour  (of  nativity)  has  much.’  ‘ When  the  Messiah  is  to  be  revealed,’  says  the 
book  Sohar,  ‘ a star  will  rise  in  the  east,  shining  in  great  brightness,  and  seven 
other  stars  round  it  will  fight  against  it  on  every  side.’  ‘ A star  will  rise  in  the 
east,  which  is  the  star  of  the  Messiah,  and  will  remain  in  the  east  fifteen  days.  ’ ” 

The  moment  of  every  man’s  birth  being  supposed  to  determine 
every  circumstance  in  his  life,  it  was  only  necessary  to  find  out  in 
what  mode  the  celestial  bodies — supposed  to  be  the  primary  wheels 
to  the  universal  machine — operated  at  that  moment,  in  order  to 
discover  all  that  would  happen  to  him  afterward. 

The  regularity  of  the  risings  and  settings  of  the  fixed  stars, 
though  it  announced  the  changes  of  the  seasons  and  the  orderly 
variations  of  nature,  could  not  be  adapted  to  the  capricious  muta- 
bility of  human  actions,  fortunes,  and  adventures : wherefore  the 
astrologers  had  recourse  to  the  planets,  whose  more  complicated 
revolutions  offered  more  varied  and  more  extended  combinations. 
Their  different  returns  to  certain  points  of  the  Zodiac,  their 
relative  positions  and  conjunctions  with  each  other,  were  supposed 
to  influence  the  affairs  of  men ; whence  daring  impostors  presumed 
to  foretell,  not  only  the  destinies  of  individuals,  but  also  the  rise 
and  fall  of  empires,  and  the  fate  of  the  world  itself.* 

The  inhabitants  of  India  are,  and  have  always  been,  very  super- 
stitious concerning  the  stars.  The  Rev.  D.  O.  Allen,  who  resided 


8 See  Knight : Ancient  Art  and  Mythology, 
p.  52. 


1 Bible  for  Learners,  yoI.  iii.  p.  72. 
• Vol,  i.  p.  145. 


142 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


in  India  for  twenty-five  years,  and  who  undoubtedly  became  thor- 
oughly acquainted  with  the  superstitions  of  the  inhabitants,  says  on 
this  subject : ' 

“So strong  are  the  superstitious  feelings  of  many,  concerning  the  supposed 
influence  of  the  stars  on  human  affairs,  that  some  days  are  lucky , and  others 
again  are  unlucky , that  no  arguments  or  promises  would  induce  them  to  deviate 
from  the  course  which  these  stars,  signs,  &c. , indicate,  as  the  way  of  safety,  pros- 
perity, and  happiness.  The  evils  and  inconveniences  of  these  superstitions  and 
prejudices  are  among  the  things  that  press  heavily  upon  the  people  of  India.”1 

The  Nakshatias — twenty-seven  constellations  which  in  Indian 
astronomy  separate  the  moon’s  path  into  twenty-seven  divisions,  as 
the  signs  of  the  Zodiac  do  that  of  the  sun  into  twelve — are  re- 
garded as  deities  who  exert  a vast  influence  on  the  destiny  of  men, 
not  only  at  the  moment  of  their  entrance  into  the  world,  but  dur- 
ing their  whole  passage  through  it.  These  formidable  constella- 
tions are  consulted  at  births,  marriages,  and  on  all  occasions  of 
family  rejoicing,  distress  or  calamity.  No  one  undertakes  a jour- 
ney or  any  important  matter  except  on  days  which  the  aspect  of 
the  Nakshatias  renders  lucky  and  auspicious.  If  any  constellation 
is  unfavorable,  it  must  by  all  means  be  propitiated  by  a ceremony 
called  S’anti. 

The  Chinese  were  very  superstitious  concerning  the  stars.  They 
annually  published  astronomical  calculations  of  the  motions  of  the 
planets,  for  every  hour  and  minute  of  the  year.  They  considered 
it  important  to  be  very  exact,  because  the  hours,  and  even  the 
minutes,  are  lucky  or  unlucky,  according  to  the  aspect  of  the  stars. 
Some  days  were  considered  peculiarly  fortunate  for  marrying,  or 
beginning  to  build  a house ; and  the  gods  are  better  pleased  with 
sacrifice  offered  at  certain  hours  than  they  are  with  the  same  cere- 
mony performed  at  other  times.2 

The  ancient  Persians  were  also  great  astrologers,  and  held  the 
stars  in  great  reverence.  They  believed  and  taught  that  the 
destinies  of  men  were  intimately  connected  with  their  motions,  and 
therefore  it  was  important  to  know  under  the  influence  of  what 
star  a human  soul  made  its  advent  into  this  world.  Astrologers 
swarmed  throughout  the  country,  and  were  consulted  upon  all  im- 
portant occasions.3 

The  ancient  Egyptians  were  exactly  the  same  in  this  respect. 
According  to  Champollion,  the  tomb  of  Ramses  Y.,  at  Thebes,  con- 
tains tables  of  the  constellations,  and  of  tlieir  influence  on  human 
beings,  for  every  hour  of  every  month  of  the  year.4 


» Allen’s  India,  p.  456. 

> See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  221. 


» Ibid.  p.  261. 

* See  Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p,  456. 


THE  STAR  OF  BETHLEHEM. 


143 


The  Buddhists’  sacred  books  relate  that  the  birth  of  Buddlia 
was  announced  in  the  heavens  by  an  asterim  which  was  seen  rising 
on  the  horizon.  It  is  called  the  “ Messianic  star”  1 

The  Fo-pen-hing  says : 

“The  time  of  Bodhisatwa’s  incarnation  is,  when  the  constellation  Kwei  is 
in  conjunction  with  the  Sun.”1 2 

“Wise  men,”  known  as  “ Holy  Biskis,”  were  informed  by  these 
celestial  signs  that  the  Messiah  was  born.3 

In  the  Bdmayana  (one  of  the  sacred  books  of  the  Hindoos) 
the  horoscope  of  Kama’s  birth  is  given.  He  is  said  to  have  been 
born  on  the  9th  Tithi  of  the  month  Caitra.  The  jplanet  Jupiter 
figured  at  his  birth  ; it  being  in  Cancer  at  that  time.4 *  Kama  was 
an  incarnation  of  Yishnu.  When  Crishna  was  born  “ his  stars  ” 
were  to  be  seen  in  the  heavens.  They  were  pointed  out  by  one 
Hared,  a great  prophet  and  astrologer.6 

Without  going  through  the  list,  we  can  say  that  the  birth  of 
every  Indian  Avatar  was  foretold  by  celestial  signs.6 

The  same  myth  is  to  be  found  in  the  legends  of  China.  Among 
others  they  relate  that  a star  figured  at  the  birth  of  Yu,  the 
founder  of  the  first  dynasty  which  reigned  in  China,7  who — as  we 
saw  in  the  last  chapter — was  of  heavenly  origin,  having  been  born 
of  a virgin.  It  is  also  said  that  a star  figured  at  the  birth  of  Laou- 
tsze,  the  Chinese  sage.8 

In  the  legends  of  the  Jewish  patriarchs  and  prophets,  it  is 
stated  that  a brilliant  star  shone  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Moses. 
It  was  seen  by  the  Magi  of  Egypt,  who  immediately  informed  the 
king.” 

When  Abraham  was  born  “ his  star  ” shone  in  the  heavens,  if 
we  may  believe  the  popular  legends,  and  its  brilliancy  outshone  all 
the  other  stars.10  Babbinic. traditions  relate  the  following  : 

“ Abraham  was  the  son  of  Terah,  general  of  Nimrod’s  army.  He  was  born 
at  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  1948  years  after  the  Creation.  On  the  night  of  his  birth, 
Terah’s  friends — among  whom  were  many  of  Nimrod’s  councillors  and  sooth- 
sayers— were  feasting  in  his  house.  On  leaving,  late  at  night,  they  observed  an 
unusual  star  in  the  east,  it  seemed  to  run  from  one  quarter  of  the  heavens  to  the 
other,  and  to  devour  four  stars  which  were  there.  All  amazed  in  astonishment 


1 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  22,  23, 33.  ch.  iii.  7 See  Ibid.  p.  618. 

2 See  Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  23,  33,  35.  8 Thornton  : Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  p.  137. 

8 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  36.  9 See  Anac.,  i.  p.  560,  and  Geikie’s  Life  of 

4 Williams’s  Indian  Wisdom,  p.  347.  Christ,  i.  559. 

8 See  Hist.  Hindostan,  ii.  336.  10  See  Ibid.,  and  The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol. 

6 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  561.  iii.  p.  72,  andCalmet’s  Fragments,  art.  “ Abra* 

For  that  of  Crishna,  see  Vishnu  Purana,  book  v.  ham.  ’ ’ 


144 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


at  this  wondrous  sight,  ‘ Truly,’  said  they,  ‘ this  can  signify  nothing  else  but  that 
Ter  ah's  new-born  son  will  become  great  and  powerful.'  ”l * 

It  is  also  related  that  Nimrod,  in  a dream,  saw  a star  rising 
above  the  horizon,  which  was  very  brilliant.  The  soothsayers  be- 
ing consulted  in  regard  to  it,  foretold  that  a child  was  born  who 
would  become  a great  prince.3 

A brilliant  star,  which  eclipsed  all  the  other  stars,  was  also  to  be 
seen  at  the  birth  of  the  Caesars  ; in  fact,  as  Canon  Farrar  remarks, 
“ The  Greeks  and  Romans  had  always  considered  that  the  births 
and  deaths  of  great  men  were  symbolized  by  the  appearance  and 
disappearance  of  heavenly  bodies,  and  the  same  belief  has  continued 
down  to  comparatively  modern  times.553 

Tacitus,  the  Roman  historian,  speaking  of  the  reign  of  the  Em- 
peror Nero,  says : 

“A  comet  Laving  appeared,  in  this  juncture,  the  phenomenon,  according  to 
the  popular  opinion,  announced  that  governments  were  to  he  changed,  and  kings 
dethroned.  In  the  imaginations  of  men,  Nero  was  already  dethroned,  and  who 
should  be  his  successor  was  the  question.  ”4 

According  to  Moslem  authorities,  the  birth  of  Ali — Moham- 
med’s great  disciple,  and  the  chief  of  one  of  the  two  principal  sects 
into  which  Islam  is  divided — was  foretold  by  celestial  signs.  “ A 
light  was  distinctly  visible,  resembling  a bright  column,  extending 
from  the  earth  to  the  firmament.”5  Even  during  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Hadrian,  a hundred  years  after  the  time  assigned  for  the 
death  of  Jesus,  a certain  Jew  who  gave  himself  out  as  the  “ Mes- 
siah” and  headed  the  last  great  insurrection  of  his  country,  as- 
sumed the  name  of  Bar-CocKba — that  is,  “Son  of  a Star.”6 

This  myth  evidently  extended  to  the  New  World,  as  we  find  that 
the  symbol  of  Quetzalcoatle , the  virgin-born  Saviour,  was  the 
“ Morning  Star.”1 

We  see,  then,  that  among  the  ancierfts  there  seems  to  have  been 
a very  general  idea  that  the  birth  of  a great  person  would  be  an- 
nounced by  a star.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Geikie,  who  maintains  to  his  ut- 
most the  truth  of  the  Gospel  narrative,  is  yet  constrained  to  admit 
that : 

“It  was,  indeed,  universally  believed,  that  extraordinary  events,  especially 


1 Baring-Gould  : Legends  of  the  Patriarchs, 

p.  149. 

3 Calmet’s  Fragments,  art.  “Abraham.” 

* Farrar’s  Life  of  Christ,  p.  52. 

4 Tacitus  : Annals,  bk.  xiv.  ch.  xxii. 


6 Amberly’s  Analysis  of  Religious  Belief,  p. 
227. 

6 Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  73. 

7 Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New  World,  pp. 
180,  181,  and  Squire  : Serpent  Symbol. 


THE  STAR  OF  BETHLEHEM. 


145 


ihe  birth  and  death  of  great  men,  were  heralded  by  appearances  of  stars,  and 
still  more  of  comets,  or  by  conjunctions  of  the  heavenly  bodies.”1 

The  whole  tenor  of  the  narrative  recorded  by  the  Matthew  nar- 
rator is  the  most  complete  justification  of  the  science  of  astrology  / 
that  the  first  intimation  of  the  birth  of  the  Son  of  God  was  given 
to  the  worshipers  of  Ormuzd,  who  have  the  power  of  distinguish- 
ing with  certainty  his  peculiar  star ; that  from  these  heathen  the 
tidings  of  his  birth  are  received  by  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem,  and 
therefore  that  the  theory  must  be  right  which  connects  great  events 
in  the  life  of  men  with  phenomena  in  the  starry  heavens. 

If  this  divine  sanction  of  astrology  is  contested  on  the  ground 
that  this  was  an  exceptional  event,  in  which,  simply  to  bring  the 
Magi  to  Jerusalem,  God  caused  the  star  to  appear  in  accordance 
with  their  superstitious  science,  the  difficulty  is  only  pushed  one 
degree  backwards,  for  in  this  case  God,  it  is  asserted,  wrought  an 
event  which  was  perfectly  certain  to  strengthen  the  belief  of  the 
Magi,  of  Herod,  of  the  Jewish  priests,  and  of  the  Jews  generally, 
in  the  truth  of  astrology. 

If,  to  avoid  the  alternative,  recourse  be  had  to  the  notion  that 
the  star  appeared  by  chance , or  that  this  chance  or  accident  di- 
Tected  the  Magi  aright,  is  the  position  really  improved  ? Is  chance 
consistent  with  any  notion  of  supernatural  interposition  ? 

We  may  also  ask  the  question,  why  were  the  Magi  brought  to 
Jerusalem  at  all  ? If  they  knew  that  the  star  which  they  saw  was 
the  star  of  Christ  Jesus — as  the  narrative  states2 — and  were  by  this 
knowledge  conducted  to  Jerusalem,  why  did  it  not  suffice  to  guide 
them  straight  to  Bethlehem , and  thus  prevent  the  Slaughter  of  the 
Innocents  ? Why  did  the  star  desert  them  after  its  first  appear- 
ance, not  to  be  seen  again  till  they  issued  from  J erusalem  ? or,  if  it 
did  not  desert  them,  why  did  they  ask  of  Herod  and  the  priests  the 
road  which  they  should  take,  when,  by  the  hypothesis,  the  star  was 
ready  to  guide  them  V 

It  is  said  that  in  the  oracles  of  Zoroaster  there  is  to  be  found  a 
prophecy  to  the  effect  that,  in  the  latter  days , a virgin  would  con- 
ceive and  bear  a son,  and  that,  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  a star  would 
shine  at  noonday.  Christian  divines  have  seen  in  this  a prophecy 
of  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus,  but  when  critically  examined,  it  does 
not  stand  the  test.  The  drift  of  the  story  is  this : 

Ormuzd,  the  Lord  of  Light,  who  created  the  universe  in  six 
periods  of  time,  accomplished  his  work  by  making  the  first  man 


1 Life  of  ' Christ,  yoI  i.  p 144.  3 See  Thomas  Scott’s  English  Life  of  Jesus 

2 Matthew  ii.  2.  for  a full  investigation  of  this  subject. 

10 


146 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


and  woman,  and  infusing  into  them  the  breath  of  life.  It  was  not 
long  before  Ahriman,  the  evil  one,  contrived  to  seduce  the  first 
parents  of  mankind  by  pursuading  them  to  eat  of  the  forbid- 
den fruit.  Sin  and  death  are  now  in  the  world ; the  principles  of 
good  and  evil  are  now  in  deadly  strife.  Ormuzd  then  reveals  to 
mankind  his  law  through  his  prophet  Zoroaster ; the  strife  between 
the  two  principles  continues,  however,  and  will  continue  until  the 
end  of  a destined  term.  During  the  last  three  thousand  years  of  the 
period  Ahriman  is  predominant.  The  world  now  hastens  to  its 
doom  ; religion  and  virtue  are  nowhere  to  be  found ; mankind  are 
plunged  in  sin  and  misery.  Sosiosh  is  born  of  a virgin,  and  re- 
deems them,  subdues  the  Devs,  awakens  the  dead,  and  holds  the 
last  judgment.  A comet  sets  the  world  in  flames ; the  Genii  of 
Light  combat  against  the  Genii  of  Darkness,  and  cast  them  into 
Duzakh,  where  Ahriman  and  the  Devs  and  the  souls  of  the 
wicked  are  thoroughly  cleansed  and  purified  by  fire.  Ahriman  then 
submits  to  Ormuzd ; evil  is  absorbed  into  goodness ; the  un- 
righteous, thoroughly  purified,  are  united  with  the  righteous,  and  a 
new  earth  and  a new  heaven  arise,  free  from  all  evil,  where  peace 
and  innocence  will  forever  dwell. 

Who  can  fail  to  see  that  this  virgin-born  Sosiosh  was  to  come, 
not  eighteen  hundred  years  ago , but,  in  the  “ latter  days,”  when  the 
world  is  to  be  set  on  fire  by  a comet , the  judgment  to  take  place, 
and  the  “ new  heaven  and  new  earth  ” is  to  be  established  ? Who 
can  fail  to  see  also,  by  a perusal  of  the  New  Testament,  that  the 
idea  of  a temporal  Messiah  (a  mighty  king  and  warrior,  who  should 
liberate  and  rule  over  his  people  Israel),  and  the  idea  of  an 
Angel-Messiah  (who  had  come  to  announce  that  the  “ kingdom  of 
heaven  was  at  hand,”  that  the  “ stars  should  fall  from  heaven,” 
and  that  all  men  would  shortly  be  judged  according  to  their  deeds), 
are  both  jumbled  together  in  a heap  ? 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


THE  SONG  OF  THE  HEAVENLY  HOST. 


The  story  of  the  Song  of  the  Heavenly  Host  belongs  exclusive- 
ly to  the  Luke  narrator,  and,  in  substance,  is  as  follows  : 

At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus,  there  were  shepherds 
abiding  in  the  fields,  keeping  watch  over  their  flock  by  night. 
And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  among  them,  and  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  shone  round  about  them,  and  the  angel  said  : “I  bring 

you  good  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people ; for  un- 
to you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city  of  David,  a Saviour,  which  is 
Christ  the  Lord.” 

And  suddenly  there  was  with  the  angel  a multitude  of  the 
Heavenly  Host,  praising  God  in  song,  saying  : “ Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest ; and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  towards  men.”  After 
this  the  angels  went  into  heaven.1 

It  is  recorded  in  the  Vishnu  Pur  ana?  that  while  the  virgin 
Devaki  bore  Crishna , “ the  protector  of  the  world,”  in  her  womb, 
she  was  eulogized  by  the  gods,  and  on  the  day  of  Crishna’s  birth, 

“ the  quarters  of  the  horizon  were  irradiate  with  joy,  as  if  moonlight 
was  diffused  over  the  whole  earth.”  “ The  spirits  and  the  nymphs 
of  heaven  danced  and  sang”  and,  u at  midnight ,3  when  the  support 
of  all  was  born,  the  clouds  emitted  low  pleading  sounds , and 
poured  down  rain  of  flowers?” 

Similar  demonstrations  of  celestial  delight  were  not  wanting  at  \ 
the  birth  of  Buddha.  All  beings  everywhere  were  full  of  joy.  \ 
Music  was  to  be  heard  all  over  the  land,  and,  as  in  the  case  of  1 
Crishna,  there  fell  from  the  skies  a gentle  shower  of  flowers  and  1 
perfumes.  Caressing  breezes  blew,  and  a marvellous  light  was  pro- 
duced.5 


\ 


1 Luke,  ii.  8-15.  * Vishnu  Purana,  book  v.  ch.  iii.  p.  502. 

9 Translated  from  the  original  Sanscrit  by  6 See  Amberly’s  Analysis,  p.  226.  Beal : 
H.  H.  Wilson,  M.  D.,  F.R.S.  Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  45,  46,  47,  and  Bunsen's  An- 

8 All  the  virgin-bom  Saviours  are  bom  at  gel-Messiah,  p.  35. 
midnight  or  early  dawn. 


147 


148 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  Fo-pen-hing  relates  that : 

“ The  attending  spirits,  who  surrounded  the  Virgin  Maya  and  the  infant 
Saviour,  singing  praises  of  ‘the  Blessed  One,’  said:  ‘All  joy  be  to  you,  Queen 
Maya,  rejoice  and  be  glad,  for  the  child  you  have  borne  is  holy.’  Then  the 
Rishis  and  Devas  who  dwelt  on  earth  exclaimed  with  great  joy : ‘ This  day  Buddha 
is  born  for  the  good  of  men,  to  dispel  the  darkness  of  their  ignorance.’  Then 
the  four  heavenly  kings  took  up  the  strain  and  said:  ‘ Now  because  Bodhi- 
satwa  is  born,  to  give  joy  and  bring  peace  to  the  world,  therefore  is  there  this 
brightness.’  Then  the  gods  of  the  thirty-three  heavens  took  up  the  burden  of  the 
strain,  and  the  Yama  Devas  and  the  Tfisita  Devas,  and  so  forth,  through  all  the 
heavens  of  the  Kama,  Rupa,  and  Arupa  worlds,  even  up  to  the  Akanishta 
heavens,  all  the  Devas  joined  in  this  song,  and  said:  ‘ To-day  Bodhisatwa  is  born 
on  earth,  to  give  joy  and  peace  to  men  and  Devas,  to  shed  light  in  the  dark  places,  and 
to  give  sight  to  the  blind.”1 

Even  the  sober  philosopher  Confucius  did  not  enter  the  world, 
if  we  may  believe  Chinese  tradition,  without  premonitory  symp- 
toms of  his  greatness.2 

Sir  John  Francis  Davis,  speaking  of  Confucius,  says : 

“Various  prodigies,  as  in  other  instances,  were  the  forerunners  of  the  birth  of 
this  extraordinary  person.  On  the  eve  of  his  appearance  upon  earth,  celestial 
music  sounded  in  the  ears  of  his  mother;  and  when  he  was  born,  this  inscription 
appeared  on  his  breast:  ‘ The  maker  of  a rule  for  setting  the  World.’  ”3 

In  the  case  of  Osiris , the  Egyptian  Saviour,  at  his  birth,  a voice 
was  heard  proclaiming  that:  “The  Ruler  of  all  the  Earth  is 
born.”4 

In  Plutarch’s  “ Isis  ” occurs  the  following : 

“ At  the  birth  of  Osiris,  there  was  heard  a voice  that  the  Lord  of  all  the  Earth 
was  coming  in  being;  and  some  say  that  a woman  named  Pamgle,  as  she  was 
going  to  carry  water  to  the  temple  of  Ammon,  in  the  city  of  Thebes,  heard  that 
voice,  which  commanded  her  to  proclaim  it  with  a loud  voice,  that  the  great 
beneficent  god  Osiris  was  born.”6 

Wonderful  demonstrations  of  delight  also  attended  the  birth  of 
the  heavenly-born  Apollonius.  According  to  Flavius  Philostratus, 
who  wrote  the  life  of  this  remarkable  man,  a flock  of  swans  sur- 
rounded his  mother,  and  clapping  their  wings,  as  is  their  custom, 
they  sang  in  unison,  while  the  air  was  fanned  by  gentle  breezes. 

When  the  god  Apollo  was  born  of  the  virgin  Latona  in  the 
Island  of  Delos,  there  was  joy  among  the  undying  gods  in  Olym- 
pus, and  the  Earth  laughed  beneath  the  smile  of  Heaven.6 


i See  Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  43,  55,  56,  4 See  Prichard’s  Egyptian  Mythology,  p.  56, 

and  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  35.  and  Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  408. 

3 See  Amberly  : Analysis  of  Religious  Be-  5 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  424,  and 

lief,  p.  84.  Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  408. 

3 Davis  : History  of  China,  vol.  ii.  p.  48.  See  8 See  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  4. 

also  Thornton  : Hist.  China,  i.  152. 


THE  SONG  OF  THE  HEAVENLY  HOST. 


149 


At  the  time  of  the  birth  of  “ Hercules  the  Saviour ,”  his  father 
Zeus,  the  god  of  gods,  spake  from  heaven  and  said : 

“This  day  shall  a child  be  born  of  the  race  of  Perseus,  who  shall  be  the 
mightiest  of  the  sons  of  men.”1 

When  jEsculapius  was  a helpless  infant,  and  when  he  was 
about  to  be  put  to  death,  a voice  from  the  god  Apollo  was  heard, 
saying : 

“ Slay  not  the  child  with  the  mother;  he  is  born  to  do  great  things  ; but  bear 
him  to  the  wise  centaur  Cheiron,  and  bid  him  train  the  boy  in  all  his  wisdom  and 
teach  him  to  do  brave  deeds,  that  men  may  praise  his  name  in  the  generations 
that  shall  be  hereafter.”2 

As  we  stated  above,  the  story  of  the  Song  of  the  Heavenly  Host 
belongs  exclusively  to  the  Luke  narrator ; none  of  the  other  writers 
of  the  synoptic  Gospels  know  anything  about  it,  which,  if  it  really 
happened,  seems  very  strange. 

If  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  apocryphal  Gospel  called  Prote - 
vangelion  ” (chapter  xiii.),  he  will  there  see  one  of  the  reasons  why 
it  was  thought  best  to  leave  this  Gospel  out  of  the  canon  of  the 
Hew  Testament.  It  relates  the  “ Miracles  at  Mary’s  labor,”  simi- 
lar to  the  Luke  narrator,  but  in  a still  more  wonderful  form.  It 
is  probably  from  this  apocryphal  Gospel  that  the  Luke  narrator 
copied. 


1 See  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  65. 


» Ibid.  p.  45. 


CHAPTER  XY. 


THE  DIVINE  CHILD  RECOGNIZED  AND  PRESENTED  WITH  GIFTS. 

The  next  in  order  of  the  wonderful  events  which  are  related 
to  have  happened  at  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus,  is  the  recognition 
of  the  divine  child,  and  the  presentation  of  gifts. 

We  are  informed  by  the  Matthew  narrator,  that  being  guided 
by  a star,  the  Magi 1 from  the  east  came  to  where  the  young  child 
was. 

“ And  when  they  were  come  into  the  house  (not  stable)  they  saw  the  young 
child,  with  Mary  his  mother,  and  fell  down  and  worshiped  him.  And  when 
they  had  opened  their  treasures,  they  presented  unto  him  gifts,  gold,  frankin- 
cense, and  myrrh.”2 

The  Luke  narrator — who  seems  to  know  nothing  about  the 
Magi  from  the  east — informs  us  that  shepherds  came  and  wor- 
shiped the  young  child.  They  were  keeping  their  flocks  by 
night  when  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared  before  them,  saying : 

“Behold,  I bring  you  good  tidings— for  unto  you  is  born  this  day  in  the  city 
of  David  a Saviour,  which  is  Christ  the  Lord.” 

After  the  angel  had  left  them,  they  said  one  to  another : 

“Let  us  go  unto  Bethlehem  and  see  this  thing  which  is  come  to  pass,  which 
the  Lord  hath  made  known  to  us.  And  they  came  with  haste,  and  found  Mary 
and  Joseph,  and  the  babe  lying  in  a manger  ”z 

The  Luke  narrator  evidently  borrowed  this  story  of  the 
shepherds  from  the  “ Gospel  of  the  Egyptians  ” (of  which  we 
shall  speak  in  another  chapter),  or  from  other  sacred  records  of  the 
biographies  of  Crishna  or  Buddha. 

It  is  related  in  the  legends  of  Crishna  that  the  divine  child 


1 “The  original  word  here  is  ‘ Magoi'  from  to  religion,  and  to  medicine.  They  were  held 

which  comes  our  word  '•Magician.'  ...  in  high  esteem  by  the  Persian  court;  weread- 

The  persons  here  denoted  were  philosophers,  mitted  as  councilors,  and  followed  the  camps 

priests,  or  astronomers.  They  dwelt  chiefly  in  in  war  to  give  advice.”  (Barnes’s  Notes,  vol. 

Persia  and  Arabia.  They  were  the  learned  men  i.  p.  25.) 

of  the  Eastern  nations,  devoted  to  astronomy . 2 Matthew,  ii.  2.  * Luke,  ii.  8-16. 

150 


THE  DIVINE  CHILD  KECOGNIZED. 


151 


was  cradled  among  shepherds,  to  whom  were  first  made  known 
the  stupendous  feats  which  stamped  his  character  with  marks  of 
the  divinity.  He  was  recognized  as  the  promised  Saviour  by 
Nanda,  a shepherd,  or  cowherd,  and  his  companions,  who  pros- 
trated themselves  before  the  heaven-born  child.  After  the  birth  of 
Crishna,  the  Indian  prophet  Nared,  having  heard  of  his  fame, 
visited  his  father  and  mother  at  Gokool,  examined  the  stars,  &c., 
and  declared  him  to  be  of  celestial  descent.1 

Not  only  was  Crishna  adored  by  the  shepherds  and  Magi,  and 
received  with  divine  honors , but  he  was  also  presented  with  gifts. 
These  gifts  were  “ sandal  wood  and  perfumes.”2  (Why  not  “ frank- 
incense and  myrrh  ?”) 

Similar  stories  are  related  of  the  infant  Buddha.  He  was 
visited,  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  by  wise  men,  who  at  once  recog- 
nized in  the  marvellous  infant  all  the  characters  of  the  divin- 
ity, and  he  had  scarcely  seen  the  day  before  he  was  hailed 
god  of  gods.3 

“ ’Mongst  the  strangers  came 
A grey-haired  saint,  Asita,  one  whose  ears, 

Long  closed  to  earthly  things,  caught  heavenly  sounds, 

And  heard  at  prayer  beneath  his  peepul-tree, 

The  Devas  singing  songs  at  Buddha’s  birth.” 

Yiscount  Amberly,  speaking  of  him,  says  :4 

“He  was  visited  and  adored  by  a very  eminent  Bishi,  or  hermit,  known  as 
Asita,  who  predicted  his  future  greatness,  but  wept  at  the  thought  that  he  him- 
self was  too  old  to  see  the  day  when  the  law  of  salvation  would  be  taught  by  the 
infant  whom  he  had  come  to  contemplate.” 

“ I weep  (said  Asita),  because  I am  old  and  stricken  in  years,  and  shall  not  see 
all  that  is  about  to  come  to  pass.  The  Buddha  Bhagavat  (God  Almighty 
Buddha)  comes  to  the  world  only  after  many  kalpas.  This  bright  boy  will  be 
Buddha.  For  the  salvation  of  the  world  he  will  teach  the  law.  He  will  succor 
the  old,  the  sick,  the  afflicted,  the  dying.  He  will  release  those  who  are  bound  in 
the  meshes  of  natural  corruption.  He  will  quicken  the  spiritual  vision  of  those 
whose  eyes  are  darkened  by  the  thick  darkness  of  ignorance.  Hundreds  of 
thousands  of  millions  of  beings  will  be  carried  by  him  to  the  ‘ other  shore  ’ — 
will  put  on  immortality.  And  I shall  not  see  this  perfect  Buddha — this  is  why 
I weep.”5 

He  returns  rejoicing,  however,  to  his  mountain-home,  for  his 
eyes  had  seen  the  promised  and  expected  Saviour.6 

Paintings  in  the  cave  of  A junta  represent  Asita  with  the 


1 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  pp.  129,  130,  4 Amberly’s  Analysis,  p.  177.  See  also,  Bun- 

and  Maurice  : Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  pp.  256,  sen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  36. 

257  and  317.  Also,  The  Vishnu  Purana.  6 Lillie  : Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism,  p.  76. 

a Oriental  Religions,  pp.  500,  501.  See  .also,  6 Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  6,  and  Beal: 

Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  353.  Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  58,  60. 

* Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  157. 


152 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


infant  Buddha  in  his  arms.1 * 3  The  marvelous  gifts  of  this  child 
had  become  known  to  this  eminent  ascetic  by  supernatural  signs? 

Buddha,  as  well  as  Crishna  and  Jesus,  was  presented  with  a costly 
jewels  and  precious  substances.”8  (Why  not  gold  and  perfumes?) 

Rama — the  seventh  incarnation  of  Vishnu  for  human  deliver- 
ance from  evil — is  also  hailed  by  “ aged  saints  ” — (why  not  “ wise 
men  ” ?) — who  die  gladly  when  their  eyes  see  the  long-expected 
one.4 

How-tseich , who  was  one  of  those  personages  styled,  in  China, 
“ Tien-Tse,”  or  “ Sons  of  Heaven,”5  and  who  came  into  the  world 
in  a miraculous  manner,  was  laid  in  a narrow  lane.  When  his 
mother  had  fulfilled  her  time : 

“ Her  first-born  son  (came  forth)  like  a lamb. 

There  was  no  bursting,  no  rending, 

No  injury,  no  hurt — 

Showing  how  wonderful  he  would  be.” 

When  born,  the  sheep  and  oxen  protected  him  with  loving 
care.6 

The  birth  of  Confucius  (b.  c.  551),  like  that  of  all  the  demi- 
gods and  saints  of  antiquity,  is  fabled  to  have  been  attended  with 
allegorical  prodigies,  amongst  which  was  the  appearance  of  the 
Ke-lin , a miraculous  quadruped,  prophetic  of  happiness  and  virtue, 
which  announced  that  the  child  would  be  “ a king  without  a throne  or 
territory.”  Five  celestial  sages , or  “ wise  menfi  entered  the  house 
at  the  time  of  the  child's  birth , whilst  vocal  and  instrumental 
music  filled  the  air? 

Mithras , the  Persian  Saviour,  and  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  was  also  visited  by  “ wise  men  ” called  Magi,  at  the  time  of 
his  birth.8  He  was  presented  with  gifts  consisting  of  gold,  frank- 
incense and  myrrh.9 

According  to  Plato,  at  the  birth  of  Socrates  (469  b.  c.)  there 
came  three  Magi  from  the  east  to  worship  him,  bringing  gifts  of 
gold,  frankincense  and  myrrh.10 

FEsculapius , the  virgin-born  Saviour,  was  protected  by  goat- 
herds (why  not  shepherds  ?),  who,  upon  seeing  the  child,  knew  at 
once  that  he  was  divine.  The  voice  of  fame  soon  published  the 


1 Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  36. 

8 See  Amberly’s  Analysis,  p.  231,  and  Bun- 
sen’s Angel-Messiah,  p.  36. 

3 Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  58. 

4 Oriental  Religions,  p.  491. 

6  See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  200, 


• See  Amberly’s  Analysis  of  Religious  Be- 
lief, p.  226. 

7 See  Thornton’s  Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  p.  152. 

8 King  : The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains, 
pp.  134  and  149. 

* Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  353. 

10  See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  96. 


THE  DIVINE  CHILD  KECOGNIZED. 


153 


birth  of  this  miraculous  infant,  upon  which  people  flocked  from  all 
quarters  to  behold  and  worship  this  heaven-born  child.1 

Many  of  the  Grecian  and  Roman  demi-gods  and  heroes  were 
either  fostered  by  or  worshiped  by  shepherds.  Amongst  these  may 
be  mentioned  Bacchus , who  was  educated  among  shepherds,2  and 
Romulus , who  was  found  on  the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  and  educated 
by  shepherds.3  Paris , son  of  Priam,  was  educated  among  shep- 
herds,4 and  jl Bgisthus  was  exposed,  like  JEsculapius,  by  his  mother, 
found  by  shepherds  and  educated  among  them.5 

Yiscount  Amberly  has  well  said  that:  “Prognostications  of 

greatness  in  infancy  are,  indeed,  among  the  stock  incidents  in  the 
mythical  or  semi-mythical  lives  of  eminent  persons.” 

We  have  seen  that  the  Matthew  narrator  speaks  of  the  infant 
Jesus,  and  Mary,  his  mother,  being  in  a “house” — implying  that 
he  had  been  born  there  ; and  that  the  Luke  narrator  speaks  of  the 
infant  “ lying  in  a manger  ” — implying  that  he  was  born  in  a stable. 
We  will  now  show  that  there  is  still  another  story  related  of  the 
j glace  in  which  he  was  born. 


1 Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  150.  Roman  Anti- 
quities, p.  136,  and  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p. 
27. 

8 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 


8 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  213. 

* Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  47. 

• Ibid.  p.  20. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 

The  writer  of  that  portion  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Matthew 
which  treats  of  th q place  in  which  Jesus  was  born,  implies,  as  we 
stated  in  our  last  chapter,  that  he  was  born  in  a house.  His  words 
are  these  : 

“Now  when  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea  in  the  days  of  Herod  the 
king,  behold,  there  came  wise  men  from  the  east”  to  worship  him.  “ And  when 
they  were  come  into  the  house , they  saw  the  young  child  with  Mary  his  mother.”1 

The  writer  of  the  Luke  version  implies  that  he  was  born  in  a 
stable , as  the  following  statement  will  show : 

“ The  days  being  accomplished  that  she  (Mary)  should  be  delivered  . . . 

she  brought  forth  her  first-born  son,  and  wrapped  him  in  swaddling  clothes,  and 
laid  him  in  a manger , there  being  no  room  for  him  in  the  inn”'2 

If  these  accounts  were  contained  in  these  Gospels  in  the  time  of 
Eusebius,  the  first  ecclesiastical  historian,  who  flourished  during  the 
Council  of  Nice  (a.  d.  327),  it  is  very  strange  that,  in  speaking  of 
the  birth  of  Jesus,  he  should  have  omitted  even  mentioning  them, 
and  should  have  given  an  altogether  different  version.  He  tells  us 
that  Jesus  was  neither  born  in  a house , nor  in  a stable , but  in  a 
cave , and  that  at  the  time  of  Constantine  a magnificent  temple  was 
erected  on  the  spot,  so  that  the  Christians  might  worship  in  the 
place  where  their  Saviour’s  feet  had  stood.8 

In  the  apocryphal  Gospel  called  “ Protevangelion”  attributed  to 
James,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  we  are  informed  that  Mary  and  her 
husband,  being  away  from  their  home  in  Nazareth,  and  when  with- 
in three  miles  of  Bethlehem,  to  which  city  they  were  going,  Mary 
said  to  Joseph : 

“Take  me  down  from  tbe  ass,  for  that  which  is  in  me  presses  to  come 
forth.” 


1 Matthew,  il.  8 Eusebius's  Life  of  Constantine,  lib.  3,  cha 

9 Luke,  ii.  xl.,  xli.  and  xlii. 

154 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


155 


Joseph,  replying,  said : 

“ Whither  shall  I take  thee,  for  the  place  is  desert ? ” 

Then  said  Mary  again  to  Joseph : 

“Take  me  down,  for  that  which  is  within  me  mightily  presses  me.” 

Joseph  then  took  her  down  from  off  the  ass,  and  he  found  there 
a cave  and  put  her  into  it. 

Joseph  then  left  Mary  in  the  cave,  and  started  toward  Bethle- 
hem for  a midwife,  whom  he  found  and  brought  back  with  him. 
When  they  neared  the  spot  a bright  cloud  overshadowed  the  cave. 

“But  on  a sudden  the  cloud  became  a great  light  in  the  care,  so  their  eyes 
could  not  bear  it.  But  the  light  gradually  decreased,  until  the  infant  appeared 
and  sucked  the  breast  of  his  mother.”1 

Tertullian  (a.  d.  200),  Jerome  (a.  d.  375)  and  other  Fathers  of 
the  Church,  also  state  that  Jesus  was  born  in  a erne,  and  that  the 
heathen  celebrated,  in  their  day,  the  birth  and  Mysteries  of  their 
Lord  and  Saviour  Adonis  in  this  very  cave  near  Bethlehem.2 

Canon  Farrar  says : 

“That  the  actual  place  of  Christ’s  birth  was  a caw,  is  a very  ancient  tradi- 
tion, and  this  cave  used  to  be  shown  as  the  scene  of  the  event  even  so  early  as 
the  time  of  Justin  Martyr  (a.  d.  150).  ”3 

Mr.  King  says : 

“ The  place  yet  shown  as  the  scene  of  their  (the  Magi’s)  adoration  at  Bethle- 
hem is  a caw.”4 * 

The  Christian  ceremonies  in  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  at 
Bethlehem  are  celebrated  to  this  day  in  a ca/ve?  and  are  undoubt- 
edly nearly  the  same  as  were  celebrated,  in  the  same  place,  in 
honor  of  Adonis , in  the  time  of  Tertullian  and  Jerome ; and  as 
are  yet  celebrated  in  Home  every  Christmas-day,  very  early  in 
the  morning. 

We  see,  then,  that  there  are  three  different  accounts  concerning 
th % place  in  which  Jesus  was  born.  The  first,  and  evidently  true 
one,  was  that  which  is  recorded  by  the  Matthew  narrator,  namely, 
that  he  was  born  in  a house.  The  stories  about  his  being  born  in 
a stable  or  in  a cave 6 were  later  inventions,  caused  from  the  desire 
to  place  him  in  as  humble  a position  as  possible  in  his  infancy,  and 
from  the  fact  that  the  virgin-born  Saviours  who  had  preceded 


1 Protevangelion.  Apoc.  chs.  xii.,  xiii.,  and 

xiv.,  and  Lily  of  Israel,  p.  95. 

3 See  Higgins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  pp.  98, 

99. 

3 Farrar’s  Life  of  Christ,  p.  38,  and  note. 

See  also,  Hist.  Hindostan,  ii.  311. 


4 King : The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains, 
p.  134. 

8 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  95. 

6 Some  writers  have  tried  to  connect  these 
by  saying  that  it  was  a cave-stable , but  why 
should  a stable  be  in  a desert  place , as  the  nar- 
rative states  ? 


156 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


him  had  almost  all  been  bom  in  a position  the  most  humiliating 
— such  as  a cave,  a cow-shed,  a sheep-fold,  &c. — or  had  been 
placed  there  after  birth.  This  was  a part  of  the  universal  mythos. 
As  illustrations  we  may  mention  the  following : 

Crishna , the  Hindoo  virgin-born  Saviour,  was  born  in  a cave? 
fostered  by  an  honest  herdsman ? and,  it  is  said,  placed  in  a sheep- 
fold  shortly  after  his  birth. 

How-Tseih , the  Chinese  “ Son  of  Heaven,”  when  an  infant, 
was  left  unprotected  by  his  mother,  but  the  sheep  and  oxen  pro- 
tected him  with  loving  care.1 2 3 4 

Abraham , the  Father  of  Patriarchs,  is  said  to  have  been  born 
in  a eave ? 

Bacchus , who  was  the  son  of  God  by  the  virgin  Semele,  is  said 
to  have  been  bom  in  a cave , or  placed  in  one  shortly  after  his 
birth.5 * *  Philostratus,  the  Greek  sophist  and  rhetorician,  says,  “ the 
inhabitants  of  India  had  a tradition  that  Bacchus  was  born  at  Hisa, 
and  was  brought  up  in  a cave  on  Mount  Meros.” 

AEsculapius , who  was  the  son  of  God  by  the  virgin  Coronis, 
was  left  exposed,  when  an  infant,  on  a mountain,  where  he  was 
found  and  cared  for  by  a goatherd? 

Romulus , who  was  the  son  of  God  by  the  virgin  Khea-Sylvia, 
was  left  exposed,  when  an  infant,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Tiber, 
where  he  was  found  and  cared  for  by  a shepherd? 

Adonis , the  “ Lord  ” and  “ Saviour,”  was  placed  in  a cave 
shortly  after  his  birth.8 * 

Apollo  (Phoibos),  son  of  the  Almighty  Zeus,  was  born  in  a 
cave  at  early  dawn.0 

Mithras , the  Persian  Saviour,  was  born  in  a cave  or  grotto™  at 
early  dawn. 

Hermes , the  son  of  God  by  the  mortal  Maia , was  born 
early  in  the  morning,  in  a cave  or  grotto  of  the  Kyllemian  hill.11 

Attys , the  god  of  the  Phrygians,12  was  born  in  a cave  or  grotto.13 

The  object  is  thb  same  in  all  of  these  stories,  however  they  may 
differ  in  detail,  which  is  to  place  the  heaven-born  infant  in  the 
most  humiliating  position  in  infancy. 

We  have  seen  it  is  recorded  that,  at  the  time  of  the  birth 


1 Aryan  Myths,  vol.  ii.  p.  107. 

2 See  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  259. 

3 See  Amberly’s  Analysis,  p.  226. 

4 See  Calmet’s  Fragments,  art.  “ Abraham.” 

6 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  321. 

Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  118,  and  Dupuis,  p. 

234. 

* See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  150,  and  Bell’s 

Pantheon  under  “JSsculapius.” 


7 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  213. 

8 See  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  12. 

9 Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  i.  pp.  72,  158. 

10  See  Dunlap’s  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  124, 
and  Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  134. 

11  Ibid. 

12  See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Beliefs, 
p.  255. 

13  See  Dunlap’s  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  124. 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


157 


of  Jesus  “ there  was  a great  light  in  the  cave,  so  that  the  eyes  of 
Joseph  and  the  midwife  could  not  bear  it.”  This  feature  is  also 
represented  in  early  Christian  art.  “ Early  Christian  painters  have 
represented  the  infant  Jesus  as  welcoming  three  Kings  of  the 
East,  and  shining  as  brilliantly  as  if  covered  with  phosphuretted 
oil”1  In  all  pictures  of  the  Nativity,  the  light  is  made  to  arise 
from  the  body  of  the  infant,  and  the  father  and  mother  are  often 
depicted  with  glories  round  their  heads.  This  too  was  a part  of 
the  old  mythos,  as  we  shall  now  see. 

The  moment  Crishna  was  born,  his  mother  became  beautiful, 
and  her  form  brilliant.  The  whole  cave  was  splendidly  illumina- 
ted, being  filled  with  a heavenly  light , and  the  countenances  of  his 
father  and  his  mother  emitted  rays  of  glory.2 

So  likewise,  it  is  recorded  that,  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of 
Buddha,  “the  Saviour  of  the  World,”  which,  according  to  one 
account,  took  place  in  an  inn,  “ a divine  light  diffused  around  his 
person,”  so  that  “the  Blessed  One”  was  “heralded  into  the  world 
by  a supernatural  light.”3 

When  Bacchus  was  born,  a bright  light  shone  round  him,4  so 
that,  “ there  was  a brilliant  light  in  the  cave  ” 

When  Apollo  was  born,  a halo  of  serene  light  encircled  his 
cradle , the  nymphs  of  heaven  attended,  and  bathed  him  in  pure 
water,  and  girded  a broad  golden  band  around  his  form.5 

When  the  Saviour  JEsculapius  was  born,  his  countenance  shone 
like  the  sun,  and  he  was  surrounded  by  a fiery  ray.6 

In  the  life  of  Zoroaster  the  common  mythos  is  apparent.  He 
was  born  in  innocence  of  an  immaculate  conception  of  a Bay  of 
the  Divine  Beason.  As  soon  as  he  was  born,  the  glory  arising 
from  his  body  enlightened  the  whole  room,  and  he  laughed  at  his 
mother.7 

It  is  stated  in  the  legends  of  the  Hebrew  Patriarchs  that,  at 
the  birth  of  Moses , a bright  fight  appeared  and  shone  around.8 

There  is  still  another  feature  which  we  must  notice  in  these 
narratives,  that  is,  the  contradictory  statements  concerning  the  time 
when  Jesus  was  born.  As  we  shall  treat  of  this  subject  more  fully 
in  the  chapter  on  “The  Birthday  of  Christ  Jesus,”  we  shall 
allude  to  it  here  simply  as  far  as  necessary. 

1 Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  460.  4 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  322, 

2 Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  133.  and  Dupnis  : Origin  of  Relig.  Belief,  p.  119. 

Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  j.  p.  130.  See  also,  6 Tales  of  Anct.  Greece,  p.  xviii. 

Vishnu  Purana,  p.  502,  where  it  says:  6 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  27.  Roman  An- 

“ No  person  could  bear  to  gaze  upon  Devaki  tiquities,  p.  136. 

from  the  light  that  invested  her.”  7 Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  460. 

* See  Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  43,  46,  or  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  649. 

Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  34,  35.  8 See  Hardy  : Manual  of  Buddhism,  J>.  145 


158 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  Matthew  narrator  informs  us  that  Jesus  was  born  in  the 
days  of  Ilerod  the  King,  and  the  Luke  narrator  says  he  was  born 
when  Cyrenius  was  Governor  of  Syria,  or  later.  This  is  a very- 
awkward  and  unfortunate  statement,  as  Cyrenius  was  not  Governor 
of  Syria  until  some  ten  years  after  the  time  of  Herod.1 

The  cause  of  this  dilemma  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  Luke 
narrator,  after  having  interwoven  into  his  story,  of  the  birth  of 
J esus,  the  old  myth  of  the  tax  or  tribute,  which  is  said  to  have 
taken  place  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  some  previous  virgin-born 
Saviours,  looked  among  the  records  to  see  if  a taxing  had  ever 
taken  place  in  J udea,  so  that  he  might  refer  to  it  in  support  of  his 
statement.  He  found  the  account  of  the  taxing,  referred  to  above, 
and  without  stopping  to  consider  when  this  taxing  took  place,  or 
whether  or  not  it  would  conflict  with  the  statement  that  Jesus  was 
born  in  the  days  of  Herod , he  added  to  his  narrative  the  words : 
“ And  this  taxing  was  first  made  when  Cyrenius  was  governor  of 
Syria.”2 

We  will  now  show  the  ancient  myth  of  the  taxing.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Vishnu  Purana,  when  the  infant  Saviour  Crishna  was 
born,  his  foster-father,  Nanda,  had  come  to  the  city  to  pay  his  tax 
or  yearly  tribute  to  the  king.  It  distinctly  speaks  of  Nanda,  and 
other  cowherds,  “ bringing  tribute  or  tax  to  Kansa  ” the  reigning 
monarch.3 

It  also  describes  a scene  which  took  place  after  the  taxes  had 
been  paid. 

Vasudeva,  an  acquaintance  of  Nanda’s,  “ went  to  the  wagon  of 
Nanda,  and  found  Nanda  there,  rejoicing  that  a son  (Crishna)  had 
been  born  to  him. 

“ Yasudeva  spoke  to  him  kindly,  and  congratulated  him  on  hav- 
ing a son  in  his  old  age? 

“ 4 Thy  yearly  tribute,’  he  added, ( has  been  paid  to  the  king  . . . 
why  do  you  delay,  now  that  your  affairs  are  settled?  Up,  Nanda, 
quickly,  and  set  off  to  your  own  pastures.’  . . . Accordingly 

Nanda  and  the  other  cowherds  returned  to  their  village.”5 

Now,  in  regard  to  Buddha,  the  same  myth  is  found. 

Among  the  thirty-two  signs  which  were  to  be  fulfilled  by  the 
mother  of  the  expected  Messiah  (Buddha),  the  fifth  sign  was  re- 
corded to  be,  “ that  she  would  be  on  a journey  at  the  time  of  her 


» See  the  chapter  on  “ Christmas.”  8 See  Vishnu  Purana,  book  v.  chap.  iii. 

2 It  may  be  that  this  verse  was  added  by  * Here  is  an  exact  counterpart  to  the  story 

another  hand  some  time  after  the  narrative  was  of  Joseph— the  foster-father,  so-called — of 

written.  We  have  seen  it  stated  somewhere  Jesus.  He  too,  had  a son  in  his  old  age. 

that,  in  the  manuscript,  this  verse  is  in  brackets.  6 Vishnu  Purana,  book  v.  chap.  v. 


THE  BIRTH-PLACE  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


159 


child) s birth)1  Therefore,  “ that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
spoken  by* *  the  prophets,”  the  virgin  Maya,  in  the  tenth  month 
after  her  heavenly  conception,  was  on  a journey  to  her  father, 
when  lo,  the  birth  of  the  Messiah  took  place  under  a tree.  One 
account  says  that  “ she  had  alighted  at  an  inn  when  Buddha  was 
born.”1 

The  mother  of  Lao-tsze , the  Yirgin-born  Chinese  sage,  was 
away  from  home  when  her  child  was  born.  She  stopped  to  rest 
under  a tree , and  there,  like  the  virgin  Maya,  gave  birth  to  her 
son.2 

Pythagoras  (b.  c.  570),  whose  real  father  was  the  Holy  Ghost,* 
was  also  born  at  a time  when  his  mother  was  away  from  home  on 
a journey.  She  was  travelling  with  her  husband,  who  was  about 
his  mercantile  concerns , from  Samos  to  Sidon.4 

Apollo  was  born  when  his  mother  was  away  from  home.  The 
Ionian  legend  tells  the  simple  tale  that  Leto,  the  mother  of  the 
unborn  Apollo,  could  find  no  place  to  receive  her  in  her  hour  of 
travail  until  she  came  to  Delos.  The  child  was  born  like  Buddha 
and  Lao-tsze — under  a tree)  The  mother  knew  that  he  was  des- 
tined to  be  a being  of  mighty  power,  ruling  among  the  undying 
gods  and  mortal  men.6 

Thus  we  see  that  the  stories,  one  after  another,  relating  to  the 
birth  and  infancy  of  Jesus,  are  simply  old  myths,  and  are  therefore 
not  historical. 


1 Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  34.  See 
also,  Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  32,  and  Lillie  : 
Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism,  p.  73. 

* Thornton  : Hist.  China,  i.  138. 


3 As  we  saw  in  Chapter  XTT. 

4 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol,  i.  p.  150. 
8 See  Rhys  David’s  Buddhism,  p.  26. 

• See  Cox : Aryan  Myths,  vol.  ii.  p.  21. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  GENEALOGY  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 

The  biographers  of  Jesus,  although  they  have  placed  him  in  a 
position  the  most  humiliating  in  his  infancy,  and  although  they 
have  given  him  poor  and  humble  parents,  have  notwithstanding 
made  him  to  be  of  royal  descent.  The  reasons  for  doing  this 
were  twofold.  First,  because,  according  to  the  Old  Testament,  the 
expected  Messiah  was  to  be  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,1 *  and  second, 
because  the  Angel-Messiahs  who  had  previously  been  on  earth  to 
redeem  and  save  mankind  had  been  of  royal  descent , therefore 
Christ  Jesus  must  be  so. 

The  following  story,  taken  from  Colebrooke’s  “ Miscellaneous 
Essays”*  clearly  shows  that  this  idea  was  general : 

“ The  last  of  the  Jinas,  Vardhamana,  was  at  first  conceived  by  DevanandS,  a 
BrahmanS.  The  conception  was  announced  to  her  by  a dream.  Sekra,  being 
apprised  of  his  incarnation,  prostrated  himself  and  worshiped  the  future 
saint  (who  was  in  the  womb  of  DevanandS) ; but  reflecting  that  no  great  saint  was 
ever  born  in  an  indigent  or  mendicant  family , as  that  of  a BrahmSna,  Sekra  com- 
manded his  chief  attendant  to  remove  the  child  from  the  womb  of  DevanandS  to 
that  of  Trisala,  wife  of  Siddhartha,  a prince  of  the  race  of  Jeswaca,  of  the  Kasyapa 
family.” 

In  their  attempts  to  accomplish  their  object,  the  biographers 
of  Jesus  have  made  such  poor  work  of  it,  that  all  the  ingenuity 
Christianity  has  yet  produced,  has  not  been  able  to  repair  their 
blunders. 

The  genealogies  are  contained  in  the  first  and  third  Gospels, 
and  although  they  do  not  agree,  yet,  if  either  is  right,  then  Jesus 
was  not  the  son  of  God,  engendered  by  the  “ Holy  Ghost,”  but  the 
legitimate  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary.  In  any  other  sense  they 
amount  to  nothing.  That  J esus  can  be  of  royal  descent,  and  yet 


1 That  is,  a passage  in  the  Old  Testament  who  is  made  to  say  : “In  thy  seed  shall  all  the 

was  construed  to  mean  this,  although  another  nations  of  the  earth  be  blessed,  because  thou 

and  more  plausible  meaning  might  be  inferred.  hast  obeyed  my  voice.”  (Genesis,  xxii.  18.) 

It  is  when  Abraham  is  blessed  by  the  Lord,  3 Vol.  ii.  p.  214. 

160 


THE  GENEALOGY  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


161 


be  the  Son  of  God,  in  the  sense  in  which  these  words'are  used,  is  a 
conclusion  which  can  be  acceptable  to  those  only  who  believe  in 
alleged  historical  narratives  on  no  other  ground  than  that  they  wish 
them  to  be  true,  and  dare  not  call  them  into  question. 

The  Matthew  narrator  states  that  all  the  generations  from 
Abraham  to  David  are  fourteen , from  David  until  the  carrying 
.away  into  Babylon  ar e fourteen,  and  from  the  carrying  away  into 
Babylon  unto  Jesus  are  fourteen  generations.1  Surely  nothing  can 
have  a more  mythological  appearance  than  this.  But,  when  we 
■confine  our  attention  to  the  genealogy  itself,  we  find  that  the  gen- 
erations in  the  third  stage,  including  Jesus  himself,  amount  to  only 
thirteen.  All  attempts  to  get  over  this  difficulty  have  been  with- 
out success ; the  genealogies  are,  and  have  always  been,  hard  nuts 
for  theologians  to  crack.  Some  of  the  early  Christian  fathers 
saw  this,  and  they  very  wisely  put  an  allegorical  interpretation  to 
them. 

Dr.  South  says,  in  Kitto’s  Biblical  Encyclopaedia  : 

“Christ’s  being  the  true  Messiah  depends  upon  his  being  the  son  of  David 
and  king  of  the  Jews.  So  that  unless  this  be  evinced  the  whole  foundation  of 
•' Christianity  must  totter  and  fall” 

Another  writer  in  the  same  work  says : 

“ In  these  two  documents  (Matthew  and  Luke),  which  profess  to  give  us  the 
genealogy  of  Christ,  there  is  no  notice  whatever  of  the  connection  of  his  only 
earthly  parent  with  the  stock  of  David.  On  the  contrary,  both  the  genealogies 
profess  to  give  us  the  descent  of  Joseph,  to  connect  our  Lord  with  whom  by 
natural  generation,  would  be  to  falsify  the  whole  story  of  his  miraculous  birth, 
and  overthrow  the  Christian  faith.” 

Again,  when  the  idea  that  one  of  the  genealogies  is  Mary’s  is 
spoken  of : 

“ One  thing  is  certain,  that  our  belief  in  Mary’s  descent  from  David  is 
grounded  on  inference  and  tradition  and  not  on  any  direct  statement  of  the 
sacred  writings.  And  there  has  been  a ceaseless  endeavor,  both  among  ancients 
and  moderns,  to  gratify  the  natural  cravings  for  knowledge  on  .this  subject.” 

Thomas  Scott,  speaking  of  the  genealogies,  says : 

“It  is  a favorite  saying  with  those  who  seek  to  defend  the  history  of  the 
Pentateuch  against  the  scrutiny  of  modem  criticism,  that  the  objections  urged 
against  it  were  known  long  ago.  The  objections  to  the  genealogy  were  known 
long  ago,  indeed;  and  perhaps  nothing  shows  more  conclusively  than  this  knowl- 
edge, the  disgraceful  dishonesty  and  willful  deception  of  the  most  illustrious  of 
Christian  doctors.”2 


1 Matthew,  i.  17. 

11 


9 Scott’s  English  Life  of  Jesus. 


162 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Referring  to  tlie  two  genealogies,  Albert  Barnes  says  : 

“No  two  passages  of  Scripture  have  caused  more  difficulty  than  these,  and 
various  attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  them.  . . . Most  interpreters 

have  supposed  that  Matthew  gives  the  genealogy  of  Joseph,  and  Luke  that  of 
Mary.  But  though  this  solution  is  plausible  and  may  be  true,  yet  it  wants 
evidence .” 

Barnes  furthermore  admits  the  fallibility  of  the  Bible  in  his 
remarks  upon  the  genealogies ; 1st,  by  comparing  them  to  our 
fallible  family  records;  and  2d,  by  the  remark  that  “ the  only 
inquiry  which  can  now  be  fairly  made  is  whether  they  copied  these 
tables  correctly .” 

Alford,  Ellicott,  Hervey,  Meyer,  Mill,  Patritius  and  Words- 
worth hold  that  both  genealogies  are  Joseph’s ; and  Aubertin, 
Ebrard,  Greswell,  Kurtz,  Lange,  Lightfoot  and  others,  hold  that 
one  is  Joseph’s,  and  the  other  Mary’s. 

When  the  genealogy  contained  in  Matthew  is  compared  with 
the  Old  Testament  they  are  found  to  disagree  ; there  are  omissions 
which  any  writer  with  the  least  claim  to  historical  sense  would 
never  have  made. 

When  the  genealogy  of  the  third  Gospel  is  turned  to,  the 
difficulties  greatly  increase,  instead  of  diminish.  It  not  only 
contradicts  the  statements  made  by  the  Matthew  narrator,  but  it 
does  not  agree  with  the  Old  Testament. 

What,  according  to  the  three  first  evangelists , did  Jesus  think 
of  himself  ? In  the  first  place  he  made  no  allusion  to  any  miracu- 
lous circumstances  connected  with  his  birth.  He  looked  upon  him- 
self as  belonging  to  Nazareth , not  as  the  child  of  Bethlehem  ;x  he 
reproved  the  scribes  for  teaching  that  the  Messiah  must  necessarily 
be  a descendant  of  David*  and  did  not  himself  make  any  express 
claim  to  such  descent .1 2 3 

As  we  cannot  go  into  an  extended  inquiry  concerning  the 
genealogies,  and  as  there  is  no  real  necessity  for  so  doing,  as  many 
others  have  already  done  so  in  a masterly  manner,4  we  will  con- 
tinue our  investigations  in  another  direction,  and  show  that  Jesus 
was  not  the  only  Messiah  who  was  claimed  to  be  of  royal  descent. 


1 Matthew,  xiii.  54;  Luke,  iv.  24. 

2 Mark,  ii.  35. 

3 “There  is  no  doubt  that  the  authors  of 
the  genealogies  regarded  him  (Jesus),  as  did 
his  countrymen  and  contemporaries  generally, 
as  the  eldest  son  of  Joseph,  Mary’s  husband, 
and  that  thsy  had  no  idea  of  anything  miracu- 
lous connected  with  his  birth.  All  the  attempts 

of  the  old  commentators  to  reconcile  the  in- 


consistencies of  the  evangelical  narratives  are 
of  no  avail.”  (Albert  Reville  : Hist.  Dogma, 
Deity,  Jesus,  p.  15.) 

4  The  reader  is  referred  to  Thomas  Scott’s 
English  Life  of  Jesus,  Strauss's  Life  of  Jesus, 
The  Genealogies  of  Our  Lord,  by  Lord  Arthur 
Hervey,  Kitto’s  Biblical  Encyclopaedia,  and 
Barnes’  Notes. 


THE  GENEALOGY  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


ms 


To  commence  with  Crishna , the  Hindoo  Saviour,  he  was  of 
royal  descent , although  born  in  a state  the  most  abject  and 
humiliating.1 *  Thomas  Maurice  says  of  him  : 

“ Crishna,  in  the  male  line,  was  of  royal  descent,  being  of  the  Yadava  line, 
the  oldest  and  noblest  of  India;  and  nephew,  by  his  mother's  side,  to  the  reigning 
sovereign ; but,  though  royally  descended,  he  vras  actually  born  in  a state  the 
most  abject  and  humiliating;  and,  though  not  in  a stable,  yet  in  a dungeon.”* 

Buddha  was  of  royal  descent , having  descended  from  the 
house  of  Sakya,  the  most  illustrious  of  the  caste  of  Brahmans,  which 
reigned  in  India  over  the  powerful  empire  of  Mogadha,  in  the 
Southern  Bahr.3 4 

R.  Spence  Hardy  says,  in  his  “ Manual  of  Buddhism  :” 

“The  ancestry  of  Gotama  Buddha  is  traced  from  his  father,  Sodhodana, 
through  various  individuals  and  races,  all  of  royal  dignity,  to  Maha  Sammata, 
the  first  monarch  of  the  world.  Several  of  the  names,  and  some  of  the  events, 
are  met  with  in  the  Puranas  of  the  Brahmins,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  reconcile 
one  order  of  statement  with  the  other;  and  it  would  appear  that  the  Buddhist 
historians  have  introduced  races,  and  invented  names,  that  they  may  invest  their 
venerated  sage  with  all  the  honors  of  heraldry,  in  addition  to  the  attributes  of 
divinity.” 

How  remarkably  these  words  compare  with  what  we  have 
just  seen  concerning  the  genealogies  of  Jesus ! 

Rama,  another  Indian  avatar — the  seventh  incarnation  of 
Vishnu — was  also  of  royal  descent * 

Fo-hi / or  Fuh-he,  the  virgin-born  “Son  of  Heaven,”  was  of 
royal  descent.  He  belonged  to  the  oldest  family  of  monarchs  who 
ruled  in  China.6 

Confucius  was  of  royal  descent.  His  pedigree  is  traced  back 
in  a summary  manner  to  the  monarch  Hoang-ty , who  is  said  to 
have  lived  and  ruled  more  than  two  thousand  years  before  the  time 
of  Christ  Jesus.6 

Horus , the  Egyptian  virgin-born  Saviour,  was  of  royal  de- 
scent, having  descended  from  a line  of  kings.7  He  had  the  title 
of  “Royal  Good  Shepherd.”8 

Hercules , the  Saviour,  was  of  royal  descent .9 


1 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  130. 
Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  259,  and  Allen’s 

India,  p.  379. 

3 Hist.  Hindostan,  ii.  p.  310. 

* See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  157. 
Bunsen:  The Angel-Messiah.  Davis:  Hist. of 
China,  vol.  ii.  p.  80,  and  Hue’s  Travels,  vol.  i, 
p.  327. 

4 Allen’s  India,  p.  379. 


6 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  200,  and 
Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Fuh-he.” 

8 Davis : History  of  China,  vol.  ii.  p.  48,  and 
Thornton  : Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  p.  151. 

7 See  almost  any  work  on  Egyptian  hhtory 
or  the  religions  of  Egypt. 

8 See  Lundy  : Monumental  Christianity,  p. 
403. 

9 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  152.  Roman  An- 
tiquities, p.  124,  and  Bell’s  Pantheon,  i.  382 


164 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Bacchus , although  the  Son  of  God,  was  of  royal  descent 
Perseus , son  of  the  virgin  Danae,  was  of  royal  descent .1 2 
^Esculapius,  the  great  performer  of  miracles,  although  a son  of 
God,  was  notwithstanding  of  royal  descent .3 

Many  more  such  cases  might  be  mentioned,  as  may  be  seen  by 
referring  to  the  histories  of  the  virgin-born  gods  and  demi-gods 
spoken  of  in  Chapter  XII. 


1 See  Greek  and  Italian  Mythology,  p.  81. 
Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  117.  Murray  : Man- 

ual of  Mythology,  p.  118,  and  Roman  Antiqui- 
ties, p.  71. 

9 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  170,  and 


Bulfinch  : The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  161. 

9 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  27.  Roman 
Antiquities,  p.  136,  and  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p. 
150. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


THE  SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  INNOCENTS. 

Interwoven  with  the  miraculous  conception  and  birth  of  Jesus, 
the  star,  the  visit  of  the  Magi,  &c.,  we  have  a myth  which  belongs 
to  a common  form,  and  which,  in  this  instance,  is  merely  adapted 
to  the  special  circumstances  of  the  age  and  place.  This  has  been 
termed  “ the  my th  of  the  dangerous  child.”  Its  general  outline 
is  this : A child  is  born  concerning  whose  future  greatness  some 
prophetic  indications  have  been  given.  But  the  life  of  the  child 
is  fraught  with  danger  to  some  powerful  individual,  generally  a 
monarch.  In  alarm  at  his  threatened  fate,  this  person  endeavors 
to  take  the  child’s  life,  but  it  is  preserved  by  divine  care. 

Escaping  the  measures  directed  against  it,  and  generally  re- 
maining long  unknown,  it  at  length  fulfills  the  prophecies  con- 
cerning its  career,  while  the  fate  which  he  has  vainly  sought  to 
shun  falls  upon  him  who  had  desired  to  slay  it.  There  is  a de- 
parture from  the  ordinary  type,  in  the  case  of  Jesus,  inasmuch  as 
Herod  does  not  actually  die  or  suffer  any  calamity  through  his 
agency.  But  this  failure  is  due  to  the  fact  that  Jesus  did  not 
fulfill  the  conditions  of  the  Messiahship,  according  to  the  Jewish 
conception  which  Matthew  has  here  in  mind.  Had  he — as  was 
expected  of  the  Messiah — become  the  actual  sovereign  of  the  Jews, 
he  must  have  dethroned  the  reigning  dynasty,  whether  repre- 
sented by  Herod  or  his  successors.  But  as  his  subsequent  career 
belied  the  expectations,  the  evangelist  was  obliged  to  postpone  to 
a future  time  his  accession  to  that  throne  of  temporal  dominion 
which  the  incredulity  of  his  countrymen  had  withheld  from  him 
during  his  earthly  life. 

The  story  of  the  slaughter  of  the  infants  which  is  said  to  have 
taken  place  in  Judea  about  the  time  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  second  chapter  of  Matthew , and  is  as  follows : 

“ When  Jesus  was  horn  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea,  in  the  days  of  Herod  the 
king,  there  came  wise  men  from  the  East  to  Jerusalem,  saying;  ‘Where  is  he 

165 


166 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


that  is  born  king  of  the  Jews  ? for  we  have  seen  Ms  star  in  the  East  and  have 
come  to  worship  him.’  When  Herod  the  king  had  heard  these  things,  he  was 
troubled  and  all  Jerusalem  with  him.  Then  Herod,  when  he  had  privately 
called  the  wise  men,  enquired  of  them  diligently  what  time  the  star  appeared. 
And  he  sent  them  to  Bethlehem,  and  said:  ‘Go  and  search  diligently  for  the 
young  child;  and  when  ye  have  found  him,  bring  me  word/  ” 

The  wise  men  went  to  Bethlehem  and  found  the  young  child, 
but  instead  of  returning  to  Herod  as  he  had  told  them,  they  de- 
parted into  their  own  country  another  way,  having  been  warned  of 
God  in  a dream  that  they  should  not  return  to  Herod. 

“ Then  Herod,  when  he  saw  that  he  was  mocked  of  the  wise  men,  was  ex- 
ceeding wroth,  and  sent  forth , and  slew  all  the  children  that  were  in  Bethlehem, 
and  in  all  the  coasts  thereof,  from  two  years  old  and  under.  ” 

We  have  in  this  story,  told  by  the  Matthew  narrator — which 
the  writers  of  the  other  gospels  seem  to  know  nothing  about, — 
almost  a counterpart,  if  not  an  exact  one,  to  that  related  of  Grishna 
of  India,  which  shows  how  closely  the  my thological  history  of  Jesus 
has  been  copied  from  that  of  the  Hindoo  Saviour. 

Joguth  Chunder  Gangooly,  a “Hindoo  convert  to  Christ,”  tells 
us,  in  his  “ Life  and  Religion  of  the  Hindoos,”  that : 

‘ 4 A heavenly  voice  whispered  to  the  foster  father  of  Crishna  and  told  him  to 
fly  with  the  child  across  the  river  Jumna,  which  was  immediately  done. 1 This 
was  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  reigning  monarch,  King  Kansa,  sought  the  life  of 
the  infant  Saviour,  and  to  accomplish  his  purpose,  he  sent  messengers  ‘ to  kill  all 
the  infants  in  the  neighboring  places .’  ”2  , 

Mr.  Higgins  says : 

“ Soon  after  Crishna’s  birth  he  was  carried  away  by  night  and  concealed  in  a 
region  remote  from  his  natal  place,  for  fear  of  a tyrant  whose  destroyer  it  was 
foretold  he  would  become;  and  who  had,  for  that  reason,  ordered  all  the  male 
children  born  at  that  period  to  be  slain.”3 

Sir  William  Jones  says  of  Crishna : 

“ He  passed  a life,  according  to  the  Indians,  of  a most  extraordinary  and  in- 
comprehensible nature.  His  birth  was  concealed  through  fear  of  the  reigning 
tyrant  Kansa,  who,  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  ordered  all  newborn  males  to  he  slain, 
yet  this  wonderful  babe  was  preserved.”*1 

In  the  Epic  poem  Mahabarata,  composed  more  than  two  thousand 
years  ago,  we  have  the  whole  story  of  this  incarnate  deity,  born  of 
a virgin,  and  miraculously  escaping  in  his  infancy  from  the  reign- 
ing tyrant  of  his  country,  related  in  its  original  form. 


1 A heavenly  voice  whispered  to  the  foster-  3 Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  129.  See,  also,  Cox  : 
father  of  Jesus,  and  tq  Id  him  to  fly  with  the  Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  134,  and  Maurice  : 
child  into  Egypt,  which  was  immediately  done.  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  331. 

(See  Matthew,  ii.  13.)  4 Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  pp.  273  and 

3 Life  and  Relig.  of  the  Hindoos,  p.  134.  239. 


THE  SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  INNOCENTS. 


167 


Representations  of  this  flight  with  the  babe  at  midnight  are 
sculptured  on  the  walls  of  ancient  Hindoo  temples.1 

This  story  is  also  the  subject  of  an  immense  sculpture  in  the 
cave-temple  at  Elephanta,  where  the  children  are  represented  as 
being  slain.  The  date  of  this  sculpture  is  lost  in  the  most  remote 
antiquity.  It  represents  a person  holding  a drawn  sword,  sur- 
rounded by  slaughtered  infant  boys.  Figures  of  men  and  women 
are  also  represented  who  are  supposed  to  be  supplicating  for  their 
children.* 3 

Thomas  Maurice,  speaking  of  this  sculpture,  says  : 

“ The  event  of  Crishna’s  birth,  and  the  attempt  to  destroy  him,  took  place  by 
night,  and  therefore  the  shadowy  mantle  of  darkness,  upon  which  mutilated  figures 
of  infants  are  engraved,  darkness  (at  once  congenial  with  his  crime  and  the  season 
of  its  perpetration),  involves  the  tyrant’s  bust ; the  string  of  death  heads  marks  the 
multitude  of  infants  slain  by  his  savage  mandate ; and  every  object  in  the  sculp- 
ture illustrates  the  events  of  that  Avatar.”3 

Another  feature  which  connects  these  stories  is  the  following  : 

Sir  Wm.  Jones  tells  us  that  when  Crishna  was  taken  out  of 
reach  of  the  tyrant  Kansa  who  sought  to  slay  him,  he  was  fostered 
at  Mathura  by  Nanda,  the  herdsman  ;4  and  Canon  Farrar,  speak- 
ing of  the  sojourn  of  the  Holy  Family  in  Egypt,  says  : 

“ St.  Matthew  neither  tells  us  where  the  Holy  Family  abode  in  Egypt,  nor 
how  long  their  exile  continued ; but  ancient  legends  say  that  they  remained  two 
years  absent  from  Palestine,  and  lived  at  MatareBh,  a few  miles  north-east  of 
Cairo.”5 

Chemnitius,  out  of  Stipulensis,  who  had  it  from  Peter  Martyr, 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  in  the  third  century,  says,  that  the  place  in 
Egypt  where  Jesus  was  banished,  is  now  called  Matarea,  about 
ten  miles  beyond  Cairo,  that  the  inhabitants  constantly  burn  a 
lamp  in  remembrance  of  it,  and  that  there  is  a garden  of  trees 
yielding  a balsam,  which  was  planted  by  Jesus  when  a boy.8 

Here  is  evidently  one  and  the  same  legend. 

Salivahana , the  virgin-born  Saviour,  anciently  worshiped  near 
Cape  Comorin,  the  southerly  part  of  the  Peninsula  of  India,  had 
the  same  history.  It  was  attempted  to  destroy  him  in  infancy 
by  a tyrant  who  was  afterward  killed  by  him.  Most  of  the  other 
circumstances,  with  slight  variations,  are  the  same  as  those  told  of 
Crishna  and  Jesus.7 


1 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  61.  4 Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  259. 

3 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  130,  13  . 6 Farrar’s  Life  of  Christ,  p.  58. 

and  Maurice : Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  pp.  * See  Introduction  to  Gospel  of  Infancy 

112,  113,  and  vol.  iii.  pp.  45,  95.  Apoc. 

9 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  pp.  112,  113.  7 See  vol.  x.  Asiatic  Researches. 


1C8 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Buddha's  life  was  also  in  danger  when  an  infant.  In  the 
southern  country  of  Magadha,  there  lived  a king  by  the  name  of 
Bimbasara,  who,  being  fearful  of  some  enemy  arising  that  might 
overturn  his  kingdom,  frequently  assembled  his  principal  ministers, 
together  to  hold  discussion  with  them  on  the  subject.  On  one  of 
these  occasions  they  told  him  that  away  to  the  north  there  was  a 
respectable  tribe  of  people  called  the  Sakyas,  and  that  belonging 
to  this  race  there  was  a youth  newly-born,  the  first-begotten  of  his 
mother,  &c.  This  youth,  who  was  Buddha,  they  said  was  lia,- 
ble  to  overturn  him,  they  therefore  advised  him  to  “ at  ouce  raise 
an  army  and  destroy  the  child.”1 

In  the  chronicles  of  the  East  Mongols,  the  same  tale  is  to  be 
found  repeated  m the  following  story : 

“ A certain  king  of  a people  called  Patsala,  liad  a son  whose  peculiar  appear- 
ance led  the  Brahmins  at  court  to  prophesy  that  he  would  bring  evil  upon  his 
father,  and  to  advise  his  destruction.  Various  modes  of  execution  having  failed, 
the  boy  was  laid  in  a copper  chest  and  thrown  into  the  Ganges.  Rescued  by  an  old 
peasant  who  brought  him  up  as  his  son,  he,  in  due  time,  learned  the  story  of  his 
escape,  and  returned  to  seize  upon  the  kingdom  destined  for  him  from  his 
birth.”2 


Hau-hi , the  Chinese  hero  of  supernatural  origin,  was  exposed 
in  infancy,  as  the  “ Shih-king”  says: 

“ He  was  placed  in  a narrow  lane,  but  the  sheep  and  oxen  protected  him  with 
loving  care.  He  was  placed  in  a wide  forest,  where  he  was  met  with  by  the 
wood-cutters.  He  was  placed  on  the  cold  ice,  and  a bird  screened  and  sup- 
ported him  with  its  wings,”  &c.3 

Mr.  Legge  draws  a comparison  with  this  to  the  Roman  legend 
of  Romulus. 

Horus , according  to  the  Egyptian  story,  was  born  in  the  winter, 
and  brought  up  secretly  in  the  Isle  of  Buto,  for  fear  of  Typhon, 
who  sought  his  life.  Typhon  at  first  schemed  to  prevent  his  birth 
and  then  sought  to  destroy  him  when  born.4 

Within  historical  times,  Gyrus , king  of  Persia  (6th  cent.  b.  c.), 
is  the  hero  of  a similar  tale.  His  grandfather,  Astyages,  had 
dreamed  certain  dreams  which  were  interpreted  by  the  Magi  to 
mean  that  the  offspring  of  his  daughter  Mandane  would  expel  him 
from  his  kingdom. 

Alarmed  at  the  prophecy,  he  handed  the  child  to  his  kinsman 
Harpagos  to  be  slain  ; but  this  man  having  entrusted  it  to  a shep- 
herd to  be  exposed,  the  latter  contrived  to  save  it  by  exhibiting  to 


1 Beal  : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  103,  104. 
* Amberly’s  Analysis,  p.  229. 


s The  Shih-king.  Decade  ii,  ode  1. 

4 Bonwick  : EgyDtian  Belief,  pp.  158  and  166. 


THE  SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  INNOCENTS. 


169 


the  emissaries  of  Harpagos  the  body  of  a still-born  child  of  which 
his  own  wife  had  just  been  delivered.  Grown  to  man’s  estate 
Cyrus  of  course  justified  the  prediction  of  the  Magi  by  his  success- 
ful revolt  against  Astyages  and  assumption  of  the  monarchy. 

Herodotus,  the  Grecian  Historian  (b.  c.  484),  relates  that 
Astyages,  in  a vision,  appeared  to  see  a vine  grow  up  from  Man- 
dane’s  womb,  which  covered  all  Asia.  Having  seen  this  and  com- 
municated it  to  the  interpreters  of  dreams,  he  put  her  under 
guard,  resolving  to  destroy  whatever  should  be  born  of  her ; for 
the  Magian  interpreters  had  signified  to  him  from  his  vision  that 
the  child  born  of  Mandane  would  reign  in  his  stead.  Astyages 
therefore,  guarding  against  this,  as  soon  as  Cyrus  was  born  sought 
to  have  him  destroyed.  The  story  of  his  exposure  on  the  moun- 
tain, and  his  subsequent  good  fortune,  is  then  related.1 2 

Abraham  was  also  a “ dangerous  child.”  At  the  time  of  his 
birth,  Himrod,  king  of  Babylon,  was  informed  by  his  soothsayers 
that  “ a child  should  be  born  in  Babylonia,  who  would  shortly 
become  a great  prince,  and  that  he  had  reason  to  fear  him.”  The 
result  of  this  was  that  Himrod  then  issued  orders  that  “ all  women 
with  child  should  be  guarded  with  great  care,  and  all  children 
born  of  them  should  be  put  to  death  A 

The  mother  of  Abraham  was  at  that  time  with  child,  but,  of 
course,  he  escaped  from  being  put  to  death,  although  many  chil- 
dren were  slaughtered. 

Zoroaster , the  chief  of  the  religion  of  the  Magi,  was  a “ danger- 
ous child.”  Prodigies  had  announced  his  birth ; he  was  exposed 
to  dangers  from  the  time  of  his  infancy,  and  was  obliged  to  fly 
into  Persia,  like  Jesus  into  Egypt.  Like  him,  he  was  pursued  by 
a king,  his  enemy,  who  wanted  to  get  rid  of  him.3 

His  mother  had  alarming  dreams  of  evil  spirits  seeking  to  de- 
stroy the  child  to  whom  she  was  about  to  give  birth.  But  a good 
spirit  came  to  comfort  her  and  said:  “Fear  nothing!  Ormuzd 

will  protect  this  infant.  He  has  sent  him  as  a prophet  to  the 
people.  The  world  is  waiting  for  him.”4 

Perseus , son  of  the  Virgin  Danae,  was  also  a “ dangerous 
child.”  Acrisius,  king  of  Argos,  being  told  by  the  oracle 
that  a son  born  of  his  virgin  daughter  would  destroy  him,  im- 
mured his  daughter  Danae  in  a tower,  where  no  man  could 
approach  her , and  by  this  means  hoped  to  keep  his  daughter  from 


1 Herodotus,  bk.  1,  ch.  110.  p.  240. 

2 Calmet’s  Fragments,  art.  “Abraham.”  4 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  yol.  i.  “ Religion* 

* See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  of  Persia.” 


170 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


becoming  enceinte.  The  god  Jupiter,  however,  visited  her  thero, 
as  it  is  related  of  the  Angel  Gabriel  visiting  the  Virgin  Mary,1 
the  result  of  which  was  that  she  bore  a son — Perseus.  Acrisius, 
on  hearing  of  his  daughter’s  disgrace,  caused  both  her  and  the 
infant  to  be  shut  up  in  a chest  and  cast  into  the  sea.  They  were 
discovered  by  one  Dictys,  and  liberated  from  what  must  have 
been  anything  but  a pleasant  position.2 3 

EEsculapius,  when  an  infant,  was  exposed  on  the  Mount  of 
Myrtles,  and  left  there  to  die,  but  escaped  the  death  which  was 
intended  for  him,  having  been  found  and  cared  for  by  shepherds .* 
Hercules,  son  of  the  virgin  Leto,  was  left  to  die  on  a plain,  but 
was  found  and  rescued  by  a maiden.4 * 

(Edipous  was  a “ dangerous  child.”  Laios,  King  of  Thebes, 
having  been  told  by  the  Delphic  Oracle  that  (Edipous  would  be  his 
destroyer,  no  sooner  is  (Edipous  born  than  the  decree  goes  forth 
that  the  child  must  be  slain ; but  the  servant  to  whom  he  is  in- 
trusted contents  himself  with  exposing  the  babe  on  the  slopes  of 
Mount  Kithairon,  where  a shepherd  finds  him,  and  carries  him, 
like  Cyrus  or  Romulus,  to  his  wife,  who  cherishes  the  child  with  a 
mother’s  care.6 

The  Theban  myth  of  (Edipous  is  repeated  substantially  in  the 
Arcadian  tradition  of  Telephos.  He  is  exposed,  when  a babe,  on 
Mount  Parthenon,  and  is  suckled  by  a doe,  which  represents  the 
wolf  in  the  myth  of  Romulus,  and  the  dog  of  the  Persian  story  of 
Cyrus.  Like  Moses,  he  is  brought  up  in  the  palace  of  a king.8 

As  we  read  the  story  of  Telephos,  we  can  scarcely  fail  to  think 
of  the  story  of  the  Trojan  Paris , for,  like  Telephos,  Paris  is  ex- 
posed as  a babe  on  the  mountain-side.7  Before  he  is  born,  there  are 
portents  of  the  ruin  which  he  is  to  bring  upon  his  house  and 
people.  Priam,  the  ruling  monarch,  therefore  decrees  that  the 
child  shall  be  left  to  die  on  the  hill-side.  But  the  babe  lies  on 
the  slopes  of  Ida  and  is  nourished  by  a she-bear.  He  is  fostered, 
like  Crishna  and  others,  by  shepherds , among  whom  he  grows  up.8 

lamos  was  left  to  die  among  the  bushes  and  violets.  Aipytos, 
the  chieftain  of  Phaisana,  had  learned  at  Delphi  that  a child  had 
been  born  who  should  become  the  greatest  of  all  the  seers  and 
prophets  of  the  earth,  and  he  asked  all  his  people  where  the  babe 


1 In  the  Apocryphal  Gospel  of  the  Birth  of  Mytho.  vol.  ii.  p.  34. 

Mary  and  “ Protevangclion.”  4 Cox  : Aryan  Mytho.  vol.  ii.  p.  44. 

3 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  t p.  9.  Cox:  6 Ibid,  p.  69,  and  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece, 

Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  68,  and  Bulfinch  : p.  xlii. 

The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  161.  « Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  74. 

* Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  27.  Cox  : Aryan  7 Ibid.  p.  75.  8 Ibid.  p.  78. 


THE  SLAUGHTER  OF  THE  INNOCENTS. 


171 


was : but  none  had  heard  or  seen  him,  for  he  lay  away  amid  the 
thick  bushes,  with  his  soft  body  bathed  in  the  golden  and  pure 
rays  of  the  violets.  So  when  he  was  found,  they  called  him  Iamos, 
the  “ violet  child  and  as  he  grew  in  years  and  strength,  he  went 
down  into  the  Alpheian  stream,  and  prayed  to  his  father  that  he 
would  glorify  his  son.  Then  the  voice  of  Zeus  was  heard,  bidding 
him  come  to  the  heights  of  Olympus,  where  he  should  receive  the 
gift  of  prophecy.1 

Chandragujpta  was  also  a “ dangerous  child.”  He  is  exposed 
to  great  dangers  in  his  infancy  at  the  hands  of  a tributary  chief 
who  has  defeated  and  slain  his  suzerain.  His  mother,  “relinquish- 
ing him  to  the  protection  of  the  Devas,  places  him  in  a vase,  and 
deposits  him  at  the  door  of  a cattle  jpenP  A herdsman  takes  the 
child  and  rears  it  as  his  own.* 3 

Jason  is  another  hero  of  the  same  kind.  Pelias,  the  chief  of 
Iolkos,  had  been  told  that  one  of  the  children  of  Aiolos  would  be 
his  destroyer,  and  decreed,  therefore,  that  all  should  be  slain.  Jason 
only  is  preserved,  and  brought  up  by  Cheiron.3 

Bacchus , son  of  the  virgin  Semele,  was  destined  to  bring  ruin 
upon  Cadmus,  King  of  Thebes,  who  therefore  orders  the  infant  to 
be  put  into  a chest  and  thrown  into  a river.  He  is  found,  and  taken 
from  the  water  by  loving  hands,  and  lives  to  fulfill  his  mission.4 

Herodotus  relates  a similar  story,  which  is  as  follows : 

“The  constitution  of  the  Corinthians  was  formerly  of  this  kind;  it  was  an 
oligarchy , (a  government  in  the  hands  of  a selected  few),  and  those  who  were 
called  Bacchiadce  governed  the  city.  About  this  time  one  Eetion,  who  had  been 
married  to  a maiden  called  Labda,  and  having  no  children  by  her,  went  to 
Delphi  to  inquire  of  the  oracle  about  having  offspring.  Upon  entering  the  tem- 
ple he  was  immediately  saluted  as  follows:  ‘Eetion.  no  one  honors  thee,  though 
worthy  of  much  honor.  Labda  is  pregnant  and  will  bring  forth  a round  stone; 
it  will  fall  on  monarchs,  and  vindicate  Corinth.  ’ This  oracle,  pronounced  to 
Eetion,  was  by  chance  reported  to  the  Bacchiadce,  who  well  knew  that  it  prophe- 
sied the  birth  of  a son  to  Eetion  who  would  overthrow  them,  and  reign  in  their 
stead;  and  though  they  comprehended,  they  kept  it  secret,  purposing  to  destroy 
the  offspring  that  should  be  born  to  Eetion.  As  soon  as  the  woman  brought 
forth,  they  sent  ten  persons  to  the  district  where  Eetion  lived,  to  put  the  child 
to  death;  but,  the  child,  by  a divine  providence,  was  saved.  His  mother  hid  him 
in  a chest,  and  as  they  could  not  find  the  child  they  resolved  to  depart,  and  tell 
those  who  sent  them  that  they  had  done  all  that  they  had  commanded. 
After  this,  Eetion’s  son  grew  up,  and  having  escaped  this  danger,  the  name  of 
Cypselus  was  given  him,  from  the  chest.  When  Cypselus  reached  man’s  estate, 
and  consulted  the  oracle,  an  ambiguous  answer  was  given  him  at  Delphi ; rely- 
ing on  which  he  attacked  and  got  possession  of  Corinth.”6 


1 Cox:  Aryan  Mytho.  ii.  p.  81.  4 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  188.  Cox  : 

3 Ibid.  p.  84.  Aryan  Mytho.  vol.  ii.  p.  296. 

* Ibid.  p.  150.  6 Herodotus  : bk.  v.  ch.  92. 


172 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Romulus  and  Remus , the  founders  of  Rome,  were  exposed  on 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  when  infants,  and  left  there  to  die,  but 
escaped  the  death  intended  for  them. 

The  story  of  the  “ dangerous  child  ” was  well  known  in  ancient 
Rome,  and  several  of  their  emperors,  so  it  is  said,  were  threatened 
with  death  at  their  birth,  or  when  mere  infants.  Julius  Marathus, 
in  his  life  of  the  Emperor  Augustus  Caesar,  says  that  before  his 
birth  there  was  a prophecy  in  Ropie  that  a king  over  the  Roman 
people  would  soon  be  born.  To  obviate  this  danger  to  the  republic, 
the  Senate  ordered  that  all  the  male  children  born  in  that  year 
should  be  abandoned  or  exposed.1 

The  flight  of  the  virgin-mother  with  her  babe  is  also  illustrated 
in  the  story  of  Astrea  when  beset  by  Orion,  and  of  Latona,  the 
mother  of  Apollo,  when  pursued  by  the  monster.2  It  is  simply  the 
same  old  story,  over  and  over  again.  Some  one  has  predicted  that 
a child  born  at  a certain  time  shall  be  great,  he  is  therefore  a “ dan- 
gerous child,”  and  the  reigning  monarch,  or  some  other  interested 
party,  attempts  to  have  the  child  destroyed,  but  he  invariably 
escapes  and  grows  to  manhood,  and  generally  accomplishes  the 
purpose  for  which  he  was  intended.  This  almost  universal  mytlios 
was  added  to  the  fictitious  history  of  Jesus  by  its  fictitious  authors, 
who  have  made  him  escape  in  his  infancy  from  the  reigning  tyrant 
with  the  usual  good  fortune. 

When  a marvellous  occurrence  is  said  to  have  happened  every- 
where, we  may  feel  sure  that  it  never  happened  anywhere.  Pop- 
ular fancies  propagate  themselves  indefinitely,  but  historical  events, 
especially  the  striking  and  dramatic  ones,  are  rarely  repeated. 
That  this  is  a fictitious  story  is  seen  from  the  narratives  of  the 
birth  of  Jesus,  which  are  recorded  by  the  first  and  third  Gospel 
writers,  without  any  other  evidence.  In  the  one — that  related  bj 
the  Matthew  narrator — we  have  a birth  at  Bethlehem — implying 
the  ordinary  residence  of  the  parents  there — and  a hurried  flight 
— almost  immediately  after  the  birth — from  that  place  into  Egypt,* * 
the  slaughter  of  the  infants,  and  a journey,  after  many  months,  from 
Egypt  to  Nazareth  in  Galilee.  In  the  other  story — that  told  by 
the  Luke  narrator — the  parents,  who  have  lived  in  Nazareth,  came 
to  Bethlehem  only  for  business  of  the  State,  and  the  casual  birth  in 
the  cave  or  stable  is  followed  by  a quiet  sojourn,  during  which  the 
child  is  circumcised,  and  by  a leisurely  journey  to  Jerusalem  ; 


1 See  Farrar’s  Life  of  Christ,  p.  60.  Christian  art  of  the  flight  of  the  Holy  Family 

8 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  168.  into  Egypt.  (See  Mounmental  Christianity,  p. 

• There  are  no  very  early  examples  in  239.) 


THE  SLAUGHTER  OF  TIIE  INNOCENTS. 


173 


whence,  everything  having  gone  off  peaceably  and  happily,  they 
return  naturally  to  their  own  former  place  of  abode,  full,  it  is 
said  over  and  over  again , of  wonder  at  the  things  that  had  hap- 
pened, and  deeply  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  their  child 
had  a special  work  to  do,  and  was  specially  gifted  for  it.  There  is 
710  fear  of  Herod , who  seems  never  to  trouble  himself  about  the 
child , or  even  to  have  any  knowledge  of  him.  There  is  no  trouble 
or  misery  at  Bethlehem,  and  certainly  no  mourning  for  children 
slain.  Far  from  flying  hurriedly  away  by  night,  his  parents  cele- 
brate openly , and  at  the  usual  time,  the  circumcision  of  the  child  ; 
and  when  he  is  presented  in  the  temple,  there  is  not  only  no  sign 
that  enemies  seek  his  life,  but  the  devout  saints  give  public  thanks 
for  the  manifestation  of  the  Saviour. 

Dr.  Hooykaas,  speaking  of  the  slaughter  of  the  innocents,  says  : 

“Antiquity  in  general  delighted  in  representing  great  men,  such  as  Romulus, 
Cyrus,  and  many  more,  as  having  been  threatened  in  their  childhood  by  fearful 
dangers.  This  served  to  bring  into  clear  relief  both  the  lofty  significance  of  their 
future  lives,  and  the  special  protection  of  the  deity  who  watched  over  them. 

“The  brow  of  many  a theologian  has  been  bent  over  this  (Matthew)  narra- 
tive! For,  as  long  as  people  believed  in  the  miraculous  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  of  course  they  accepted  every  page  as  literally  true,  and  thought 
that  there  could  not  be  any  contradiction  between  the  different  accounts  or  repre- 
sentations of  Scripture.  The  worst  of  all  such  pre-con  ceived  ideas  is,  that  they 
compel  those  who  hold  them  to  do  violence  to  their  own  sense  of  truth.  For 
when  these  so-called  religious  prejudices  come  into  play,  people  are  afraid  to  call 
things  by  their  right  names,  and,  without  knowing  it  themselves,  become  guilty 
of  all  kinds  of  evasive  and  arbitrary  practices;  for  what  would  be  thought  quite 
unjustifiable  in  any  other  case  is  here  considered  a duty,  inasmuch  as  it  is  sup- 
posed to  tend  toward  the  maintenance  of  faith  and  the  glory  of  God ! >n 

As  we  stated  above,  this  story  is  to  be  found  in  the  fictitious 
gospel  according  to  Matthew  only ; contemporary  history  has  no- 
where recorded  this  audacious  crime.  It  is  mentioned  neither  by 
Jewish  nor  Roman  historians.  Tacitus,  who  has  stamped  forever 
the  crimes  of  despots  with  the  brand  of  reprobation,  it  would  seem 
then,  did  not  think  such  infamies  worthy  of  his  condemnation. 
Josephus  also,  who  gives  us  a minute  account  of  the  atrocities  per- 
petrated by  Herod  up  to  even  the  very  last  moment  of  his  life, 
does  not  say  a single  word  about  this  unheard-of  crime,  which  must 
have  been  so  notorious.  Surely  he  must  have  known  of  it,  and 
must  have  mentioned  it,  had  it  ever  been  committed.  “ We  can 
readily  imagine  the  Pagans,”  says  Mr.  Reber,  “ who  composed  the 
learned  and  intelligent  men  of  their  day,  at  work  in  exposing 
the  story  of  Herod’s  cruelty,  by  showing  that,  considering  the  ex- 


1 Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  pp.  71-74. 


174 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


tent  of  territory  embraced  in  the  order,  and  the  population  within 
it,  the  assumed  destruction  of  life  stamped  the  story  false  and 
ridiculous.  A governor  of  a Roman  province  who  dared  make 
such  an  order  would  be  so  speedily  overtaken  by  the  vengeance  of 
the  Roman  people,  that  his  head  would  fall  from  his  body  before 
the  blood  of  his  victims  had  time  to  dry.  Archelaus,  his  son,  was 
deposed  for  offenses  not  to  be  spoken  of  when  compared  with  this 
massacre  of  the  infants.” 

No  wonder  that  there  is  no  trace  at  all  in  the  Roman  catacombs, 
nor  in  Christian  art,  of  this  fictitious  story,  until  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifth  century.1  Never  would  Herod  dared  to  have  taken 
upon  himself  the  odium  and  responsibility  of  such  a sacrifice. 
Such  a crime  could  never  have  happened  at  the  epoch  of  its  pro- 
fessed perpetration.  To  such  lengths  were  the  early  Fathers  led, 
by  the  servile  adaptation  of  the  ancient  traditions  of  the  East,  they 
required  a second  edition  of  the  tyrant  Kansa,  and  their  holy  wrath 
fell  upon  Herod.  The  Apostles  of  Jesus  counted  too  much  upon 
human  credulity,  they  trusted  too  much  that  the  future  might  not 
unravel  their  maneuvers,  the  sanctity  of  their  object  made  them 
too  reckless.  They  destroyed  all  the  evidence  against  themselves 
which  they  could  lay  their  hands  upon,  but  they  did  not  destroy 
it  all. 


» See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  238. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


THE  TEMPTATION,  AND  FAST  OF  FORTY  DAYS. 

We  are  informed  by  the  Matthew  narrator  that,  after  being  bap- 
tized by  John  in  the  river  Jordan,  Jesus  was  led  by  the  spirit  into 
the  wilderness  “ to  be  tempted  of  the  devil” 

“ And  when  he  had  fasted  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  he  was  afterward  an 
hungered.  And  when  the  tempter  came  to  him  he  said : ‘ If  thou  be  the  Son  of 
God,  command  that  these  stones  be  made  bread.’  . . . Then  the  devil  taketh 

him  up  into  the  holy  city,  and  setteth  Mm  on  a pinnacle  of  the  temple,  and  saith 
unto  him : ‘ If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  cast  thyself  down.’  . . . Again,  the  devil 
taketh  him  up  into  an  exceeding  high  mountain,  and  showeth  him  all  the  king- 
doms of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them,  and  saith  unto  him : ‘ All  these  things  will 
1 give  thee  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me.’  Then  saith  Jesus  unto  him, 
‘ Get  thee  hence,  Satan : for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve.’  Then  the  devil  leaveth  him,  and,  behold,  angels 
came  and  ministered  unto  him.”1 

This  is  really  a very  peculiar  story  ; it  is  therefore  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  many  of  the  early  Christian  Fathers  rejected  it  as 
being  fabulous,3  but  this,  according  to  orthodox  teaching,  cannot  be 
done  ; because,  in  all  consistent  reason,  “ we  must  accept  the *  * chole 
of  the  inspired  autographs  or  reject  the  whole ,”3  and,  because,  “ the 
very  foundations  of  our  faith,  the  very  basis  of  our  hopes,  the  very 
nearest  and  dearest  of  our  consolations,  are  taken  from  us,  when 
one  line  of  that  sacred  volume,  on  which  we  base  everything,  is  de- 
clared to  be  untruthful  and  untrustworthy.”4 

The  reason  why  we  have  this  story  in  the  New  Testament  is 
because  the  writer  wished  to  show  that  Christ  Jesus  was  proof 
against  all  temptations,  that  he  too,  as  well  as  Buddha  and  others, 
could  resist  the  powers  of  the  prince  of  evil.  This  Angel-Messiah 
was  tempted  by  the  devil,  and  he  fasted  for  forty-seven  days  and 
nights,  without  taking  an  atom  of  food.6 


1 Matthew,  iv.  1-11.  ford,  England. 

a See  Lardner’s  Works,  vol.  viii.  p.  491.  4 The  Bishop  of  Manchester  (England),  in 

* Words  of  the  Rev.  E.  Garbett,  M.  A.,  in  a the  “ Manchester  Examiner  and  Times.” 
•ermon  preached  before  the  University  of  Ox-  6 See  Lillie’s  Buddhism,  p.  100. 


175 


176 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  story  of  Buddha’s  temptation,  presented  below,  is  taken 
from  the  “ Siamese  Life  of  Buddha  f by  Moncure  D.  Conway, 
and  published  in  his  “ Sacred  Anthology ,”  from  which  we  take  it.1 
It  is  also  to  be  found  in  the  Fo-pen-hing ,2  and  other  works  on 
Buddha  and  Buddhism.  Buddha  went  through  a more  lengthy  and 
severe  trial  than  did  Jesus,  having  been  tempted  in  many  different 
ways.  The  portion  which  most  resembles  that  recorded  by  the 
Matthew  narrator  is  the  following  : 

“ The  Grand  Being  (Buddlia)  applied  himself  to  practice  ascetcism  of  the  ex- 
tremest  nature.  He  ceased  to  eat  (that  is,  he  fasted)  and  held  his  breath.  . . . 

Then  it  was  that  the  royal  Mara  (the  Prince  of  Evil)  sought  occasion  to  tempt  him. 
Pretending  compassion,  he  said : ‘ Beware,  O Grand  Being,  your  state  is  pitiable 
to  look  on;  you  are  attenuated  beyond  measure,  . . . you  are  practicing 

this  mortification  in  vain ; I can  see  that  you  will  not  live  through  it.  . . . 

Lord,  that  art  capable  of  such  vast  endurance,  go  not  forth  to  adopt  a religious 
life,  but  return  to  thy  kingdom,  and  in  seven  thou  shalt  become  the  Emperor 
of  the  World,  riding  over  the  four  great  continents.’  ” 

To  this  the  Grand  Being,  Buddha,  replied : 

“  *  * Take  heed,  O Mara;  I also  know  that  in  seven  days  I might  gain  universal 
empire,  but  I desire  not  such  possessions.  I know  that  the  pursuit  of  religion  is 
better  than  the  empire  of  the  world.  You,  thinking  only  of  evil  lusts,  would 
force  me  to  leave  all  beings  without  guidance  into  your  power.  Avaunt ! Get 
thou  away  from  me  ! ’ 

“The  Lord  (then)  rode  onwards,  intent  on  his  purpose.  The  skies  rained 
flowers,  and  delicious  odors  pervaded  the  air.”3 

How,  mark  the  similarity  between  these  two  legends. 

Was  Jesus  about  “ beginning  to  preach”  when  he  was  tempted 
by  the  evil  spirit  ? So  was  Buddha  about  to  go  forth  “ to  adopt 
a religious  life,”  when  he  was  tempted  by  the  evil  spirit. 

Did  Jesus  fast,  and  was  he  “ afterwards  an  hungered  ” ? Sc 
did  Buddha  “ cease  to  eat,”  and  was  “ attenuated  beyond  measure.” 

Did  the  evil  spirit  take  Jesus  and  show  him  “ all  the  king- 
doms of  the  world,”  which  he  promised  to  give  him,  provided  he 
did  not  lead  the  life  he  contemplated,  but  follow  him  ? 

So  did  the  evil  spirit  say  to  Buddha : “ Go  not  forth  to  adopt 
a religious  life,  and  in  seven  days  thou  shalt  become  an  emperor  of 
the  world.” 

Did  not  Jesus  resist  these  temptations,  and  say  unto  the  evil 
one,  “ Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  ” ? 

So  did  Buddha  resist  the  temptations,  and  said  unto  the  evil  one, 
u Get  thee  away  from  me.” 


1 Pp.  44  and  172,  173.  39.  Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  xxviii.,  xxix.., 

a Translated  by  Prof.  Samuel  Beal.  and  190,  and  Haidy : Buddhist  Legends,  p. 

* See  also  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  38,  xvii. 


THE  TEMPTATION  AND  FAST. 


177 


After  the  evil  spirit  left  Jesus  did  not  “ angels  come  and  minis- 
ter unto  him  ” ? 

So  with  Buddha.  After  the  evil  one  had  left  him  “ the  skies 
rained  flowers,  and  delicious  odors  pervaded  the  air.” 

These  parallels  are  too  striking  to  be  accidental. 

Zoroaster , the  founder  of  the  religion  of  the  Persians,  was 
tempted  by  the  devil,  who  made  him  magnificent  promises,  in  order 
to  induce  him  to  become  his  servant  and  to  be  dependent  on  him, 
but  the  temptations  were  in  vain.1  “ His  temptation  by  the  devil, 
forms  the  subject  of  many  traditional  reports  and  legends.”2 

Quetzalcoatle , the  virgin-born  Mexican  Saviour,  was  also 
tempted  by  the  devil,  and  the  forty  days’  fast  was  found  among 
them.3 

Fasting  and  self-denial  were  observances  practiced  by  all  nations 
of  antiquity.  The  Hindoos  have  days  set  apart  for  fasting  on 
many  different  occasions  throughout  the  year,  one  of  which  is  when 
the  birth-day  of  their  Lord  and  Saviour  Crishna  is  celebrated.  On 
this  occasion,  the  day  is  spent  in  fasting  and  worship.  They  ab- 
stain entirely  from  food  and  drink  for  more  than  thirty  hours,  at 
the  end  of  which  Crishna’s  image  is  worshiped,  and  the  story  of  his 
miraculous  birth  is  read  to  his  hungry  worshipers.4 

Among  the  ancient  Egyptians,  there  were  times  when  the 
priests  submitted  to  abstinence  of  the  most  severe  description,  be* 
ing  forbidden  to  eat  even  bread,  and  at  other  times  they  only  ate 
it  mingled  with  hyssop.  “The  priests  in  Heliopolis,”  says  Plu- 
tarch, “have  many  fasts,  during  which  they  meditate  on  divine 
things.”5 

Among  the  Sabians,  fasting  was  insisted  on  as  an  essential  act 
of  religion.  During  the  month  Tammuz,  they  were  in  the  habit 
of  fasting  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  without  allowing  a morsel  of  food 
or  drop  of  liquid  to  pass  their  lips.6 

The  Jews  also  had  their  fasts,  and  on  special  occasions  they 
gave  themselves  up  to  prolonged  fasts  and  mortifications. 

Fasting  and  self-denial  were  observances  required  of  the  Greeks 
who  desired  initiation  into  the  Mysteries.  Abstinence  from  food, 
chastity  and  hard  couches  prepared  the  neophyte,  who  broke  his 
fast  on  the  third  and  fourth  day  only,  on  consecrated  food.7 

The  same  practice  was  found  among  the  ancient  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians.  Acosta,  speaking  of  them,  says : 

1 Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  240.  4 Life  and  Relig.  of  the  Hindoos,  p.  134. 

2 Chambers’s  Enclyclo.  art.  “ Zoroaster.”  6 Baring-Gould : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  L 

* See  Kingsborough  : Mexican  Antiquities,  p.  341. 

vol.  vi.  p.  200.  « Ibid. 


* Ibid.  p.  340. 


178 


BIBLE  MYTIIS. 


“These  priests  and  religious  men  used  great  fastings,  of  five  and  ten  days 
together,  before  any  of  their  great  feasts,  and  they  were  unto  them  as  our  four 
ember  weeks.  . . . 

“ They  drank  no  wine,  and  slept  little,  for  the  greatest  part  of  their  exercises 
(of  penance)  were  at  night,  committing  great  cruelties  and  martyring  themselves 
for  the  devil,  and  all  to  be  reputed  great  fasters  and  penitents.”1 

In  regard  to  the  number  of  days  which  Jesus  is  said  to  have 
fasted  being  specified  as  forty,  this  is  simply  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  number  forty  as  well  as  seven  was  a sacred  one  among  most 
nations  of  antiquity,  particularly  among  the  Jews,  and  because 
others  had  fasted  that  number  of  days.  For  instance ; it  is  related2 
that  Moses  went  up  into  a mountain,  “ and  he  was  there  with  the 
Lord  forty  days  and  forty  nights , and  he  did  neither  eat  breads 
nor  drink  water  f which  is  to  say  that  he  fasted. 

In  Deuteronomy3  Moses  is  made  to  say — for  he  did  not  write 
it,  “When  I was  gone  up  into  the  mount  to  receive  the  tables 
of  stone,  . . . then  I abode  in  the  mount  forty  days  and  forty 

nights , I neither  did  eat  bread  nor  drink  water.” 

Elijah  also  had  a long  fast,  which,  of  course , was  continued  for  a 
period  of  forty  days  and  forty  nights .4 

St.  Joachim , father  of  the  “ ever- blessed  Virgin  Mary,”  had  a 
long  fast,  which  was  also  continued  for  a period  oi  forty  days  and 
forty  nights.  The  story  is  to  be  found  in  the  apocryphal  gospel 
Protevangelion . 5 

The  ancient  Persians  had  a religious  festival  which  they  an- 
nually celebrated,  and  which  they  called  the  “ Salutation  of  Mith- 
ras.” During  this  festival,  forty  days  were  set  apart  for  thanks- 
giving and  sacrifice.6 

The  forty  days ’ fast  was  found  in  the  Hew  World. 

Godfrey  Higgins  tells  us  that  : 

“ The  ancient  Mexicans  had  & forty  days'  fast,  in  memory  of  one  of  their  sacred 
persons  (Quetzalcoatle)  who  was  tempted  (and  fasted)  forty  days  on  a moun- 
tain.”7 

Lord  Kingsborough  says : 

“ The  temptation  of  Quetzalcoatle,  and  the  fast  of  forty  days,  . . . are 

very  curious  and  mysterious .”8 


The  ancient  Mexicans  were  also  in  the  habit  of  making  their 


1 Acosta  : Hist.  Indies,  vol.  ii.  p.  339. 

5 Exodus,  xxiv.  28. 

8 Deut.  ix.  18. 

* 1 Kings,  xix.  8. 


6 Chapter  i. 

6 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  272. 

T Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  19. 

8 Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  pp.  197-200. 


THE  TEMPTATION  AND  FAST. 


179 


prisoners  of  war  fast  for  a term  of  forty  days  before  they  were 
put  to  death.1 

Mr.  Bonwick  says : 

“ The  Spaniards  were  surprised  to  see  the  Mexicans  keep  the  vernal  forty  days' 
fast.  The  Tammuz  month  of  Syria  was  in  the  spring.  Th e forty  days  were 
kept  for  Proserpine.  Thus  does  history  repeat  itself.”2 

The  Spanish  monks  accounted  for  what  Lord  Kingsborough 
calls  “very  curious  and  mysterious”  circumstances,  by  the  agency 
of  the  devil,  and  burned  all  the  books  containing  them,  whenever 
it  was  in  their  power. 

The  forty  days’  fast  was  also  found  among  some  of  the  Indian 
tribes  in  the  New  World.  Dr.  Daniel  Brinton  tells  us  that  “the 
females  of  the  Orinoco  tribes  fasted  forty  days  before  marriage,”3 
and  Prof.  Max  Muller  informs  us  that  it  was  customary  for  some 
of  the  females  of  the  South  American  tribes  of  Indians  “ to  fast 
before  and  after  the  birth  of  a child,”  and  that,  among  the  Carib- 
Coudave  tribe,  in  the  West  Indies,  “when  a child  is  born  the 
mother  goes  presently  to  work,  but  the  father  begins  to  complain, 
and  takes  to  his  hammock,  and  there  he  is  visited  as  though  he 
were  sick.  He  then  fasts  for  forty  days .”4 

The  females  belonging  to  the  tribes  of  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
were  held  unclean  for, forty  days  after  childbirth.5  The  prince  of 
the  Tezcuca  tribes  fasted  forty  days  when  he  wished  an  heir  to 
his  throne,  and  the  Mandanas  supposed  it  required  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  to  wash  clean  the  earth  at  the  deluge.6 

The  number  forty  is  to  be  found  in  a great  many  instances  in 
the  Old  Testament ; for  instance,  at  the  end  of  forty  days  Noah 
sent  out  a raven  from  the  ark.7  Isaac  and  Esau  were  each  forty 
years  old  when  they  married.8  Forty  days  were  fulfilled  for  the 
embalming  of  Jacob.9  The  spies  were forty  days  in  search  of  the 
land  of  Canaan.10  The  Israelites  wandered  forty  yea/rs  in  the 
wilderness.11  The  land  u had  rest  ” forty  years  on  three  occasions.12 
The  land  was  delivered  into  the  hand  of  the  Philistines  forty  years.13 
Eli  judged  Israel  forty  years.1*  King  David  reigned  forty  years13 


1 See  Kingsborough’ s Mexican  Antiquities, 
vol.  vi.  p.  223. 

2 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  370. 

3 Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  94. 

4 Max  Muller’s  Chips,  vol.  ii.  p.  279. 

5 Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  94. 

6 Ibid.  According  to  Genesis,  vii.  12,  “the 

rain  was  upon  the  earth  forty  days  and  forty 

nights”  at  the  time  of  the  flood. 


7 Genesis,  viii.  6. 

8 Gen.  xxv.  20— xxti.  34. 

9 Gen.  i.  3. 

Numbers,  xiii.  25. 

11  Numbers,  xiii.  13. 

is  Jud.  iii.  11 ; v.  31 ; viii.  28. 

Jud.  xiii.  1. 
i*  I.  Samuel,  iv.  18. 

16  I.  Kings,  ii.  11. 


180 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


King  Solomon  reigned  forty  years}  Goliath  presented  himself 
forty  days .a  The  rain  was  upon  the  earth  forty  days  at  the  time 

of  the  deluge.* 8  And,  as  we  saw  above,  Moses  was  on  the  mount 
forty  days  and  forty  nights  on  each  occasion.4  Can  anything  be 
more  mythological  than  this? 

The  number  forty  was  used  by  the  ancients  in  constructing 
temples.  There  were forty  pillars  around  the  temple  of  Chilminar, 
in  Persia;  the  temple  atBaalbec  had  forty  pillars ; on  the  frontiers 
of  China,  in  Tartary,  there  is  to  be  seen  the  “ Temple  of  th z forty 
pillars.”  Forty  is  one  of  the  most  common  numbers  in  the  Dru- 
idical  temples,  and  in  the  plan  of  the  temple  of  Ezekiel,  the  four 
oblong  buildings  in  the  middle  of  the  courts  have  each  forty  pil- 
lars.6 Most  temples  of  antiquity  were  imitative — were  microcosms 
of  the  Celestial  Templum — and  on  this  account  they  were  sur- 
rounded with  pillars  recording  astronomical  subjects,  and  intended 
both  to  do  honor  to  these  subjects,  and  to  keep  them  in  perpetual 
remembrance.  In  the  Abury  temples  were  to  be  seen  the  cycles  of 
650-608-600-60-40-30-19-12,  etc.6 


1 1.  Kings,  xi.  42.  6 See  Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  703  ; 

8 I.  Samuel,  xvii.  16.  vol.  ii.  p.  402. 

3 Gen.  vii.  12.  • See  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  703. 

* Exodus,  xxiv.  18— xxxiv.  28. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 

The  punishment  of  an  individual  by  crucifixion,  for  claiming 
to  be  “ King  of  the  Jews,”  “ Son  of  God,”  or  “ The  Christ 
which  are  the  causes  assigned  by  the  Evangelists  for  the  Cru- 
cifixion of  Jesus,  would  need  but  a passing  glance  in  our  in- 
quiry, were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  there  is  much  attached  to  it 
of  a dogmatic  and  heathenish  nature,  which  demands  considerably 
more  than  a “ passing  glance.”  The  doctrine  of  atonement  for  sin 
had  been  preached  long  before  the  doctrine  was  deduced  from  the 
Christian  Scriptures,  long  before  these  Scriptures  are  pretended  to 
have  been  written.  Before  the  period  assigned  for  the  birth  of 
Christ  Jesus,  the  poet  Ovid  had  assailed  the  demoralizing 
delusion  with  the  most  powerful  shafts  of  philosophic  scorn : 
“ When  thou  thyself  ai't  guilty ,”  says  he,  “ why  should  a victim 
die  for  thee  ? What  folly  it  is  to  expect  savlation  from  the  death 
of  another .” 

The  idea  of  expiation  by  the  sacrifice  of  a god  was  to  be 
found  among  the  Hindoos  even  in  Vedic  times.  The  sacrificer 
was  mystically  identified'  with  the  victim , which  was  regarded  as 
the  ransom  for  sin,  and  the  instrument  of  its  annulment.  The 
Rig  - Veda  represents  the  gods  as  sacrificing  Purusha , the  primeval 
male,  supposed  to  be  coeval  with  the  Creator.  This  idea  is  even 
more  remarkably  developed  in  the  Tandy  a-brahmanas,  thus : 

“ The  lord  of  creatures  ( prajd-pati ) offered  himself  a sacrifice  for  the  gods.” 

And  again,  in  the  Satapatha-brdhmana  : 

“He  who,  knowing  this,  sacrifices  the  Purusha-medha , or  sacrifice  of  the 
primeval  male,  becomes  everything.”1 

Prof.  Monier  Williams,  from  whose  work  on  Hindooism  we 
quote  the  above,  says : 


1 Monier  Williams  : Hinduism,  pp.  36-40. 


181 


182 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ Surely,  in  these  mystical  allusions  to  the  sacrifice  of  a representative  man, 
we  may  perceive  traces  of  the  original  institution  of  sacrifice  as  a divinely-ap- 
pointed ordinance  typical  of  the  one  great  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  for  the  sins  of 
the  world.”1 

This  idea  of  redemption  from  sin  through  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  a Divine  Incarnate  Saviour,  is  simply  the  crowning-point  of 
the  idea  entertained  by  primitive  man  that  the  gods  demanded  a 
sacrifice  of  some  kind,  to  atone  for  some  sin,  or  avert  some  calamity. 

In  primitive  ages,  when  men  lived  mostly  on  vegetables,  they 
offered  only  grain,  water,  salt,  fruit,  and  flowers  to  the  gods,  to 
propitiate  them  and  thereby  obtain  temporal  blessings.  But  when 
they  began  to  eat  meat  and  spices,  and  drink  wine,  they  offered 
the  same ; naturally  supposing  the  deities  would  be  pleased  with 
whatever  was  useful  or  agreeable  to  themselves.  They  imagined 
that  some  gods  were  partial  to  animals,  others  to  fruits,  flowers, 
etc.  To  the  celestial  gods  they  offered  white  victims  at  sunrise, 
or  at  open  day.  To  the  infernal  deities  they  sacrificed  black 
animals  in  the  night.  Each  god  had  some  creature  peculiarly 
devoted  to  his  worship.  They  sacrificed  a bull  to  Mars,  a dove  to 
Venus,  and  to  Minerva,  a heifer  without  blemish,  which  had  never 
been  put  to  the  yoke.  If  a man  was  too  poor  to  sacrifice  a living 
animal,  he  offered  an  image  of  one  made  of  bread. 

In  the  course  of  time,  it  began  to  be  imagined  that  the  gods 
demanded  something  more  sacred  as  offerings  or  atonements  for  sin. 
This  led  to  the  sacrifice  of  human  beings , principally  slaves  and 
those  taken  in  war,  then,  their  own  children,  even  their  most 
beloved  “ first-born.”  It  came  to  be  an  idea  that  every  sin  must 
have  its  prescribed  amount  of  punishment,  and  that  the  gods  would 
accept  the  life  of  one  person  as  atonement  for  the  sins  of  others. 
This  idea  prevailed  even  in  Greece  and  Rome  ; but  there  it  mainly 
took  the  form  of  heroic  self-sacrifice  for  the  public  good.  Cicero 
says : “ The  force  of  religion  was  so  great  among  our  ancestors,  that 
some  of  their  commanders  have,  with  their  faces  veiled,  and  with 
the  strongest  expressions  of  sincerity,  sacrificed  themselves  to  the 
immortal  gods  to  save  their  country™ 

In  Egypt,  offerings  of  human  sacrifices,  for  the  atonement  of 
sin,  became  so  general  that  “ if  the  eldest  born  of  the  family  of 
Athamas  entered  the  temple  of  the  Laphystan  Jupiter  at  Alos  in 
Achaia,  he  was  sacrificed,  crowned  with  garlands  like  an  animal 
victim.”3 


1 Monier  Williams:  Hinduism,  p.  36.  2 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  303. 

3 Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  443. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


183 


When  the  Egyptian  priests  offered  up  a sacrifice  to  the  gods, 
they  pronounced  the  following  imprecations  on  the  head  of  the 
victim : 

“ If  any  evil  is  about  to  befall  either  those  who  now  sacrifice,  or  Egypt  in 
general,  may  it  be  averted  on  this  head."1 

This  idea  of  atonement  finally  resulted  in  the  belief  that  the 
incarnate  Christ , the  Anointed , the  God  among  us,  was  to  save 
mankind  from  a curse  by  God  imposed.  Man  had  sinned,  and 
God  could  not  and  did  not  forgive  without  a propitiatory  sacrifice. 
The  curse  of  God  must  be  removed  from  the  sinful,  and  the 
sinless  must  bear  the  load  of  that  curse.  It  was  asserted  that 
divine  justice  required  blood.2 * 

The  belief  of  redemption  from  sin  by  the  sufferings  of  a Divine 
Incarnation,  whether  by  death  on  the  cross  or  otherwise,  was 
general  and  popular  among  the  heathen,  centuries  before  the  time 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  this  dogma,  no  matter  how  sacred  it  may 
have  become,  or  how  consoling  it  may  be,  must  fall  along  with  the 
rest  of  the  material  of  which  the  Christian  church  is  built. 

Julius  Firmicius,  referring  to  this  popular  belief  among  the 
Pagans,  says : “ The  devil  has  his  Christs.”*  This  was  the 
general  off-hand  manner  in  which  the  Christian  Fathers  disposed 
of  such  matters.  Everything  in  the  religion  of  the  Pagans  which 
corresponded  to  their  religion  was  of  the  devil.  Most  Protestant 
divines  have  resorted  to  the  type  theory,  of  which  we  shall  speak 
anon. 

As  we  have  done  heretofore  in  our  inquiries,  we  will  first  turn 
to  India,  where  we  shall  find,  in  the  words  of  M.  l’Abbe  Hue, 
that  “ the  idea  of  redemption  by  a divine  incarnation”  who  came 
into  the  world  for  the  express  purpose  of  redeeming  mankind,  was 
“ general  and  popular.”4 

“ A sense  of  original  corruption”  says  Prof.  Monier  Williams, 


1 Herodotus  : bk.  ii.  ch.  39. 

a In  the  trial  of  Dr.  Thomas  (at  Chicago)  for 
“ doctrinal  heresy ,”  one  of  the  charges  made 
against  him  (Sept.  8,  1881)  was  that  he  had 
said  “the  Blood  of  the  Lamb  had  nothing 
to  do  with  salvation.”  And  in  a sermon 
preached  in  Boston,  Sept.  2,  1881,  at  the 
Columbus  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  by  the 
Kev.  Andrew  A.  Bonar,  D.D.,  the  preacher  said  : 

“ No  sinner  dares  to  meet  the  holy  God  until 

his  sin  has  been  forgiven,  or  until  he  has  re- 
ceived remission.  The  penalty  of  sin  is  death, 
and  this  penalty  is  not  remitted  by  anything 
the  sinner  can  do  for  himself  but  only  through 
the  Blood  of  Jesus.  If  you  have  accepted 


Jesus  as  your  Saviour,  you  can  take  the  blood  of 
Jesus,  and  with  boldness  present  it  to  the  Father 
as  payment  in  full  of  the  penalties  of  all  your  sins. 
Sinful  man  has  no  right  to  the  benefits  and  the 
beauties  and  glories  of  nature.  These  were  all 
lost  to  him  through  Adam's  sin , but  to  the 
blood  of  Christ’s  sacrifice  he  has  a right ; it 
was  shed  for  him.  It  is  Christ’s  death  that 
does  the  blessed  work  of  salvation  for  us.  It 
was  not  his  life  nor  his  Incarnation.  His  Incar- 
nation could  not  pay  a farthing  of  our  debt,  but 
his  blood  shed  in  redeeming  love,  pays  it  all.' 
(See  Boston  Advertiser,  Sept.  3, 1831.) 

3 Habet  ergo  Diabolus  Christos  suos. 

4 Hue’s  Travels,  vol.  i.  pp.  32<i  and  327. 


184 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


seems  to  be  felt  by  all  classes  of  Hindoos,  as  indicated  by  the  follow 
ing  prayer  used  after  the  Gdyatri  by  some  Vaislinavas  : 

“ ‘I  am  sinful,  I commit  sin,  my  nature  is  sinful,  1 am  conceived  in  sin. 
Save  me,  O thou  lotus-eyed  fieri  (Saviour),  the  remover  of  sin.’ m 

Moreover,  the  doctrine  of  bhakti  (salvation  by  faith)  existed 
among  the  Hindoos  from  the  earliest  times.9 

Crislina,  the  virgin-born,  “ the  Divine  Yishnu  himself,”* 
“he  who  is  without  beginning,  middle  or  end,”4  being  moved 
“ to  relieve  the  earth  of  her  load,”6  came  upon  earth  and  redeemed 
man  by  his  sufferings — to  save  him. 

The  accounts  of  the  deaths  of  most  all  the  virgin-born  Saviours 
of  whom  we  shall  speak,  are  conflicting.  It  is  stated  in  one  place 
that  such  an  one  died  in  such  a manner,  and  in  another  place  we 
may  find  it  stated  altogether  differently.  Even  the  accounts  of  the 
death  of  Jesus,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  are  conflicting;  therefore, 
until  the  chapter  on  “ Explanation  ” is  read,  these  myths  cannot 
really  be  thoroughly  understood. 

As  the  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Cox  remarks,  in  his  Aryan  Mythology , 
Crishna  is  described,  in  one  of  his  aspects,  as  a self-sacrificing  and 
unselfish  hero,  a being  who  is  filled  with  divine  wisdom  and  love, 
who  offers  up  a sacrifice  which  he  alone  can  make.6 

The  Vishnu  Pur  ana1 2  speaks  of  Crishna  being  shot  in  the  foot 
with  an  arrow,  and  states  that  this  was  the  cause  of  his  death.  Other 
accounts,  however,  state  that  he  was  suspended  on  a tree,  or  in 
other  words,  crucified. 

Mons.  Guigniaut,  in  his  “ Peligion  de  V Antiquitef  says  : 

“ The  death  of  Crishna  is  very  differently  related.  One  remarkable  and  con- 
vincing tradition  makes  him  perish  on  a tree , to  which  he  was  nailed  by  the 
stroke  of  an  arrow.”8 

Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy  alludes  to  this  passage  of  Guigniaut’s  in  his 
“ Monumental  Christianity,”  and  translates  the  passage  “ un  bois 
fatal  ” (see  note  below)  “ a cross .”  Although  we  do  not  think  he 
is  justified  in  doing  this,  as  M.  Guigniaut  has  distinctly  stated  that 
this  “ bois  fatal  ” (which  is  applied  to  a gibbet,  a cross,  a scaffold, 
etc.)  was  “ un  arbre  ” (a  tree),  yet,  he  is  justified  in  doing  so  on 
other  accounts,  for  we  find  that  Crishna  is  represented  hanging  on 
a cross , and  we  know  that  a cross  was  frequently  called  the  “ ac- 


1 Hinduism,  p.  214.  7 Pages  274  and  612. 

2 Ibid.  p.  115.  8 “On  reconte  fort  diversement.  la  mort  de 

8 Vishnu  Purana,  p.  440.  Crishna.  Une  tradition  remarquable  et  averee 

* Ibid.  le  fait  perir  sur  un  bois  fatal  (un  arbre),  ou  il 

* Ibid.  fut  cloue  d’un  coup  de  fleche.”  (Quoted  by 

* Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  132.  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  144.) 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


185 


cursed  tree”  It  was  an  ancient  custom  to  use  trees  as  gibbets  for 
crucifixion,  or,  if  artificial,  to  call  the  cross  a tree.1 

A writer  in  Deuteronomy 2 speaks  of  hanging  criminals  upon  a 
tree , as  though  it  was  a general  custom,  and  says  : 

“ He  that  is  hanged  (on  a tree)  is  accursed  of  God.” 

And  Paul  undoubtedly  refers  to  this  text  when  he  says : 

“ Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  being  made  a curse  for  us; 
for  it  is  written,  ‘ Cursed  is  every  one  that  hangeth  on  a tree.’  ”3 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  to  be  hung  on  a cross  was  anciently 
called  hanging  on  a tree , and  to  be  hung  on  a tree  was  called  cru- 
cifixion. We  may  therefore  conclude  from  this,  and  from  what 
we  shall  now  see,  that  Crishna  was  said  to  have  been  crucified. 

In  the  earlier  copies  of  Moor’s  “ Hindu  Pantheon ,”  is  to  be  seen 
representations  of  Crishna  (as  Wittoba ),4  with  marks,  of  holes  in 
both  feet,  and  in  others,  of  holes  in  the  hands.  In  Figures  4 and  5 
of  Plate  11  (Moor’s  work),  the  figures  have  nail-holes  in  both  feet . 
Figure  6 has  a round  hole  in  the  side  • to  his  collar  or  shirt  hangs 
the  emblem  of  a heart  (which  we  often  see  in  pictures  of  Christ 
Jesus)  and  on  his  head  he  has  a Yoni-Linga  (which  we  do  not  see 
in  pictures  of  Christ  Jesus.) 

Our  Figure  No.  7 (next  page),  is  a pre-Christian  crucifix  of  Asi- 
atic origin,5  evidently  intended  to  represent  Crishna  crucified.  Figure 
No.  8 we  can  speak  more  positively  of,  it  is  surely  Crishna  crucified. 
It  is  unlike  any  Christian  crucifix  ever  made,  and,  with  that  de- 
scribed above  with  the  Yoni-Linga  attached  to  the  head,  would 
probably  not  be  claimed  as  such.  Instead  of  the  crown  of  thorns 
usually  put  on  the  head  of  the  Christian  Saviour,  it  has  the  turreted 
coronet  of  the  Ephesian  Diana,  the  ankles  are  tied  together  by  a 
cord,  and  the  dress  about  the  loins  is  exactly  the  style  with  which 
Crishna  is  almost  always  represented .6 

Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy,  speaking  of  the  Christian  crucifix,  says: 


1 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  499, 
and  Mrs.  Jameson’s  ‘ 4 History  of  Our  Lord  in 
Art,”  ii.  317,  where  the  cross  is  called  the 
“accursed  tree.” 

2 Chap.  xxi.  22,  23  : “If  a man  have  com- 
mitted a sin  worthy  of  death,  and  he  be  to  be 
put  to  death,  and  thou  hang  him  on  a tree  : 
his  body  shall  not  remain  all  night  upon  the 
tree,  but  thou  shalt  in  any  wise  bury  him  that 
day;  (for  he  that  is  hanged  is  accursed  of  God;) 
that  thy  land  be  not  defiled,  which  the  Lord 
thy  God  giveth  thee  for  an  inheritance.” 

3 Galatians,  iii.  13. 

4 See  Higgins : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  146, 

and  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  402. 


“The  crucified  god  Wittoba  is  also  called 
Balii.  He  is  worshiped  in  a marked  manner  at 
Pander-poor  or  Bunder-poor,  near  Poonah.” 
(Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  750,  note  1.) 

“A  form  of  Vishnu  (Crishna),  called  Vith- 
thal  or  Vithoba,  is  the  popular  god  at  Pandhar- 
pur  in  Maha-rashtra,  the  favorite  of  the  cele- 
brated Marathi  poet  Tukarama.”  (Prof. 
Monier  Williams  : Indian  Wisdom,  p.  xlviii.) 

6 See  Lundy  : Monumental  Christianity,  p. 
160. 

6 This  can  be  seen  by  referring  to  Calmet, 
Sonnerat,  or  Higgins,  vol.  ii.,  which  contain 
plates  representing  Crishna. 


186 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ I object  to  the  crucifix  because  it  is  an  image,  and  liable  to  gross  abuse,  just 
as  the  old  Hindoo  crucifix  was  an  idol”1 


And  Dr.  Inman  says : 

“ Crishna,  whose  history  so  closely  resembles  our  Lord’s,  was  also  like  him  in 
his  being  crucified.”2 

Tlie  Evangelist3  relates  that  when  Jesus  was  crucified  two 
others  (malefactors)  were  crucified  with  him,  one  of  whom,  through 
his  favor,  went  to  heaven.  One  of  the  malefactors  reviled  him, 
but  the  other  said  to  Jesus:  “Lord,  remember  me  when  thou  com- 
est  into  thy  kingdom.”  And  Jesus  said  unto  him : “ Verily  I say 
unto  thee,  to-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise.”  According 
to  the  Vishnu  Purana , the  hunter  who  shot  the  arrow  at  Crishna 
afterwards  said  unto  him  : “ Have  pity  upon  me,  who  am  consumed 
by  my  crime,  for  thou  art  able  to  consume  me !”  Crishna  re- 
plied : “ Fear  not  thou  in  the  least.  Go , hunter , through  my  favor , 
to  hea/oen , the  abode  of  the  gods .”  As  soon  as  he  had  thus  spoken, 
a celestial  car  appeared,  and  the  hunter,  ascending  it,  forthwith 
proceeded  to  heaven.  Then  the  illustrious  Crishna,  having  united 
himself  with  his  own  pure,  spiritual,  inexhaustible,  inconceivable, 
unborn,  undecaying,  imperishable  and  universal  spirit,  which  is 
one  with  Vasudeva  (God),4  abandoned  his  mortal  body,  and  the 
condition  of  the  threefold  equalities.6  One  of  the  titles  of  Crishna 

1 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  128.  4 Vasudeva  means  C od.  See  Vishnu  Purana, 

9 Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  411.  p.  274. 

8 Luke,  xxiii.  39-43.  6 Vishnu  Purana,  p 613. 


FIG  NQ7 


FIG  N0.8 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


187 


is  “ Pardoner  of  sins”  another  is  “ Liberator  from  the  Serpent  of 
death?” 

The  monk  Georgius,  in  his  Tibetinum  Alphabetum  (p.  203), 


has  given  plates  of  a crucified  god  who  was  worshiped  in  Nepal. 
These  crucifixes  were  to  be  seen  at  the  corners  of  roads  and  on 
eminences.  He  calls  it  the  god  Indr  a.  Figures  No.  9 and  No.  10 
are  taken  from  this  work.  They  are  also  different  from  any 
Christian  crucifix  yet  produced.  Georgius  says  : 

“ If  the  matter  stands  as  Beausobre  thinks,  then  the  inhabitants  of  India,  and 
the  Buddhists,  whose  religion  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  Thibet, 
have  received  these  new  portents  of  fanatics  nowhere  else  than  from  the  Mani- 
cheans.  For  those  nations,  especiall}’  in  the  city  of  Nepal,  in  the  month  of  Au- 
gust, being  about  to  celebrate  the  festival  days  of  the  god  lndra,  erect  crosses, 
wreathed  with  Abrotono,  to  his  memory,  everywhere.  You  have  the  description  of 
these  in  letter  B,  the  picture  following  after;  for  A is  the  representation  of  lndra 
himself  crucified,  bearing  on  his  forehead,  hands  and  feet  the  signs  Telech .”1 2 

P.  Andrada  la  Crozius,  one  of  the  first  Europeans  who  went  to 
Nepal  and  Thibet,  in  speaking  of  the  god  whom  they  worshiped 
there — lndra — tells  us  that  they  said  he  spilt  his  blood  for  the  sal/oa- 


1 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  yol.  i.  p.  72. 

3 “ Si  ita  se  res  habet,  ut  existimat  Beau- 
sobrius,  Indi,  et  Budistce  quorum  religio, 
eadem  est  ac  Tibetana,  nonnisi  a Manichaeis 
nova  haec  deliriorum  portenta  acceperunt.  Hae- 
namque  gentes  praesertim  in  urbe  Nepal,  Luna 
XII.  Badr  sen  Bhadon  Auqusti  mensis,  dies 
festos  auspicaturae  Dei  Indrce , erigunt  ad  illius 


memoriam  ubique  locorum  cruces  amictas 
Abrotono.  Earum  figuram  descrip  tam  habes 
ad  lit.  B,  Tabula  pone  sequenti.  Nam  A effi- 
gies est  ipsius  Indrce  cnLClUxi  signa  Telech  in 
fronte  manibus  pedibusqne  gerentis.”  (Alph 
Tibet,  p.  203.  Quoted  in  Higgins’  Anacalypsia. 
vol.  i.  p.  130.) 


188 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


tion  of  the  human  race,  and  that  he  was  pierced  through  the  body 
with  nails.  He  further  says  that,  although  they  do  not  say  he  suf- 
fered the  penalty  of  the  cross,  yet  they  find,  nevertheless,  figures 
of  it  in  their  books.1 

In  regard  to  Beausobre’s  ideas  that  the  religion  of  India  is 
corrupted  Christianity,  obtained  from  the  Manicheans,  little  need 
be  said,  as  all  scholars  of  the  present  day  know  that  the  religion 
of  India  is  many  centuries  older  than  Mani  or  the  Manicheans.2 

In  the  promontory  of  India,  in  the  South,  at  Tanjore,  and  in 
the  North,  at  Oude  or  Ayoudia,  was  found  the  worship  of  the 
crucified  god  Bal-li.  This  god,  who  was  believed  to  have  been 
an  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  was  represented  with  holes  in  his  hands 
and  side.3 * 

The  incarnate  god  Buddha,  although  said  to  have  expired 
peacefully  at  the  foot  of  a tree,  is  nevertheless  described  as  a suffer- 
ing Saviour,  who,  “ when  his  mind  was  moved  by  pity  (for  the 
human  race)  gave  his  life  like  grass  for  the  sake  of  others”' 

A hymn,  addressed  to  Buddha,  says  : 

“ Persecutions  without  end, 

Revilings  and  many  prisons, 

Death  and  murder, 

These  hast  thou  suffered  with  love  and  patience 
(To  secure  the  happiness  of  mankind), 

Forgiving  thine  executioners.  ”5 * 

He  was  called  the  “ Great  Physician,”8  the  “Saviour  of 
the  World,”7  the  “Blessed  One,”8  the  “God  among  Gods,”® 
the  “Anointed,”  or  the  “ Christ,”10  the  “Messiah,”11  the  “ Only  Be- 
gotten,”12 etc.  He  is  described  by  the  author  of  the  “ Cambridge 
Key  ”13  as  sacrificing  his  life  to  wash  away  the  offenses  of  mankind, 
and  thereby  to  make  them  partakers  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 


1 “ Us  conviennent  qu’il  a repandu  eon  sang 
pour  le  salut  du  genre  hnmain,  ayant  ete  perce 
de  clous  par  tout  son  corps.  Quoiqu’ils  ne 
disent  pas  qu’il  a souffert  le  supplice  de  la 
croix,  ou  en  trouve  pourtant  la  figure  dans  leurs 
livres.”  (Quoted  in  Higgins’ Anacalypsis,  vol. 
ii.  p.  118.) 

2 ‘ ‘ Although  the  nations  of  Europe  have 

changed  their  religions  during  the  past  eighteen 

centuries,  the  Hindoo  has  not  done  so,  except 

very  partially.  . . . The  religious  creeds, 
rites,  customs-,  and  habits  of  thought  of  the 

Hindoos  generally,  have  altered  little  since  the 

days  of  Manu,  500  years  b.  c.”  (Prof.  Monier 
Williams  : Indian  Wisdom,  p.  iv.) 

8  See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  pp.  147, 


572,  667  and  750 ; vol.  ii.  p.  122,  and  note  4, 
p.  185,  this  chapter. 

4 See  Max  Muller’s  Science  of  Religion,  p. 
224. 

6  Quoted  in  Lillie’s  Buddhism,  p.  93. 

6 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  20. 

7 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  20, 25,  35. 
Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  247.  Hue’s  Travels, 
vol.  i.  pp.  326,  327,  and  almost  any  work  on 
Buddhism. 

8 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  20. 

9 Ibid.  Johnson’s  Oriental  Religions,  p.  604. 
See  alsd  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  iii.,  or  chap- 
ter xii.  of  this  work. 

10  See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  18. 

“ Ibid. 
i»  Ibid. 


is  Vol.  i p.  118. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


189 


This  induces  him  to  say  “ Can  a Christian  doubt  that  this  Buddha 
was  the  type  of  the  Saviour  of  the  World.”1 2 3 

As  a spirit  in  the  fourth  heaven,  he  resolves  to  give  up 
“ all  that  glory,  in  order  to  be  born  into  the  world,”  “ to  rescue 
all  men  from  their  misery  and  every  future  consequence  of  it.” 
He  vows  “ to  deliver  all  men,  who  are  left  as  it  were  without  a 
Saviour .”a 

While  in  the  realms  of  the  blest,  and  when  about  to  descend 
upon  earth  to  be  born  as  man,  he  said  : 

“I  am  now  about  to  assume  a body;  not  for  the  sake  of  gaining  wealth,  or 
enjoying  the  pleasures  of  sense,  but  I am  about  to  descend  and  be  born,  among 
men,  simply  to  give  peace  and  rest  to  all  flesh;  to  remove  all  soirow  and  grief  from 
the  world”* 

M.  Y Abbe  Hue  says : 

“ In  the  eyes  of  the  Buddhists,  this  personage  (Buddha)  is  sometimes  a man 
and  sometimes  a god,  or  rather  both  one  and  the  other — a divine  incarnation,  a 
man-god — who  came  into  the  world  to  enlighten  men,  to  redeem  them,  and  to 
indicate  to  them  the  way  of  safety.  This  idea  of  redemption  by  a divine  incarna- 
tion is  so  general  and  popular  among  the  Buddhists,  that  during  our  travels  in 
Upper  Asia  we  everywhere  found  it  expressed  in  a neat  formula.  If  we  ad- 
dressed to  a Mongol  or  a Thibetan  the  question  ‘ Who  is  Buddha?  ’ he  would  im- 
mediately reply:  * The  Saviour  of  Men!  * ”4 

According  to  Prof.  Max  Muller,  Buddlia  is  reported  as  say- 
ing: 

“Let  all  the  sins  that  were  committed  in  this  world  fall  on  me,  that  the  world 
may  be  delivered .”5 

The  Indians  are  no  strangers  to  the  doctrine  of  original  sin. 
It  is  their  invariable  belief  that  man  is  a fallen  being  ; admitted 
by  them  from  time  immemorial.6  And  what  we  have  seen  con- 
cerning their  beliefs  in  Crishna  and  Buddha  unmistakably  shows 
a belief  in  a divine  Saviour,  who  redeems  man , and  takes  upon 
himself  the  sins  of  the  world  ; so  that  “ Baddha  paid  it  all,  all  to 
him  is  due.”7 


1 Quoted  in  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  118. 

2 Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  20. 

3 Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  33. 

4 Hue’s  Travels,  vol.  i.  pp.  326,  327. 

6 Muller  : Hist.  Sanscrit  Literature,  p.  80. 

6 See  Maurice  : Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  v. 
p.  95,  and  Williams  : Hinduism,  p.  214. 

7 “He  in  mercy  left  paradise,  and  came 
dovra  to  earth,  because  he  was  filled  with  com- 
passion for  the  sins  and  miseries  of  mankind. 
He  sought  to  lead  them  into  better  paths,  and 
took  their  sufferings  upon  himself,  that  he  might 


expiate  their  crimes,  and  mitigate  the  punish- 
ment they  must  otherwise  inevitably  undergo.” 
(Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  ii.  p.  86.) 

“ The  object  of  his  mission  on  earth  was  to 
instruct  those  who  were  straying  from  the  right 
path,  expiate  the  sins  of  mortals  by  his  own 
sufferings,  and  produce  for  them  a happy  en- 
trance into  another  existence  by  obedience  to 
his  precepts  and  prayers  in  his  name.  They 
always  speak  of  him  as  one  with  God  from  all 
eternity.  His  most  common  title  is  ‘ The  Sa- 
viour of  the  World;  ” (Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  247.) 


190 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Tlie  idea  of  redemption  through  the  sufferings  and  death  of  a 
Divine  Saviour , is  to  be  found  even  in  ihe  ancient  religions  of 
China.  One  of  their  five  sacred  volumes,  called  the  Y-King , says, 
in  speaking  of  Tien , the  “ Holy  One  ”; 

“ The  Holy  One  will  unite  in  himself  all  the  virtues  of  heaven  and  earth.  By 
his  justice  the  world  will  be  re-established  in  the  ways  of  righteousness.  He  will 
labor  and  suffer  much.  He  must  pass  the  great  torrent,  whose  waves  shall  enter 
into  his  soul;  but  he  alone  can  offer  up  to  the  Lord  a sacrifice  worthy  of  him”1 

An  ancient  commentator  says  : 

“ The  common  people  sacrifice  their  lives  to  gain  bread;  the  philosophers  to 
gain  reputation;  the  nobility  to  perpetuate  their  families.  The  Holy  One  (Tien) 
does  not  seek  himself,  but  the  good  of  others.  He  dies  to  save  the  world.”2 

Tien , the  Holy  One,  is  always  spoken  of  as  one  with  God, 
existing  with  him  from  all  eternity,  “ before  anything  was 
made.” 

Osiris  and  Horus , the  Egyptian  virgin-born  gods,  suffered 
death.3  Mr.  Bonwick,  speaking  of  Osiris , says : 

“He  is  one  of  the  Saviours  or  deliverers  of  humanity,  to  be  found  in  almost 
all  lands.”  “In  his  efforts  to  do  good,  he  encounters  evil;  in  struggling  with 
that  he  is  overcome;  he  is  killed.”4 

Alexander  Murray  says : 

11  Ihe  Egyptian  Saviour  Osiris  was  gratefully  regarded  as  the  great  exemplar 
of  self-sacrifice,  in  giving  his  life  for  others .”5 

Sir  J.  G.  Wilkinson  says  of  him : 

“ The  sufferings  and  death  of  Osiris  were  the  great  Mystery  of  the  Egyptian 
religion,  and  some  traces  of  it  are  perceptible  among  other  peoples  of  antiquity. 
His  being  the  Divine  Goodness,  and  the  abstract  idea  of  ‘good,’  his  manifestation 
upon  earth  (like  a Hindoo  god),  his  death  and  resurrection,  and  his  office  as 
judge  of  the  dead  in  a future  state,  look  like  the  early  revelation  of  a future  mani- 
festation of  the  deity  converted  Unto  a mythological  fable.”6 

Horus  was  also  called  “ The  Saviour.”  “ As  Horus  Sneb,  he 
is  the  Redeemer.  He  is  the  Lord  of  Life  and  the  Eternal  One.”T 
He  is  also  called  “ The  Only-Begotten.”8 

Attys , who  was  called  the  “ Only  Begotten  Son ”9  and  “Saviour” 
was  worshiped  by  the  Phrygians  (who  were  regarded  as  one  of  the 


1 Quoted  in  Preg.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  211. 

a Ibid. 

3 See  Renouf  : Religions  of  Ancient  Egypt, 
p.  178. 

4 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  155. 

* Murray  : Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  348. 


6 In  Rawlinson’s  Herodotus,  vol.  ii.  p.  171. 
Quoted  in  Knight’s  Art  and  Mythology,  p.  71. 

7 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  185. 

8 See  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  88. 

9 See  Knight : Ancient  Art  and  Mythology, 
p.  xxii.  note. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


191 


oldest  races  of  Asia  Minor).  He  was  represented  by  them  as  a man 
tied  to  a tree , at  the  foot  of  which  was  a lamb?  and,  without  doubt, 
also  as  a man  nailed  to  the  tree , or  stake , for  we  find  Lactantius  mak- 
ing this  Apollo  of  Miletus  (anciently,  the  greatest  and  most  flour- 
ishing city  of  Ionia,  in  Asia  Minor)  say  that : 

“He  was  a mortal  according  to  the  flesh;  wise  in  miraculous  works;  hut, 
being  arrested  by  an  armed  force  by  command  of  the  Chaldean  judges,  lie  suffered 
a death  made  bitter  with  nails  and  stakes”'1 2 

In  this  god  of  the  Phrygians,  we  again  have  the  myth  of  the 
crucified  Saviour  of  Paganism. 

By  referring  to  Mrs.  Jameson’s  “ History  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,”3 
or  to  illustrations  in  chapter  xl.  this  work,  it  will  be  seen  that  a com- 
mon mode  of  representing  a crucifixion  was  that  of  a man,  tied 
with  cords  by  the  hands  and  feet,  to  an  upright  beam  or  stake. 
The  lamb , spoken  of  above,  which  signifies  considerable,  we  shall 
speak  of  in  its  proper  place. 

Tammuz , or  Adonis , the  Syrian  and  Jewish  Adonai  (in  He- 
brew “ Our  Lord  ”),  was  another  virgin-born  god,  who  suffered  for 
mankind,  and  who  had  the  title  of  Saviour.  The  accounts  of  his 
death  are  conflicting,  just  as  it  is  with  almost  all  of  the  so-called 
Saviours  of  mankind  ( including  the  Christian  Saviour , as  we  shall 
hereafter  see)  one  account,  however,  makes  him  a crucified  Saviour .4 * 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  ancients  who  honored  him  as 
their  Lord  and  Saviour,  celebrated,  annually,  a feast  in  commem- 
oration of  his  death.  An  image,  intended  as  a representation  of 
their  Lord,  was  laid  on  a bed  or  bier,  and  bewailed  in  mournful 
ditties — just  as  the  Homan  Catholics  do  at  the  present  day  in  their 
“ Good  Friday  ” mass. 

During  this  ceremony  the  priest  murmured  : 

“ Trust  ye  in  your  Lord,  for  the  pains  which  he  endured , our  salvation  have 
procured.”* 

The  Bev.  Dr.  Parkhurst,  in  his  “ Hebrew  Lexicon,”  after  re- 
ferring to  what  we  have  just  stated  above,  says  : 

“I  find  myself  obliged  to  refer  Tammuz  to  that  class  of  idols  which  were 
originally  designed  to  represent  the  promised  Saviour,  the  Desire  of  all  Nations. 
His  other  name,  Adonis,  is  almost  the  very  Hebrew  Adoni  or  Lord,  a well-known 
title  of  Christ.”6 


1 Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief , p.  255.  4 See  chapter  xxxix,  this  work. 

3 Vol.  ii.  s See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  114, 

3 Lactant.  Inst.,  div.  iv.  chap.  xiii.  in  Anac-  and  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  163. 

alypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  544.  8 See  the  chapter  on  “ The  Resurrection  of 

Jesus.” 


192 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Prometheus  was  a crucified  Saviour.  He  was  w an  immortal 
god,  a friend  of  the  human  race,  who  does  not  shrink  even  from 
sacrificing  himself for  their  salvation”1 

The  tragedy  of  the  crucifixion  of  Prometheus,  written  by 
HCschylus,  was  acted  in  Athens  five  hundred  years  before  the 
Christian  Era,  and  is  by  many  considered  to  be  the  most  ancient 
dramatic  poem  now  in  existence.  The  plot  was  derived  from  ma- 
terials even  at  that  time  of  an  infinite^  remote  antiquity.  Noth- 
ing was  ever  so  exquisitely  calculated  to  work  upon  the  feelings 
of  the  spectators.  No  author  ever  displayed  greater  powers  of 
poetry,  with  equal  strength  of  judgment,  in  supporting  through  the 
piece  the  august  character  of  the  Divine  Sufferer.  The  specta- 
tors themselves  were  unconsciously  made  a party  to  the  interest  of 
the  scene : its  hero  was  their  friend,  their  benefactor,  their  creator, 
and  their  Srniour ; his  wrongs  were  incurred  in  their  quarrel — 
his  sorrows  were  endured  for  their  salvation  ’ “ he  was  wounded 
for  their  transgressions,  and  bruised  for  their  iniquities  ; the  chas- 
tisement of  their  peace  was  upon  him,  and  by  his  stripes  they  were 
healed  ; ” “ he  was  oppressed  and  afflicted,  yet  he  opened  not  his 
mouth.”  The  majesty  of  his  silence,  whilst  the  ministers  of  an 
offended  god  were  nailing  him  by  the  hands  and  feet  to  Mount 
Caucasus ,2  could  be  only  equaled  by  the  modesty  with  which  he 
relates,  while  hanging  with  arms  extended  in  the  form  of  a cross , 
his  services  to  the  human  race,  which  had  brought  on  him  that 
horrible  crucifixion.3  “ None,  save  myself,”  says  he,  “ opposed 
his  (Jove’s)  will,” 

“ I dared; 

And  boldly  pleading  saved  them  from  destruction, 

Saved  them  from  sinking  to  the  realms  of  night. 

For  this  offense  I bend  beneath  these  pains, 

Dreadful  to  suffer,  piteous  to  behold : 

For  mercy  to  mankind  I am  not  deem’d 
Worthy  of  mercy;  but  with  ruthless  hate 
In  this  uncouth  appointment  am  fix’d  here 
A spectacle  dishonorable  to  Jove.”4 


1 Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Prometheus.” 

2 '■'•Prometheus  has  been  a favorite  subject 
with  the  poets.  He  is  represented  as  the  friend 
of  mankind,  who  interposed  in  their  behalf 
when  Jove  was  incensed  against  them.”  (Bul- 
flnch  : The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  32.) 

“ In  the  mythos  relating  to  Prometheus,  he 

always  appears  as  the  friend  of  the  human 
race,  suffering  in  its  behalf  the  most  fearful 
tortures.”  (John  Fiske : Myths  and  Myth- 
makers,  pp.  64,  65.)  “ Prometheus  was  nailed 
to  the  rocks  on  Mount  Caucasus,  with  arms 


extended .”  (Alexander  Murray : Manual  of 
Mythology,  p.  82.)  “ Prometheus  is  said  to  have 
been  nailed  up  with  arms  extended , near  the 
Caspian  Straits,  on  Mount  Caucasus.  The 
history  of  Prometheus  on  the  Cathedral  at  Bor- 
deaux (France)  here  receives  its  explanation.” 
(Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  113.) 

8 See  ^Eschylus’  “Prometheus  Chained,” 
Translated  by  the  Rev.  R.  Potter : Harper  Ss 
Bros.,  N.  Y. 

* Ibid.  p.  82. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


193 


In  the  catastrophe  of  the  plot,  his  especially  professed  friend, 
Oceanus,  the  Fisherman — as  his  name  Pebrceus  indicates,1 — being 
unable  to  prevail  on  him  to  make  his  peace  with  Jupiter,  by  throw- 
ing the  cause  of  human  redemption  out  of  his  hands,2  forsook  him 
and  fled.  None  remained  to  be  witness  of  his  dying  agonies  but 
the  chorus  of  ever-amiable  and  ever-faithful  which  also  bewailed 
and  lamented  him,3  but  were  unable  to  subdue  his  inflexible  phil- 
anthropy.4 

In  the  words  of  Justin  Martyr:  “Suffering  was  common  to  all 
the  sons  of  J ove.”  They  were  called  the  “ Slain  Ones,”  “ Sav- 

iours,” “ Redeemers,”  &c. 

Bacchus , the  offspring  of  Jupiter  and  Semele,5 6  was  called  the 
Saviour  F He  was  called  the  “ Only  Begotten  Son ,”7  the  “ Slain 
One,”8  the  “Sin  Bearer,”9  the  “ Redeemer,”10  &c.  Evil  having 
spread  itself  over  the  earth,  through  the  inquisitiveness  of  Pandora, 
the  Lord  of  the  gods  is  begged  to  come  to  the  relief  of  mankind. 
Jupiter  lends  a willing  ear  to  the  entreaties,  “ and  wishes  that 
his  son  should  be  the  redeemer  of  the  misfortunes  of  the  world ; 
The  Bacchus  Saviour.  He  promises  to  the  earth  a Liberator  . . . 

The  universe  shall  worship  him,  and  shall  praise  in  songs  his 
blessings.”  In  order  to  execute  his  purpose,  Jupiter  overshad- 
ows the  beautiful  young  maiden — the  virgin  Semele — who  be- 
comes the  mother  of  the  Redeemer T 

“It  is  I (says  the  lord  Bacchus  to  mankind),  who  guides  you;  it  is  I who 
protects  you,  and  who  saves  you;  I who  am  Alpha  and  Omega.”1'2 * 

Hercules , the  son  of  Zeus,  was  called  “ The  Saviour.” 13  The 
words  “ Hercules  the  Saviour  ” were  engraven  on  ancient  coins 
and  monuments.14  He  was  also  called  “ The  Only  Begotten,”  and 
the  “ Universal  Word.”  He  was  re-absorbed  into  God.  He  was 
said  by  Ovid  to  be  the  “ Self-produced,”  the  Generator  and  Ruler 
of  all  things,  and  the  Father  of  time.16 


1 Petraeus  was  an  interchangeable  synonym 

of  the  name  Oceanus. 

3 “ Then  Peter  took  him,  and  began  to  re- 
buke him,  saying  : Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord  ; 
this  shall  not  be  unto  thee.”  (Matt.  xvi.  22.) 

3 “ And  there  followed  him  a great  company 
of  people,  and  of  women,  which  also  bewailed 
and  lamented  him.”  (Luke,  xxiii.  27.) 

4 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  pp.  193, 194,  or  Pot- 

ter’s ^Eschylus. 

6 “ They  say  that  the  god  (Bacchus),  the  off- 

spring of  Zeus  and  Demeter,  was  torn  to 

pieces.”  (Diodorus  Siculus,  in  Knight,  p.  156, 

note.) 

6 See  Knight  : Anct.  Art  and  Mythology,  p. 

98,  note.  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief, 

258.  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 

T Knight  • Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  p. 


xxii.  note. 

3 Ibid. 

9  Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  169. 

10  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  135. 

11  Ibid. 

12  Beausobre  quotes  the  inscription  on  a 
monument  of  Bacchus,  thus  : “C’est  moi,  ditil, 
qui  vous  conduis,  C’est  moi,  qui  vous  conserve, 
ou  qui  vous  sauve ; Je  sui  Alpha  et  Omega, 
&c.”  (See  chap,  xxxix  this  work.) 

13  See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 
Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  195. 
Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  152.  Dunlap  : 
Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  94. 

14  See  Celtic  Druids,  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p. 
153,  and  Montfaucon,  vol.  i. 

15  See  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  91,  and  Hig- 
gins : Anac.,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 


194 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


MJsculapius  was  distinguished  by  the  epithet  “ The  Saviour.”1 2 
The  temple  erected  to  his  memory  in  the  city  of  Athens  was  called  : 
“ The  Temple  of  the  Saviour.”* 

Apollo  was  distinguished  by  the  epithet  “ The  Saviour.”3 * * 6 7  In 
a hymn  to  Apollo  lie  is  called : “ The  willing  Saviour  of  dis- 
tressed mankind.5  54 

Serapis  was  called  “ The  Saviour.555  He  was  considered  by 
Hadrian,  the  Homan  emperor  (117-138  a.  d.),  and  the  Gentiles,  to 
be  the  peculiar  god  of  the  Christians.6  A cross  was  found  under 
the  ruins  of  his  temple  in  Alexandria  in  Egypt.7  Fig.  Ho.  11  is  a 
representation  of  this  Egyptian  Saviour,  taken 
from  Murray’s  “ Manual  of  Mythology.55  It 
certainly  resembles  the  pictures  of  “ the  peculiar 
God  of  the  Christians.55  It  is  very  evident  that 
the  pictures  of  Christ  Jesus,  as  we  know  them 
to-day,  are  simply  the  pictures  of  some  of  the 
Pagan  gods,  who  were,  for  certain  reasons  which 
we  shall  speak  of  in  a subsequent  chapter,  always 
represented  with  long  yellow  or  red  hair , and 
a florid  complexion.  If  such  a person  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ever 
lived  in  the  flesh,  he  was  undoubtedly  a Jew , and  would  there- 
fore have  Jewish  features  / this  his  pictures  do  not  betray.8 

Mithras , who  was  “ Mediator  between  God  and  man,559  was 
called  “ The  Saviour.55  He  was  the  peculiar  god  of  the  Persians, 
who  believed  that  he  had,  by  his  sufferings,  worked  their  salvation, 
and  on  this  account  he  was  called  their  Saviour.13  He  was  also 
called  “ The  Logos.”11 

The  Persians  believed  that  they  were  tainted  with  original  sin , 
owing  to  the  fall  of  their  first  parents  who  were  tempted  by  the 
evil  one  in  the  form  of  a serpent.12 

They  considered  their  law-giver  Zoroaster  to  be  also  a Divine 
Messenger , sent  to  redeem  men  from  their  evil  ways,  and  they  always 
worshiped  his  memory.  To  this  day  his  followers  mention  him 
with  the  greatest  reverence,  calling  him  “ The  Immortal  Zoroaster  ” 


1 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  153.  chapter  xxxix. 

2 See  the  chapter  on  “ Miracles  of  Jesus.”  9 See  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  pp.  237,  241,  242, 

3 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  and  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  123, 7 tote. 

264.  10  See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  99. 

* See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  186.  11  See  Dunlap’s  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  20. 

6 See  Higgins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  15.  “According  to  the  most  ancient  tradition 

8 See  Giles  : Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,  of  the  East-Iranians  recorded  in  the  Zend- 

vol.  ii.  p.  86.  Avesta,  the  God  of  Light  (Ormuzd)  communi- 

7 See  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  15,  and  our  cated  his  mysteries  to  some  men  through  his 

chapter  on  Christian  Symbols.  Word."  (Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  75.) 

8 This  subject  will  be  referred  to  again  in  12  Wake  : Phallism,  &c.,  p.  47. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JEStTS. 


195 


“ The  Blessed  Zoroaster”  “ The  First-Born  of  the  Eternal  One,” 
&c.' 

“ In  the  life  of  Zoroaster  the  common  mythos  is  apparent.  He 
was  born  in  innocence,  of  an  immaculate  conception,  of  a ray  of 
the  Divine  Reason.  As  soon  as  he  was  born,  the  glory  arising 
from  his  body  enlightened  the  room,  and  he  laughed  at  his  mother. 
He  was  called  a Splendid  Light  from  the  Tree  of  Knowledge,  and, 
in  fine,  he  or  his  soul  was  suspensus  a lingo , hung  upon  a tree, 
and  this  was  the  Tree  of  Knowledge.”1 2 

How  much  this  resembles  “ the  mystery  which  hath  been  hid 
from  ages  and  from  generations,  but  now  is  made  manifest  to  his 
saints.”3 

Hermes  was  called  “ The  Saviour .”  On  the  altar  of  Pepi  (b.  c. 
3500)  are  to  be  found  prayers  to  Hermes — “ He  who  is  the  good 
Saviour. ”4 * 6 *  He  was  also  called  “ The  Logos”  The  church  fa- 
thers, Hippolytus,  Justin  Martyr,  and  Plutarch  (de  Lside  et  Osir) 
assert  that  the  Logos  is  Hermes. 5 The  term  “ Logos”  is  Greek, 
and  signifies  literally  “ Word.”*  He  was  also  uThe  Messenger  of 
God:” 

Dr.  Inman  says : 

‘‘There  are  few  words  which  strike  more  strongly  upon  the  senses  of  an 
inquirer  into  the  nature  of  ancient  faiths,  than  Salvation  and  Saviour.  Both 
were  used  long  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  and  they  are  still  common  among 
those  who  never  heard  of  Jesus,  or  of  that  which  is  known  among  us  as  the 
Gospels.”8 

He  also  tells  us  that  there  is  a very  remarkable  figure  copied  in 
Payne  Knight’s  work,  in  which  we  see  on  a man’s  shoulders  a coclds 
head,  whilst  on  the  pediment  are  placed  the  words  : “ The  Saviour 
of  the  World .”9 

Besides  the  titles  of  “ God’s  First-Born,”  “ Only  Begotten,” 
the  “ Mediator,”  the  “ Shepherd,”  the  “ Advocate,”  the  “ Para- 
clete or  Comforter,”  the  “Son  of  God,”  the  “Logos,”  &c.,10  being 
applied  to  heathen  virgin-born  gods,  before  the  time  assigned  for 
the  birth  of  Jesus  of  ISTazareth,  we  have  also  that  of  Christ  and 
Jesus. 


1 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  pp.  258,  259. 

2 Maicom  : Hist.  Persia,  vol.  i.  Ap.  p.  494  ; 
Nimrod,  vol.  ii.  p.  31.  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  649. 

s Col.  i.  26. 

4 See  Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  102. 

6  See  Dunlap’s  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  39,  mar- 
ginal note. 

6 ‘ - In  the  beginning  was  the  Word , and  the 

Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.” 

(John.  i.  1.) 


7 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  69  and  71. 

8 Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  652. 

8 Ibid,  vol,  i.  p.  537. 

10  See  Bunsen's  Angel-Messiah,  p.  119. 
Knight’s  Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  pp.  xxii. 
and  98.  Dunlap’s  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  71,  and 
Spirit  History,  pp.  183,  205,  206,  249.  Bible  for 
Learners,  vol.  ii.  p.  25.  Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii. 
pp.  195,  237,  516,  besides  the  authorities  already 
cited. 


196 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Cyrus , King  of  Persia,  was  called  the  “ Christ,”  or  the 
“ Anointed  of  God.”1 2  As  Dr.  Giles  says,  “ Christ”  is  “a  name 
having  no  spiritual  signification,  and  importing  nothing  more  than 
an  ordinary  surname?”  The  worshipers  of  Sera/pis  were  called 
“ Christians ,”  and  those  devoted  to  Serapis  were  called  “ Bishops 
of  Christ.”3  Eusebius , the  ecclesiastical  historian,  says,  that  the 
names  of  “Jesus”  and  “Christ,”  were  both  known  and  honored 
among  the  ancients.4 * 

Mithras  was  called  the  “ Anointed  ” or  the  “ Christ ; ”6  and 
Horus , Mano , Mithras , Bel-Minor , lao,  Adoni , &c.,  were  each 
of  them  “ God  of  Light,”  “Light  of  the  World,”  the  “ Anointed,” 
or  the  “ Christ.”6 

It  is  said  that  Peter  called  his  Master  the  Christ , whereupon 
“ he  straightway  charged  them  (the  'disciples),  and  commanded 
them  to  tell  no  man  that  thing?” 

The  title  of  “ Christ  ” or  “ The  Anointed,”  was  held  by  the 
kings  of  Israel.  “ Touch  not  my  Christ  and  do  my  prophets  no 
harm,”  says  the  Psalmist.8 

The  term  “ Christ  ” was  applied  to  religious  teachers,  leaders  of 
factions,  necromancers  or  wonder-workers,  &c.  This  is  seen  by  the 
passage  in  Matthew , where  the  writer  says  : 

“There  shall  arise  false  Christs  and  false  prophets,  and  shall  show  great 
signs  and  wonders,  insomuch  that,  if  it  were  possible,  they  shall  deceive  the 
very  elect.”9 

The  virgin-born  Crishna  and  Buddha  were  incarnations  of 
Yishnu,  called  Avatars.  An  Avatar  is  an  Angel-Messiah , a God- 
man,  a Christ  ; for  the  word  Christ  is  from  the  Greek  Christos , an 
Anointed  One , a Messiah. 

The  name  Jesus , which  is  pronounced  in  Hebrew  Yezua , and  is 
sometimes  Grecized  into  Jason , was  very  common.  After  the 
Captivity  it  occurs  quite  frequently,  and  is  interchanged  with  the 
name  Joshua.  Indeed  Joshua,  the  successor  of  Moses,  is  called 
Jesus  in  the  Hew  Testament  more  than  once,10  though  the  mean- 
ing of  the  two  names  is  not  really  quite  the  same.  We  know  of  a 
Jesus,  son  of  Sirach,  a writer  of  proverbs,  whose  collection  is 


1 See  Bunsen’s  Bible  Chronology,  p.  5. 
Keys  of  St.  Peter,  125.  Volney’s  Ruins,  p.  168. 

2 Giles  : Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,  p. 
64,  vol.  ii. 

8  Ibid.  p.  86,  and  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  pp.  203, 
206,  407.  Dupuis  : p.  267. 

4 Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  1,  ch.  iv. 

6  See  Dunlap’s  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  78. 

• See  Ibid.  p.  39. 


7 Luke,  iv.  21. 

8 Psalm,  cv.  15.  The  term  “an  Anointed 
Owe,”  which  we  use  in  English,  is  Ohristos  in 
Greek,  and  Messiah  in  Hebrew.  (See  Bible  for 
Learners,  and  Religion  of  Israel,  p.  147.) 

9 Matthew,  xxiv.  24. 

10  Acts,  vii.  45  ; Hebrews,  iv.  8 ; compare 
Nehemiah,  viii.  17. 


TIIE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


197 


preserved  among  the  apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  notorious  Bar  abbas1  or  son  of  Abbas,  was  himself  called  Jesus. 
Among  Paul’s  opponents  we  find  a magician  called  Elyinas,  the 
Son  of  Jesus.  A mong  the  early  Christians  a certain  Jesus,  also 
called  Justus,  appears.  Flavius  Josephus  mentions  more  than  ten 
distinct  persons — priests,  robbers,  peasants,  and  others — who  bore 
the  name  of  Jesus,  all  of  whom  lived  during  the  last  century  of  the 
Jewish  state.2 

To  return  now  to  our  theme — crucified  gods  before  the  time 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

The  holy  Father  Minucius  Felix , in  his  Octavius , written  as 
late  as  a.  d.  211,  indignantly  resents  the  supposition  that  the  sign 
of  the  cross  should  be  considered  exclusively  as  a Christian  symbol , 
and  represents  his  advocate  of  the  Christian  argument  as  re- 
torting on  an  infidel  opponent.  His  words  are : 

“As  for  the  adoration  of  crosses  which  you  (. Pagans ) object  against  us 
( Christians ),  I must  tell  you,  that  we  neither  adore  crosses  nor  desire  them  ; you  it 
is,  ye  Pagans  . . . who  are  the  most  likely  people  to  adore  wooden  crosses 

. . . for  what  else  are  your  ensigns,  flags,  and  standards,  hut  crosses  gilt  and 

beautiful.  Your  victorious  trophies  not  only  represent  a simple  cross,  hut  a cross 
with  a man  upon  it.”* 

The  existence,  in  the  writings  of  Minucius  Felix,  of  this 
passage,  is  probably  owing  to  an  oversight  of  the  destroyers  of 
all  evidences  against  the  Christian  religion  that  could  be  had.  The 
practice  of  the  Romans,  here  alluded  to,  of  carrying  a cross  with  a 
man  on  it,  or,  in  other  words,  a crucifix , has  evidently  been  con- 
cealed from  us  by  the  careful  destruction  of  such  of  their  works  as 
alluded  to  it.  The  priests  had  everything  their  own  way  for 
centuries,  and  to  destroy  what  was  evidence  against  their  claims 
was  a very  simple  matter. 

It  is  very  evident  that  this  celebrated  Christian  Father  alludes 
to  some  Gentile  mystery,  of  which  the  prudence  of  his  successors 
has  deprived  us.  When  we  compare  this  with  the  fact  that  for 
centuries  after  the  time  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus,  he 
was  not  represented  as  a mail  on  a cross,  and  that  the  Christians 
did  not  have  such  a thing  as  a crucifix,  we  are  inclined  to  think 
that  the  effigies  of  a black  or  dark-skinned  crucified  man,  which 
were  to  be  seen  in  many  places  in  Italy  even  during  the  last 
century,  may  have  had  something  to  do  with  it.4 


1 He  who,  it  is  said,  was  liberated  at  the  3 Octavius,  c.  xxix. 

time  of  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  4 See  Anacalypsis,  vol  ii.  p.  116. 

8 See  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  60. 


198 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


While  speaking  of  “ a cross  with  a man  on  it  ” as  being  carried 
by  the  Pagan  Romans  as  a standard , we  might  mention  the  fact, 
related  by  Arrian  the  historian,1  that  the  troops  of  Porus,  in  their 
war  with  Alexander  the  Great,  carried  on  their  standards  the 
figure  of  a man .2  Here  is  evidently  the  crucifix  standard  again. 

“This  must  have  been  (says  Mr.  Higgins)  a Staurobates  or  Salivahana, 
and  looks  very  like  the  figure  of  a man  carried  on  their  standards  by  the  Romans. 
This  was  similar  to  the  dove  carried  on  the  standards  of  the  Assyrians.  This 
must  have  been  the  crucifix  of  Nepaul.”3 

Tertullian,  a Christian  Father  of  the  second  and  third  centuries, 
writing  to  the  Pagans,  says : 

“ The  origin  of  your  gods  is  derived  from  figures  moulded  on  a cross.  All 
those  rows  of  images  on  your  standards  are  the  appendages  of  crosses;  those 
hangings  on  your  standards  and  banners  are  the  robes  of  crosses.  ”4 

We  have  it  then,  on  the  authority  of  a Christian  Father,  as  late 
as  a.  d.  211,  that  the  Christians  “ neither  adored  crosses  nor  desired 
them”  but  that  the  Pagans  “ adored  crosses,”  and  not  that  alone, 
but  “ a cross  with  a man  upon  it.”  This  we  shall  presently  find  to 
be  the  case.  Jesus,  in  those  days,  nor  for  centuries  after,  was  not  rep- 
resented as  a man  on  a cross.  He  was  represented  as  a lamb , and 
the  adoration  of  the  crucifix,  by  the  Christians,  was  a later  addition 
to  their  religion.  But  this  we  shall  treat  of  in  its  place. 

We  may  now  ask  the  question,  who  was  this  crucified  man 
whom  the  Pagans  “ adored  ” before  and  after  the  time  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ? Who  did  the  crucifix  represent?  It  was,  undoubtedly, 
“ the  Saviour  crucified  for  the  salvation  of  mankind,”  long  before 
the  Christian  Era,  whose  effigies  were  to  be  seen  in  many  places 
all  over  Italy.  These  Pagan  crucifixes  were  either  destroyed, 
corrupted,  or  adopted  ; the  latter  was  the  case  with  many  ancient 
paintings  of  the  Bambino ,5  on  which  may  be  seen  the  words  Deo 
Soli.  Now,  these  two  words  can  never  apply  to  Christ  Jesus.  He 
was  not  Deus  Solus , in  any  sense,  according  to  the  idiom  of 
the  Latin  language,  and  the  Romish  faith.  Whether  we  construe 
the  words  to  “ the  only  God,”  or  “ God  alone,”  they  are  equally 
heretical.  No  priest,  in  any  age  of  the  Church,  would  have 
thought  of  putting  them  there ; but  finding  them  there , they  tol- 
erated them. 

In  the  “ Celtic  Druids”  Mr.  Higgins  describes  a crucifix , a 
lamb , and  an  elephant , which  was  cut  upon  the  “ fire  tower  ” — so- 

1 In  his  History  of  the  Campaigns  of  Alex-  4 Apol.  c.  16  ; Ad  Nationes,  c.  xii. 

ander.  6 See  the  chapter  on  “ The  Worship  of  the 

3 See  Anacalypsis,  voi.  ii.  p.  118.  Virgin.” 

* Ibid. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


199 


called — at  Brechin,  a town  of  Forfarshire,  in  Scotland.  Although 
they  appeared  to  be  of  very  ancient  date,  he  supposed,  at  that 
time,  that  they  were  modern,  and  belonged  to  Christianity,  but 
some  years  afterwards,  he  wrote  as  follows : 

“I  now  doubt  (tbe  modern  date  of  the  tower),  for  we  have,  over  and  over 
again,  seen  the  crucified  man  before  Christ.  We  have  also  found  ‘ The  Lamb 
that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,’  among  the  Carnutes  of  Gaul,  before  the 
time  of  Christ ; and  when  I contemplate  these,  and  the  Elephant  or  Ganesa, 1 and  the 
Bing1 2  and  its  Cobra,3  Linga ,4  Iona,5  and  Nandies,  found  not  far  from  the  tower, 
on  the  estate  of  Lord  Castles,  with  the  Colidei,  the  island  of  Iona,  and  Ii,  . . . 

I am  induced  to  doubt  my  former  conclusions.  The  Elephant,  the  Ganesa  of 
India,  is  a very  stubborn  fellow  to  be  found  here.  The  Ring,  too,  when  joined 
with  other  matters,  I cannot  get  over.  All  these  superstitions  must  have  come 
from  India .”6 

On  one  of  the  Irish  “ round  towers  ” is  to  be  seen  a crucifix 
of  unmistakable  Asiatic  origin? 

If  we  turn  to  the  New  World,  we  shall  find,  strange  though  it 
may  appear,  that  the  ancient  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  worshiped 
a crucified  Saviour.  This  was  the  virgin-born  Quetzalcoatle 
whose  crucifixion  is  represented  in  the  paintings  of  the  “ Codex 
Borgianusf  and  the  “ Codex  Vatic  amts.” 

These  paintings  illustrate  the  religious  opinions  of  the  ancient 
Mexicans,  and  were  copied  from  the  hieroglyphics  found  in  Mexico. 
The  Spaniards  destroyed  nearly  all  the  books,  ancient  monuments 
and  paintings  which  they  could  find  ; had  it  not  been  for  this,  much 
more  regarding  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Mexicans  would  have 
been  handed  down  to  us.  Many  chapters  were  also  taken — by  the 
Spanish  authorities — from  the  writings  of  the  first  historians  who 
wrote  on  ancient  Mexico.  All  manuscripts  had  to  be  inspected 
previous  to  being  published.  Anything  found  among  these  heathens 
resembling  the  religion  of  the  Christians,  was  destroyed  when  pos- 
sible.8 

The  first  Spanish  monks  who  went  to  Mexico  were  surprised 
to  find  the  crucifix  among  the  heathen  inhabitants,  and  upon  in- 
quiring what  it  meant,  were  told  that  it  was  a representation  of 


1 Ganesa  is  the  Indian  God  of  Wisdom. 
(See  Asiatic  Kesearches.  vol.  i.) 

8 The  Bing  and  circle  was  an  emblem  of 
god,  or  eternity,  among  the  Hindoos.  (See 
Lundy  : Monumental  Christianity,  p.  87.) 

3 The  Cobra,  or  hooded  snake,  is  a native  of 
the  East  Indies,  where  it  is  held  as  sacred. 
(See  Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  16,  and 
Fergusson’s  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship. 

4 Linga  denotes,  in  the  sectarian  worship  of 

the.  Hindoos , the  Phallus , an  emblem  of  the 


male  or  generative  power  of  nature. 

6  Iona , or  Yoni,  is  the  counterpart  of  Linga, 
i.  e.,  an  emblem  of  the  female  generative  power. 
We  have  seen  that  these  were  attached  to  the 
effigies  of  the  Hindoo  crucified  Saviour,  Crish- 
na. 

6 Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  130. 

7 See  Lundy  : Monumental  Christianity,  pp. 
253,  254,  255. 

8 See  Kingsborough  : Mexican  Antiquities, 
vol.  vi.  pp.  165  and  179. 


200 


BIBLE  MYTIIS. 


Bacob  (Quetzalcoatle),  the  Son  of  God,  who  was  put  to  death  by 
Eopuco.  They  said  that  he  was  placed  on  a beam  of  wood,  with 
his  arms  stretched  out , and  that  he  died  there.1 

Lord  Kingsborougli,  from  whose  very  learned  and  elaborate 
work  we  have  taken  the  above,  says : 

* 1 Being  questioned  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  became  acquainted  with 
these  things,  they  replied  that  the  lords  instructed  their  sons  in  them,  and  that 
thus  this  doctrine  descended  from  one  to  another.”2 

Sometimes  Quetzalcoatle  or  Bacob  is  represented  as  tied  to  the 
cross — just  as  we  have  seen  that  Attys  was  represented  by  the 
Phrygians — and  at  other  times  he  is  represented  “ in  the  attitnde 
of  a person  crucified,  with  impressions  of  nail-holes  in  his  hands 
and  feet,  but  not  actually  upon  a cross  ” — just  as  we  have  found 
the  Hindoo  Crishna , and  as  he  is  represented  in  Fig.  Ho.  8.  Be- 
neath this  representation  of  Quetzalcoatle  crucified,  is  an  image  of 
Death,  which  an  angry  serpent  seems  threatening  to  devour.3 * 

On  the  73d  page  of  the  Borgian  MS.,  he  is  represented  crucified 
on  a cross  of  the  Greek  form . In  this  print  there  are  also  impres- 
sions of  nails  to  be  seen  on  the  feet  and  hands , and  his  body  is 
strangely  covered  with  suns? 

In  vol.  ii.  plate  75,  the  god  is  crucified  in  a circle  of  nineteen 
figures,  and  a serpent  is  depriving  him  of  the  organs  of  generation. 

Lord  Kingsborougli,  commenting  on  these  paintings,  says  : 

“It  is  remarkable  that  in  these  Mexican  paintings  the  faces  of  many  of  the 
figures  are  black , and  that  the  visage  of  Quetzalcoatle  is  frequently  painted  in  a 
very  deformed  manner.”5 

His  lordship  further  tells  us  that  (according  to  the  belief  of  the 
ancient  Mexicans),  u the  death  of  Quetzalcoatle  upon  the  cross  ” 
was  “ an  atonement  for  the  sins  of  mankind.”6 

Dr.  Daniel  Brinton,  in  his  “ Myths  of  the  New  World”  tells 
us  that  the  Aztecs  had  a feast  which  they  celebrated  “ in  the  early 
spring”  when  “ victims  were  nailed  to  a cross  and  shot  with  an 
arrow?” 

Alexander  Yon  Humboldt,  in  his  “ American  Researches ,”  also 
speaks  of  this  feast,  when  the  Mexicans  crucified  a man,  and  pierced 
him  with  an  arrow.8 


1 See  Kingsborough  : Mexican  Antiquities, 
vol.  vi.  p.  166. 

2 Ibid.  p.  162. 

a Ibid.  p.  161. 

* Ibid.  p.  167. 

» Ibid.  p.  167. 

• Ibid.  p.  166. 


7 Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  95. 

8 See,  also,  Monumental  Christianity,  p. 
393. 

“ Once  a year  the  ancient  Mexicans  made  an 
image  of  one  of  their  gods,  which  was  pierced 
by  an  arrow,  shot  by  a priest  of  Quetzalcoatle.” 
(Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  207.) 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


201 


The  author  of  Monumental  Christianity , speaking  of  this, 
says : 

“ Here  is  the  old  story  of  the  Prometheus  crucified  on  the  Caucasus,  and  of  all 
other  Pagan  crucifixions  of  the  young  incarnate  divinities  of  India,  Persia,  Asia 
Minor  and  Egypt”1 

This  we  believe ; but  how  did  this  myth  get  there  f He  does 
not  say,  but  we  shall  attempt  to  show,  in  a future  chapter,  how  this 
and  other  myths  of  Eastern  origin  became  known  in  the  Hew 
World.2 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  in  connection  with  what  we  have  seen 
concerning  the  Mexican  crucified  god  being  sometimes  represented  as 
black , and  the  feast  when  the  crucified  man  was  shot  with  an  arrow, 
that  effigies  of  a black  crucified  mam  were  found  in  Italy  ; that 
Crishna,  the  crucified,  is  very  often  represented  black / and  that 
Crishna  was  shot  with  an  arrow. 

Crosses  were  also  found  in  Yucatan , as  well  as  Mexico,  with  a 
man  upon  them?  Cogolludo,  in  his  “ History  of  Yucatan,”  speak- 
ing of  a crucifix  found  there,  says  : 

“ Don  Eugenio  de  Alcantara  (one  of  the  true  teachers  of  the  Gospel),  told  me, 
not  only  once,  that  I might  safely  write  that  the  Indians  of  Cozumel  possessed 
this  holy  cross  in  the  time  of  their  paganism;  and  that  some  years  had  elapsed 
since  it  was  brought  to  Medira;  for  having  heard  from  many  persons  what  was 
reported  of  it,  he  had  made  particular  inquiries  of  some  very  old  Indians  who 
resided  there,  who  assured  him  that  it  was  the  fact.” 

He  then  speaks  of  the  difficulty  in  accounting  for  this  cruci- 
fix being  found  among  the  Indians  of  Cozumel,  and  ends  by  say- 
ing: 

“But  if  it  be  considered  that  these  Indians  believed  that  the  Son  of  God, 
whom  they  called  Bacob,  had  died  upon  a cross,  with  his  arms  stretched  out  upon  it, 
it  cannot  appear  so  difficult  a matter  to  comprehend  that  they  should  have 
formed  his  image  according  to  the  religious  creed  which  they  possessed.”4 

We  shall  find,  in  another  chapter,  that  these  virgin-born 
“ Saviours  ” and  “ Slain  Ones  Crishna,  Osiris,  Horus,  Attys, 
Adonis,  Bacchus,  &c. — whether  torn  in  pieces,  killed  by  a boar,  or 
crucified — will  all  melt  into  one. 

We  now  come  to  a very  important  fact  not  generally  known, 
namely : There  are  no  early  representations  of  Christ  Jesus  suffer- 
ing on  the  cross. 


1 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  393.  Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  169. 

9 See  Appendix  A.  4 Quoted  by  Lord  Kingsborough  : Mexican 

• See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  390,  and  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  172. 


202 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy,  speaking  of  this,  says : 

“ Why  should  a fact  so  well  known  to  the  heathen  as  the  crucifixion  be  con- 
cealed? And  yet  its  actual  realistic  representation  never  once  occurs  in  the  monu- 
ments of  Christianity,  for  more  than  six  or  seven  centuries.  ”l * 

Mrs.  Jameson,  in  her  “ History  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,”  says  : 

“ The  crucifixion  is  not  one  of  the  subjects  of  early  Christianity.  The  death 
of  our  Lord  was  represented  by  various  types,  but  never  in  its  actual  form. 

“ The  earliest  instances  of  the  crucifixion  are  found  in  illustrated  manuscripts 
of  various  countries,  and  in  those  ivory  and  enameled  forms  which  are  described 
in  the  Introduction.  Some  of  these  are  ascertained,  by  historical  or  by  internal 
evidence,  to  have  been  executed  in  the  ninth  century , there  is  one  also,  of  an  ex- 
traordinary rude  and  fantastic  character,  in  a MS.  in  the  ancient  library  of  St. 
Galle,  which  is  ascertained  to  be  of  the  eighth  century.  At  all  events,  there  seems 
no  just  grounds  at  present  for  assigning  an  earlier  date.”* 

“Early  Christian  art,  such  as  it  appears  in  the  bas-relief  a. on  sarcophagi,  gave 
but  one  solitary  incident  from  the  story  of  Our  Lord’s  Passioh,  and  that  utterly 
divested  of  all  circumstances  of  suffering.  Our  Lord  is  represented  as  young  and 
beautiful,  free  from  bonds,  with  no  ‘ accursed  tree  ’ on  his  shoulders.”3 4 * 

The  oldest  representation  of  Christ  Jesus  was  a figure  of  a 
lamb*  to  which  sometimes  a vase  was  added,  intp  which  his  blood 
flowed,  and  at  other  times  couched  at  the  foot  of  a cross.  This 
custom  subsisted  up  to  the  year  680,  and  until  the  pontificate  of 
Agathon , during  the  reign  of  Constantine  Pogonat.  By  the  sixth 
synod  of  Constantinople  (canon  82)  it  was  ordained  that  instead  of 
the  ancient  symbol,  which  had  been  the  Lamb,  the  figure  of  a mcm 
; fastened  to  a cross  (such  as  the  Pagans  had  adored),  should  be 
represented.  All  this  was  confirmed  by  Pope  Adrian  I.6 

A simple  cross,  which  was  the  symbol  of  eternal  life,  or  of  sal- 
tation, among  the  ancients,  was  sometimes,  as  we  have  seen,  placed 
alongside  of  the  Lamb.  In  the  course  of  time,  the  Lamb  was  put 
on  the  cross,  as  the  ancient  Israelites  had  put  the  paschal  iamb 
centuries  before,8  and  then,  as  we  have  seen,  they  put  a mcm 
upon  it. 

Christ  Jesus  is  also  represented  in  early  art  as  the  “ Good 
Shepherd,”  that  is,  as  a young  man  with  a lamb  on  his  shoulders.7 


1 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  246. 

8 History  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,  vol.  ii.  p.  137. 

8 Ibid.  p.  317. 

4 See  Illustrations  in  Ibid.  vol.  i. 

6 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p. 
252.  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  Ill,  and 
Monumental  Christianity,  p.  246,  et  seq. 

6 The  paschal  lamb  was  roasted  on  a cross , 

by  ancient  Israel,  and  is  still  so  done  by  the 
Samaritans  at  Nablous.  (See  Lundy’s  Monu- 
mental Christianity,  pp.  19  and  247.) 

“ The  lamb  slain  (at  the  feast  of  the  pass- 


over)  was  roasted  whole,  with  two  spits  thrust 
through  it— one  lengthwise,  and  one  transversely 
— crossing  each  other  near  the  fore  legs ; so 
that  the  animal  was,  in  a manner,  crucified. 
Not  a bone  of  it  might  be  broken— a circum- 
stance strongly  representing  the  sufferings  of 
our  Lord  Jesus,  the  passover  slain  for  us .” 
(Barnes's  Notes,  vol.  i.  p.  292.) 

7 See  King  : The  Gnostics  and  their  Re- 
mains, p.  138.  Also,  Monumental  Christianity, 
and  Jameson’s  History  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,  for 
illustrations. 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


203 


This  is  just  the  manner  in  which  the  Pagan  Apollo,  Mercury  and 
others  were  represented  centuries  before.1 

Mrs.  Jameson  says : 

“ Mercury  attired  as  a shepherd,  with  a ram  on  his  shoulders,  borne  in  the 
same  manner  as  in  many  of  the  Christian  representations,  was  no  unfrequent 
object  (in  ancient  art)  and  in  some  instances  led  to  a difficulty  in  distinguishing 
between  the  two,”2  that  is,  between  Mercury  and  Christ  Jesus. 

M.  Renan  says : 

“ The  Good  Shepherd  of  the  catacombs  in  Rome  is  a copy  from  the  Aristeus, 
or  from  the  Apollo  Nomius,  which  figured  in  the  same  posture  on  the  Pagan 
sarcophagi ; and  still  carries  the  flute  of  Pan,  in  the  midst  of  the  four  half-naked 
seasons.”3 

The  Egyptian  Saviour  Horus  was  called  the  “ Shepherd  of  the 
People.”4 

The  Hindoo  Saviour  Crishna  was  called  the  “ Royal  Good  Shep- 
herd.”6 

We  have  seen,  then,  on  the  authority  of  a Christian  writer 
who  has  made  the  subject  a special  study,  that,  “there  seems  no 
just  grounds  at  present  for  assigning  an  earlier  date,”  for  the  “ ear- 
liest instances  of  the  crucifixion  ” of  Christ  Jesus,  represented  in 
art,  than  the  eighth  or  ninth  century.  How,  a few  words  in  re- 
gard to  what  these  crucifixes  looked  like.  If  the  reader  imagines 
that  the  crucifixes  which  are  familiar  to  us  at  the  present  day  are 
similar  to  those  early  ones,  we  would  inform  him  that  such  is  not  the 
case.  The  earliest  artists  of  the  crucifixion  represent  the  Christian 
Saviour  as  young  and  beardless , always  without  the  crown  of 
thorns,  alive,  and  erect,  apparently  elate ; no  signs  of  bodily  suf- 
fering are  there.6 

On  page  151,  plate  181,  of  Jameson’s  “History  of  Our  Lord 
in  Art  ” (vol.  ii.),  he  is  represented  standing  on  a foot-rest  on  the 
cross,  alive,  and  eyes  open.  Again,  on  page  330,  plate  253,  he  is 
represented  standing  “ with  body  upright  and  arms  extended 
straight,  with  no  nails,  no  wounds,  no  crown  of  thorns — frequently 
clothed,  and  with  a regal  crown — a God,  young  and  beautiful, 
hanging,  as  it  were,  without  compulsion  or  pain.” 

On  page  167,  plate  188,  are  to  be  seen  “ the  thieves  bound  to  their 


1 See  King’s  Gnostics,  p.  178.  Knight : thology,  p.  xxii.  note. 

Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  p.  xxii.,  and  4 Dunlap  : Spirit  Hist.,  p.  185. 

Jameson’s  History  of  Our  Lortl  in  Art,  ii.  340.  6 See  chapter  xvii.  and  vol.  ii.  Hist.  Hindo- 

2 Jameson  : Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,  p.  stan. 

840,  vol.  ii.  « See  Jameson’s  Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art, 

* Quoted  in  Knight : Ancient  Art  and  My-  vol.  ii.  p.  142. 


204 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


cross  {which  is  simjply  an  upright  beam , without  cross-bcw  *),  with 
the  figure  of  the  Lord  standing  between  them.”  He  is  not  bound 
nor  nailed  to  a cross  ; no  cross  is  there.  He  is  simply  standing 
erect  in  the  form  of  a cross.  This  is  a representation  of  what  is 
styled,  “ Early  crucifixion  with  thieves .”  On  page  173,  plate  190, 
we  have  a representation  of  the  crucifixion,  in  which  Jesus  and  the 
thieves  are  represented  crucified  on  the  Egyptian  tau  (see  Fig. 
Ho.  12).  The  thieves  are  tied,  but  the  man-god  is  nailed  to  the 
cross.  A similar  representation  may  be  seen  on  page  189,  plate 
198. 

On  page  155,  plate  183,  there  is  a representation  of  what  is 
called  “ Yirgin  and  St.  John  at  foot  of  crossfi  but  this  cross  is  sim- 
ply an  upright  beam  (as  Fig.  Ho.  13).  There  are  no  cross-bars 
attached.  On  page  167,  plate  188,  the  thieves  are  tied  to  an  up- 
right beam  (as  Fig.  13),  and  Jesus  stands  between  them,  with  arms 
extended  in  the  form  of  a cross,  as  the  Hindoo  Crishna  is  to  be 
seen  in  Fig.  Ho.  8.  On  page  157,  plate  185,  Jesus  is  represented 
crucified  on  the  Egyptian  cross  (as  Ho.  12). 

Some  ancient  crucifixes  represent  the  Christian  Saviour  cruci- 
fied on  a cross  similar  in  form  to  the  Roman  figure  which  stands  for 
the  number  ten  (see  Fig.  Ho.  14).  Thus  we  see  that  there  was 
no  uniformity  in  representing  the  “cross  of  Christ,”  among  the 
early  Christians;  even  the  cross  which  Constantine  put  on  his 
“ Labarum,”  or  sacred  banner,  was  nothing  more  than  the  mono- 
gram of  the  Pagan  god  Osiris  (Fig.  Ho.  15), 1 as  we  shall  see  in  a 
subsequent  chapter. 


The  dogma  of  the  vicarious  atonement  has  met  with  no  success 
whatever  among  the  Jews.  The  reason  for  this  is  very  evident. 
The  idea  of  vicarious  atonement,  in  any  form,  is  contrary  to  Jew- 


1 “It  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  the  so-called  cross  upon  it  was  nothing  else  than 

cross  of  Constantine  was  of  the  simple  con-  the  same  ever-recurring  monogram  of  Christ” 

struction  as  now  understood.  . . . As  re-  (that  is,  the  XP).  (History  of  Our  Lord  in  Art, 

gards  the  Labarum , the  coins  of  the  time,  in  vol.  ii.  p.  316.  See  also,  Smith’s  Bible  Dic- 

which  it  is  especially  set  forth,  prove  that  the  tionary,  art.  “Labarum.”) 


THE  CRUCIFIXION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


205 


ish  ethics,  but  it  is  in  full  accord  with  the  Gentile.  The  law  or- 
dains that1  “ every  man  shall  be  put  to  death  for  his  own  sin,”  and 
not  for  the  sin  or  crime  committed  by  any  other  person.  No  ran- 
som should  protect  the  murderer  against  the  arm  of  justice.2  The 
principle  of  equal  rights  and  equal  responsibilities  is  fundamental 
in  the  law.  If  the  law  of  God — for  as  such  it  is  received — de- 
nounces the  vicarious  atonement,  viz.,  to  slaughter  an  innocent 
person  to  atone  for  the  crimes  of  others , then  God  must  abhor  it. 
What  is  more,  Jesus  is  said  to  have  sanctioned  this  law,  for  is  he 
not  made  to  say  : “ Think  not  that  I am  come  to  destroy  the  law, 
or  the  prophets : I am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfill.  For 
verily  I say  unto  you,  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one 
tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law.”3 

“ Salvation  is  and  can  be  nothing  else  than  learning  the  laws  of 
life  and” keeping  them.  There  is,  in  the  modern  world,  neither 
place  nor  need  for  any  of  the  theological  ‘ schemes  of  salvation  ’ 
or  theological  ‘ Saviours.’  No  wrath  of  either  God  or  devil  stands 
in  man’s  way  ; and  therefore  no  £ sacrifice  ’ is  needed  to  get  them 
out  of  the  way.  Jesus  saves  only  as  he  helps  men  know  and  keep 
God’s  laws.  Thousands  of  other  men,  in  their  degree,  are  Saviours 
in  precisely  the  same  way.  As  there  has  been  no  i fall  of  man,7 
all  the  hundreds  of  theological  devices  for  obviating  its  supposed 
effects  are  only  imaginary  cures  for  imaginary  ills.  What  man  does 
need  is  to  be  taught  the  necessary  laws  of  life,  and  have  brought  to 
bear  upon  him  adequate  motives  for  obeying  them.  To  know  and' 
keep  God’s  laws  is  being  reconciled  to  him.  This  is  health ; and 
out  of  health — that  is,  the  perfect  condition  of  the~wliole  man, 
called  holiness  or  wholeness — comes  happiness,  in  this  world  and 
in  all  worlds.” 


» Dent.  xxiv.  16. 


* Nam.  xxv.  31-34. 


s Matt.  v.  17, 18. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


THE  DARKNESS  AT  THE  CRUCIFIXION. 

The  Luke  narrator  informs  ns  that  at  the  time  of  the  death  of 
Christ  Jesus,  the  sun  was  darkened,  and  there  was  darkness  over 
the  earth  from  the  sixth  until  the  ninth  hour ; also  the  veil  of  the 
temple  was  rent  in  the  midst.1 

The  Matthew  narrator,  in  addition  to  this,  tells  us  that : 

“ The  earth  did  quake,  and  the  rocks  were  rent,  and  the  graves  were  opened, 
and  many  bodies  of  the  saints  which  slept  arose,  and  came  out  of  their  graves  . . . 
and  went  into  the  holy  city  and  appeared  unto  many.”'2 

“ His  star  ” having  shone  at  the  time  of  his  birth,  and  his  having 
been  born  in  a miraculous  manner,  it  was  necessary  that  at  the 
death  of  Christ  Jesus,  something  miraculous  should  happen. 
Something  of  an  unusual  nature  had  happened  at  the  time  of  the 
death  of  other  supernatural  beings,  therefore  something  must  hap- 
pen at  his  death ; the  myth  would  not  hare  been  complete  with- 
out it.  In  the  words  of  Viscount  Amberly  : “ The  darkness  from 
the  sixth  to  the  ninth  hour,  the  rending  of  the  temple  veil,  the 
earthquake,  the  rending  of  the  rocks,  are  altogether  like  the  prodi- 
qies  attending  the  decease  of  other  great  men .”3 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Geikie,  one  of  the  most  orthodox  writers,  says  :4 

“ It  is  impossible  to  explain  the  origin  of  this  darkness.  The  passover  moon 
was  then  at  the  full,  so  that  it  could  not  have  been  an  eclipse.  The  early  Fathers, 
relying  on  a notice  of  an  eclipse  that  seemed  to  coincide  in  time,  though  it  really 
did  not,  fancied  that  the  darkness  was  caused  by  it,  but  incorrectly.” 

Perhaps  “ the  origin  of  this  darkness  ” may  be  explained  from 
what  we  shall  now  see. 

At  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  Hindoo  Saviour  Crishna , there 


r Luke,  xxiii.  44,  45. 

2 Matthew,  xxvii.  51-53. 


[206] 


3 Amberly : Analysis  of  Religious  Belief, 

p.  268.  4 Life  of  Christ,  vol.  ii.  p.  643. 


THE  DARKNESS  AT  THE  CRUCIFIXION. 


207 


came  calamities  and  bad  omens  of  every  kind.  A black  circle  sur- 
rounded the  moon,  and  the  sun  was  darkened  at  noon-day  / the 
sky  rained  fire  and  ashes ; flames  burned  dusky  and  livid  ; demons 
committed  depredations  on  earth  ; at  sunrise  and  sunset,  thousands 
of  figures  were  seen  skirmishing  in  the  air ; spirits  were  to  be  seen 
on  all  sides.1 2 

When  the  conflict  began  between  Buddha , the  Saviour  of  the 
World,  and  the  Prince  of  Evil,  a thousand  appalling  meteors  fell  • 
clouds  and  darkness  prevailed.  Even  this  earth,  with  the  oceans 
and  mountains  it  contains,  though  it  is  unconscious,  quaked  like  a 
conscious  being — like  a fond  bride  when  forcibly  torn  from  her 
bridegroom — like  the  festoons  of  a vine  shaken  under  the  blast  of 
a whirlwind.  The  ocean  rose  under  the  vibration  of  this  earthquake ; 
rivers  flowed  back  toward  their  sources ; peaks  of  lofty  mountains, 
where  countless  trees  had  grown  for  ages,  rolled  crumbling  to  the 
earth ; a fierce  storm  howled  all  around ; the  roar  of  the  concussion 
became  terrific  ; the  very  sun  enveloped  itself  in  awful  darkness , 
and  a host  of  headless  spirits  filled  the  air? 

When  Prometheus  was  crucified  on  Mount  Caucasus,  the  whole 
frame  of  nature  became  convulsed.  The  earth  did  quake,  thunder 
roared,  lightning  flashed,  the  wild  winds  rent  the  vexed  air,  the 
boisterous  billows  rose,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  universe  seemed 
to  be  threatened.3 

The  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  says  Canon  Farrar,4 5 *  had  always 
considered  that  the  births  and  deaths  of  great  men  were  announced 
by  celestial  signs.  We  therefore  find  that  at  the  death  of  Romulus , 
the  founder  of  Rome,  the  sun  was  darkened,  and  there  was  dark- 
ness over  the  face  of  the  earth  for  the  space  of  six  hours? 

When  Julius  Ocesar , who  was  the  son  of  a god,  was  murdered, 
there  was  a darkness  over  the  earth,  the  sun  being  eclipsed  for  the 
space  of  six  hours? 

This  is  spoken  of  by  Virgil , where  he  says: 

“ He  (the  Sun)  covered  his  luminous  head  with  a sooty  darkness, 

And  the  impious  ages  feared  eternal  night.”7 

It  is  also  referred  to  by  Tibullus,  Ovid,  and  Lucian  (poets), 
Pliny,  Appian,  Dion  Cassius,  and  Julius  Obsequenes  (historians.)8 


1 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  71. 

2 Rhys  David’s  Buddhism,  pp.  36,  37. 

3 See  Potter’s  ASschylus,  “ Prometheus 
Chained,”  last  stanza. 

4 Farrar’s  Life  of  Christ,  p.  52. 

5 See  Higgins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  pp.616,617. 

9 See  Ibid,  and  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  pp. 


159  and  590,  also  Josephus  : Jewish  An  tiquities, 
book  xiv.  ch.  xii.  and  note. 

7 “Cum  caput  obscura  nitidum  ferrugine 

texit 

Impiaquae  aeternam  timuerunt  saecula 
noctem.” 

8 See  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  pp.  jl59  and  590. 


208 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


When  AEsculapius  the  Saviour  was  put  to  death,  the  sun  shone 
dimly  from  the  hea/vens  / the  birds  were  silent  in  the  darkened 
groves ; the  trees  bowed  down  their  heads  in  sorrow ; and  the 
hearts  of  all  the  sons  of  men  fainted  within  them,  because  the  healer 
of  their  pains  and  sickness  lived  no  more  upon  the  earth.1 

When  Hercules  was  dying,  he  said  to  the  faithful  female  (Iole) 
who  followed  him  to  the  last  spot  on  earth  on  which  he  trod,  “ Weep 
not,  my  toil  is  done,  and  now  is  the  time  for  rest.  I shall  see  thee 
again  in  the  bright  land  which  is  never  trodden  by  the  feet  of 
night.”  Then,  as  the  dying  god  expired,  darkness  was  on  the  face 
of  the  earth;  from  the  high  heaven  came  down  the  thick  cloud, 
and  the  din  of  its  thunder  crashed  through  the  air . In  this  man- 
ner, Zeus,  the  god  of  gods,  carried  his  son  home,  and  the  halls  of 
Olympus  were  opened  to  welcome  the  bright  hero  who  rested  from 
his  mighty  toil.  There  he  now  sits,  clothed  in  a white  robe,  with 
a crown  upon  his  head.2 

When  CEdipus  was  about  to  leave  this  world  of  pain  and  sor- 
row, he  bade  Antigone  farewell,  and  said,  “ W eep  not,  my  child, 
I am  going  to  my  home,  and  I rejoice  to  lay  down  the  burden  of 
my  woe.”  Then  there  were  signs  in  the  heaven  above  and  on  the 
earth  beneath,  that  the  end  was  nigh  at  hand,  for  the  earth  did 
quake , and  the  thunder  roared  and  echoed  again  and  again  through 
the  sky.3 

“ The  Romans  had  a god  called  Quirinius.  His  soul  emanated 
from  the  sun,  and  was  restored  to  it.  He  was  begotten  by  the 
god  of  armies  upon  a virgin  of  the  royal  blood,  and  exposed  by 
order  of  the  jealous  tyrant  Amulius,  and  was  preserved  and  edu- 
cated among  shepherds.  He  was  torn  to  pieces  at  his  death,  when 
he  ascended  into  heaven  ; upon  which  the  sun  was  eclipsed  or 
darkened .”4 

When  Alexander  the  Great  died,  similar  prodigies  are  said  to 
have  happened ; again,  when  foul  murders  were  committed,  it  is 
said  that  the  sun  seemed  to  hide  its  face.  This  is  illustrated  in  the 
story  of  Atreus , King  of  Mycenae,  who  foully  murdered  the  chil- 
dren of  his  brother  Thyestes.  At  that  time,  the  sun,  unable  to 
endure  a sight  so  horrible,  “ turned  his  course  backward  and  with- 
drew his  light .”5 

At  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  virgin-born  Quetzalcoatle , the 


1 Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  46. 

a Ibid.  pp.  61,  62. 

» Ibid.  p.  270. 


4 Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 

• See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  106. 


THE  DARKNESS  AT  THE  CRUCIFIXION. 


209 


Mexican  crucified  Saviour,  the  sun  was  darkened , and  withheld  its 
light.1 

Lord  Kingsborough,  speaking  of  this  event,  considers  it  very 
strange  that  the  Mexicans  should  have  preserved  an  account  of  it 
among  their  records,  when  “ the  great  eclipse  which  sacred  history- 
records  ” is  not  recorded  in  profane  history. 

Gibbon,  the  historian,  speaking  of  this  phenomenon,  says  : 

“ Under  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  the  whole  earth,2  or  at  least  a celebrated  prov- 
ince of  the  Roman  empire,3  was  involved  in  a perpetual  darkness  of  three  hours. 
Even  this  miraculous  event,  which  ought  to  have  excited  the  wonder,  the  curi- 
osity, and  the  devotion  of  mankind,  passed  without  notice  in  an  age  of  science  and 
history.  It  happened  during  the  life-time  of  Seneca4  and  the  elder  Pliny,5  who 
must  have  experienced  the  immediate  effects,  or  received  the  earliest  intelligence, 
of  the  prodigy.  Each  of  these  philosophers,  in  a laborious  work,  has  recorded 
all  the  great  phenomena  of  nature,  earthquakes,  meteors,  comets  and  eclipses, 
which  his  indefatigable  curiosity  could  collect.6  But  the  one  and  the  other  have 
omitted  to  mention  the  greatest  phenomenon  to  which  the  mortal  eye  has  been 
witness  since  the  creation  of  the  globe.”7 

This  account  of  the  darkness  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  is  one  of  the  prodigies  related  in  the  New  Testament 
which  no  Christian  commentator  has  been  able  to  make  appear 
reasonable.  The  favorite  theory  ‘is  that  it  was  a natural  eclipse  of 
the  sun,  which  happened  to  take  place  at  that  particular  time,  but,  if 
this  was  the  case,  there  was  nothing  supernatural  in  the  event,  and 
it  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  death  of  Jesus.  Again,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  prove  from  other  sources  that  such  an  event 
happened  at  that  time,  but  this  cannot  be  done.  The  argument 
from  the  duration  of  the  darkness — three  hours — is  also  of  great 
force  against  such  an  occurrence  having  happened,  for  an  eclipse 
seldom  lasts  in  great  intensity  more  than  six  minutes. 

Even  if  it  could  be  proved  that  an  eclipse  really  happened  at 
the  time  assigned  for  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  how  about  the  earth- 
quake, when  the  rocks  were  rent  and  the  graves  opened  ? and  how 
about  the  “ saints  which  slept  ” rising  bodily  and  walking  in  the 
streets  of  the  Holy  City  and  appearing  to  many  f Surely,  the  faith 
that  would  remove  mountains,8  is  required  here. 


1 See  Kingsborough’ s Mexican  Antiquities, 
vol.  vi.  p.  5. 

2 The  Fathers  of  the  Church  seem  to  cover 
the  whole  earth  with  darkness,  in  which  they 
are  followed  by  most  of  the  moderns.  (Gib- 
bon. Luke,  xxiii.  44,  says  “ over  all  the  earth .”) 

3 Origen  (a  Father  of  the  third  century)  and 

a few  modern  critics,  are  desirous  of  confining 

it  to  the  land  of  J udea.  (Gibbon.) 

14 


4  Seneca,  a celebrated  philosopher  and  his- 
torian, born  in  Spain  a few  years  b.  c.,  but  edu- 
cated in  Rome,  and  became  a “Roman.” 

6  Pliny  the  elder,  a celebrated  Roman  phil- 
osopher and  historian,  born  about  23  a.  d. 

6 Seneca  : Quaest.  Natur.  1.  i.  15,  vi.  1.  vii. 
17.  Pliny  : Hist.  Natur.  1.  ii. 

7 Gibbon’s  Rome,  i.  589,  590. 

8 Matt.  xvi.  20. 


210 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Shakespeare  lias  embalmed  some  traditions  of  the  kind  exactly 
analogous  to  the  present  case  : 

“ In  the  most  high  and  palmy  state  of  Rome, 

A little  ere  the  mightiest  Julius  fell, 

The  graves  stood  tenantless,  and  the  sheeted  dead 
Did  squeak  and  gibber  in  the  Roman  streets.”1 

Belief  in  the  influence  of  the  stars  over  life  and  death,  a/nd  in 
special  portents  at  the  death  of  great  men , survived,  indeed,  to 
recent  times.  Chaucer  abounds  in  allusions  to  it,  and  still  later 
Shakespeare  tells  us : 

“ When  beggars  die  there  are  no  comets  seen; 

The  heavens  themselves  blaze  forth  the  death  of  princes.” 

It  would  seem  that  this  superstition  survives  even  to  the  present 
day,  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  dark  and  yellow  atmosphere 
which  settled  over  so  much  of  the  country,  on  the  day  of  the  re- 
moval of  President  Garfield  from  Washington  to  Long  Branch,  was 
sincerely  held  by  hundreds  of  persons  to  be  a death-warning  sent 
from  heaven,  and  there  were  numerous  predictions  that  disso- 
lution would  take  place  before  the  train  arrived  at  its  destination. 

As  Mr.  Greg  remarks,  there  can,  we  think,  remain  little  doubt 
in  unprepossessed  minds,  that  the  whole  legend  in  question  was  one 
of  those  intended  to  magnify  Christ  Jesus,  which  were  current 
in  great  numbers  at  the  time  the  Matthew  narrator  wrote,  and 
which  he,  with  the  usual  want  of  discrimination  and  somewhat 
omnivorous  tendency,  which  distinguished  him  as  a compiler,  ad- 
mitted into  his  Gospel. 


1 Hamlet,  act  1,  s.  1. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


“ HE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL.” 

The  doctrine  of  Christ  Jesus’  descent  into  hell  is  emphatically 
part  of  the  Christian  belief,  although  not  alluded  to  by  Christian 
divines  excepting  when  unavoidable. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  taught  in  the  Creed  of  the  Christians, 
wherein  it  says  : 

“He  descended  into  hell , and  on  the  third  day  he  rose  again  from  the  dead  .” 

The  doctrine  was  also  taught  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Church. 
St.  Chrysostom  (bom  347  a.  d.)  asks : 

“ Who  but  an  infidel  would  deny  that  Christ  was  in  hell  ? ”* 

And  St.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who  flourished  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century,  is  equally  clear  and  emphatic  as  to 
Jesus’  descent  into  hell.  He  says  : 

“The  Lord  preached  the  gospel  to  those  in  Hades,  as  well  as  to  all  in  earth, 
in  order  that  all  might  believe  and  be  saved,  wherever  they  were.  If,  then,  the 
Lord  descended  to  Hades  for  no  other  end  but  to  preach  the  gospel,  as  He  did 
descend,  it  was  either  to  preach  the  gospel  to  all,  or  to  the  Hebrews  only.  If 
accordingly  to  all,  then  all  who  believe  shall  be  saved,  although  they  may  be  of 
the  Gentiles,  on  making  their  profession  there.”1 2 

Origen,  who  flourished  during  the  latter  part  of  the  second,  and 
beginning  of  the  third  centuries,  also  emphatically  declares  that 
Christ  Jesus  descended  into  hell.3 

Ancient  Christian  works  of  art  represent  his  descent  into  hell.4 

The  apocryphal  gospels  teach  the  doctrine  of  Christ  Jesus’ 
descent  into  hell,  the  object  of  which  was  to  preach  to  those  in 
bondage  there,  and  to  liberate  the  saints  who  had  died  before 
his  advent  on  earth. 


1 Quoted  by  Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  3 Contra  CeLsus.  bk.  ii.  c.  43. 

46.  * See  Jameson’s  Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art, 

2 Strom,  vi.  c.  6.  vol.  ii.  pp.  354,  355. 


[211] 


212 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


On  account  of  the  sin  committed  by  Adam  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  all  mankind  were  doomed,  all  had  gone  to  hell — excepting 
those  who  had  been  translated  to  heaven — even  those  persons  who 
were  “ after  God’s  own  heart,”  and  who  had  belonged  to  his 
“ chosen  people.”  The  coming  of  Christ  Jesus  into  the  world, 
however,  made  a change  in  the  affairs  of  man.  The  saints 
were  then  liberated  from  their  prison,  and  all  those  who  believe 
in  the  efficacy  of  his  name,  shall  escape  hereafter  the  tortures  of 
hell.  This  is  the  doctrine  to  be  found  in  the  apocryphal  gospels, 
and  was  taught  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Church.1 

In  the  “ Gospel  of  Nicodemus  ” (apoc.)  is  to  be  found  the 
whole  story  of  Christ  Jesus’  descent  into  hell,  and  of  his  liberating 
the  saints. 

Satan,  and  the  Prince  of  Hell,  having  heard  that  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth was  about  to  descend  to  their  domain,  began  to  talk  the  matter 
over,  as  to  what  they  should  do,  &c.  While  thus  engaged,  on  a 
sudden,  there  was  a voice  as  of  thunder  and  the  rushing  of  winds, 
saying  : “ Lift  up  your  gates,  O ye  Princes,  and  be  ye  lifted  up,  O 
ye  everlasting  gates,  and  the  King  of  Glory  shall  come  in.” 

When  the  Prince  of  Hell  heard  this,  he  said  to  his  impious  offi- 
cers : “ Shut  the  brass  gates  . . . and  make  them  fast  with 

iron  bars,  and  fight  courageously.” 

The  saints  having  heard  what  had  been  said  on  both  sides,  im- 
mediately spoke  with  a loud  voice,  saying : “ Open  thy  gates,  that 
the  King  of  Glory  may  come  in.”  The  divine  prophets,  Da/vid 
and  Isaiah , were  particularly  conspicuous  in  this  protest  against  the 
intentions  of  the  Prince  of  Hell. 

Again  the  voice  of  Jesus  was  heard  saying : “ Lift  up  your  gates, 
O Prince ; and  be  ye  lifted  up,  ye  gates  of  hell,  and  the  King  of 
Glory  will  enter  in.”  The  Prince  of  Hell  then  cried  out : “ Who 
is  the  King  of  Glory?”  upon  which  the  prophet  Devoid  com- 
menced to  reply  to  him,  but  while  he  was  speaking,  the  mighty 
Lord  Jesus  appeared  in  the  form  of  a man,  and  broke  asunder  the 
fetters  which  before  could  not  be  broken,  and  crying  aloud,  said : 
“ Come  to  me,  all  ye  saints,  who  were  created  in  my  image,  who 
were  condemned  by  the  tree  of  the  forbidden  fruit  . . . live 

now  by  the  word  of  my  cross.” 

Then  presently  all  the  saints  were  joined  together,  hand  in  hand, 
and  the  Lord  Jesus  laid  hold  on  Adam’s  hand,  and  ascended  from 
hell,  and  all  the  saints  of  God  followed  him.2 


1 See  Jameson’s  Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art, 

vol.  ii.  pp.  260,  251. 


a Nicodemus : Apoc.  ch,  xvi.  and  xix. 


1IE  DESCENDED  INTO  HELL. 


213 


u 


>> 


When  the  saints  arrived  in  paradise,  two  “ very  ancient  men  ” 
met  them,  and  were  asked  by  the  saints : “ Who  are  ye,  who  have 
not  been  with  us  in  hell,  and  have  had  your  bodies  placed  in  par- 
adise ?”  One  of  these  “ very  ancient  men  ” answered  and  said : 
“ I am  Enoch , who  was  translated  by  the  word  of  God,  and  this 
man  who  is  with  me  is  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  who  was  translated  in  a 
fiery  chariot.”1 

The  doctrine  of  the  descent  into  hell  may  be  found  alluded  to 
in  the  canonical  books  ; thus,  for  instance,  in  I.  Peter  : 

“ It  is  better,  if  the  will  of  God  be  so,  that  ye  suffer  for  well  doing,  than  for 
evil  doing.  For  Christ  also  hath  suffered  for  sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he 
might  bring  us  to  God,  being  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  but  quickened  by  the 
spirit : by  which  also  he  went  and  preached  unto  the  spirits  in  prison.  ”2 

Again,  in  “ Acts,”  where  the  writer  is  speaking  of  David  as  a 
prophet,  he  says  : 

‘ ‘ He,  seeing  this  before,  spake  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  that  his  soul  was 
not  left  in  hell , neither  his  flesh  did  see  corruption.”3 

The  reason  why  Christ  Jesus  has  been  made  to  descend  into 
hell,  is  because  it  is  apart  of  the  universal  mythos , even  the  three 
days ’ duration.  The  Saviours  of  mankind  had  all  done  so,  he 

must  therefore  do  likewise. 

Crishna , the  Hindoo  Saviour,  descended  into  hell , for  the  pur- 
pose of  raising  the  dead  (the  doomed),4 *  before  he  returned  to  his 
heavenly  seat. 

Zoroaster , of  the  Persians,  descended  into  hell.b 

Osiris ; the  Egyptian  Saviour,  descended  into  hell.6 7 8 

Horus , the  virgin-born  Saviour,  descended  into  hell.1 

Adonis , the  virgin-born  Saviour,  descended  into  hell.6 

Bacchus , the  virgin-born  Saviour,  descended  into  hell6 

Hercules , the  virgin-born  Saviour,  descended  into  hell}6 

Mercury , the  Word  and  Messenger  of  God,  descended  into  heU}x 


1 Nicodemus  : Apoc.  ch.  xx. 

2 I.  Peter,  iii.  17-19. 

3 Acts,  ii.  31. 

4 See  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  237.  Bon- 

wick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  168,  and  Maurice  : 
Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p.  85. 

6  See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  286. 

6 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p. 
256,  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  and  Dunlap’s 
Mysteries  of  Adoni,  np.  125,  152. 

7 See  Chap,  XXXIX. 

8 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  12. 

* See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  322. 
Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  257,  and 


Dunlap’s  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  33. 

10  See  Taylor’s  Mysteries,  p.  40,  and  Mys- 
teries of  Adoni,  pp.  94-96. 

11  See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  72.  Our 
Christian  writers  discover  considerable  appre- 
hension, and  a jealous  caution  in  their  lan- 
guage, when  the  resemblance  between  Pagan- 
ism and  Christianity  might  be  apt  to  strike 
the  mind  too  cogently.  In  quoting  Horace’s 
account  of  Mercury’s  descent  into  hell,  and  his 
causing  a cessation  of  the  sufferings  there,  Mr. 
Spence,  in  “ Bell’s  Pantheon,”  says  : “As  this, 
perhaps,  may  be  a mythical  part  of  his  charac- 
ter, zee  had  better  let  it  alone." 


214 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Baldwr , the  Scandinavian  god,  after  being  killed,  descended 
into  hell.1 * 

Quetzalcoatle , the  Mexican  crucified  Saviour,  descended  into 
hell: 

All  these  gods,  and  many  others  that  might  be  mentioned, 
remained  in  hell  for  the  space  of  three  daps  cmd  three  nights. 
“ They  descended  into  hell,  and  on  the  third  day  rose  again.”8 

1 See  Bon  wick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  169,  9 See  Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  166. 

and  Mallet,  p.  448.  * See  the  chapter  on  Explanation. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


I 

THE  RESURRECTION  AND  ASCENSION  OF  CHRIST  JESU  J. 

\ 

The  story  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  Jesus  is  related  by  the 
four  Gospel  narrators,  and  is  to  the  effect  that,  after  be;ng  cruci- 
fied, his  body  was  wrapped  in  a linen  cloth,  laid  in  a tom\b,  and  a 
“ great  stone  ” rolled  to  the  door.  The  sepulchre  was  then  made 
sure  by  “ sealing  the  stone  ” and  “ setting  a watch.” 

On  the  first  day  of  the  week  some  of  Jesus’  followers  cam^  to  see 
the  sepulchre,  when  they  found  that,  in  spite  of  the  “ sealing  ” and 
the  “ watch,”  the  angel  of  the  Lord  had  descended  from  heaven, 
had  rolled  back  the  stone  from  the  door,  and  that  “ Jesus  had  risen 
from  the  dead”1 * 3 * * * 

The  story  of  his  ascension  is  told  by  the  Mark 3 narrator,  who 
says  “ he  was  received  up  into  heaven,  and  sat  on  the  right  hand  of 
God  ; ” by  Luke*  who  says  “ he  was  carried  up  into  heaven  ; ” and 
by  the  writer  of  the  Acts*  who  says  “ he  was  taken  up  (to  heaven) 
and  a cloud  received  him  out  of  sight.” 

We  will  find,  in  stripping  Christianity  of  its  robes  of  Paganism, 
that  these  miraculous  events  must  be  put  on  the  same  level  with 
those  we  have  already  examined. 

Crishna , the  crucified  Hindoo  Saviour,  rose  from  the  dead*  and 
ascended  bodily  into  heaven*  At  that  time  a great  light  enveloped 
the  earth  and  illuminated  the  whole  expanse  of  heaven.  Attended 
by  celestial  spirits,  and  luminous  as  on  that  night  when  he  was  born 
in  the  house  of  Yasudeva,  Crishna  pursued,  by  his  own  light,  the 
journey  between  earth  and  heaven,  to  the  bright  paradise  from 
whence  he  had  descended.  All  men  saw  him,  and  exclaimed, 
“ Lo,  Crishna' s soul  ascends  its  native  skies  ! ”7 


1 See  Matthew,  xxviii.  Mark,  xvi.  Luke, 

xxiv.  and  John,  xx,  a Mark,  xvl.  19. 

3 Luke,  xxiv.  51.  * Acts,  i.  9. 

6 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p. 

240.  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  pp.  142  and 

145. 


• See  Higgins : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  131. 
Bon  wick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  168.  Asiatic 
Researches,  vol  i.  pp.  259  and  261. 

7 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  72.  Hist. 
Hindostan,  ii.  pp.  466  and  473. 

“ In  Hindu  pictures,  Vishnu,  who  is  identi- 


216 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Samuel  Johnson,  in  his  “ Oriental  Keligions,”  tells  us  that  Rdma 
— an  incarnation  of  Vishnu — after  his  manifestations  on  earth,  “ at 
last  ascended  to  heaven ” “resuming  his  divine  essence.” 

“ By  the  blessings  of  Kama’s  name,  and  through  previous  faith 
in  him,  ail  sins  are  remitted,  and  every  one  who  shall  at  death  pro- 
nounce h js  name  with  sincere  worship  shall  be  forgiven.”1 

The  mythological  account  of  Buddha, , the  son  of  the  Virgin 
Maya,  wh<_,  as  the  God  of  Love,  is  named  Cam-deo , Camy  and 
Cama , is,  of  the  same  character  as  that  of  other  virgin-born  gods. 
When  he  died  there  were  tears  and  lamentations.  Heaven  and  earth 
are  said  equally  to  have  lamented  the  loss  of  “ Dwine  Love”  inso- 
much that  Maha-deo  (the  supreme  god)  was  moved  to  pity,  and  ex- 
claimed, Rise,  holy  love!”  on  which  Cama  was  restored  and  the 
lamentations  changed  into  the  most  enthusiastic  joy.  The  heavens 
are  said  to  have  echoed  back  the  exulting  sound  ; then  the  deity, 
supposed  to  be  lost  ( dead ),  was  restored,  “ helVs  great  dread  and 
heaven  s eternal  admiration .”a 

The  coverings  of  the  body  unrolled  themselves,  and  the  lid  of 
his  coffin  was  opened  by  supernatural  powers.3 

Buddha  also  ascended  bodily  to  the  celestial  regions  when  his 
mission  on  earth  was  fulfilled,  and  marks  on  the  rocks  of  a high 
mountain  are  shown,  and  believed  to  be  the  last  impression  of 
his  footsteps  on  this  earth.  By  prayers  in  his  name  his  fol- 
lowers expect  to  receive  the  rewards  of  paradise,  and  finally  to 
become  one  with  him,  as  he  became  one  with  the  Source  of  Life.4 

Lao-Kiun , the  virgin-born,  he  who  had  existed  from  all  eter- 
nity, when  his  mission  of  benevolence  was  completed  on  earth, 
ascended  bodily  into  the  paradise  above.  Since  this  time  he  has 
been  worshiped  as  a god , and  splendid  temples  erected  to  his 
memory.5 

Zoroaster , the  founder  of  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Persians, 
who  was  considered  “ a divine  messenger  sent  to  redeem  men  from 
their  evil  ways,”  ascended  to  heaven  at  the  end  of  his  earthly 
career.  To  this  day  his  followers  mention  him  with  the  greatest 
reverence,  calling  him  “ The  Immortal  Zoroaster,”  “ The  Blessed 
Zoroaster,”  “ The  Living  Star,”  &c.6 


fied  with  Crishna,  is  often  seen  mounted  on  3 Asiatic  Res.,  vol.  x.  p.  129.  Anacalypsis, 
the  Eagle  Garuda.”  (Moore  : Hindu  Panth.  vol.  ii.  p.  103. 

p.  214.)  And  M.  Sonnerat  noticed  “ two  basso-  3 Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  49. 

relievos  placed  at  the  entrance  of  the  choir  of  4 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  86.  See  also. 

Bordeaux  Cathedral,  one  of  which  represents  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  159. 
the  ascension  of  our  Saviour  to  heaven  on  an  6 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  214. 

Eagle.”  (Higgins  : Anac.,  vol.  i.  p.  273.)  * Ibid.  p.  258. 

1 Oriental  Religions,  pp.  494,  495, 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


217 


AEsculapius,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour,  after  being  put  to 
death,  rose  from  the  dead.  His  history  is  portrayed  in  the  follow- 
ing lines  of  Ovid's,  which  are  prophecies  foretelling  his  life  ;and 

actions : ? 

“ Once,  as  the  sacred  infant  she  surveyed,  * 

The  god  was  kindled  in  the  raving  maid; 

And  thus  she  uttered  her  prophetic  tale : i 

Hail,  great  Physician  of  the  world  ! all  hail ! 

Hail,  mighty  mfant,  who  in  years  to  come 
Shalt  heal  the  nations,  and  defraud  the  tomb  ! 

Swift  be  thy  growth,  thy  triumphs  unconfined, 

Make  kingdoms  thicker,  and  increase  mankind. 

Thy  daring  art  shall  animate  the  dead, 

And  draw  the  thunder  on  thy  guilty  head; 

Then  shalt  thou  die,  but  from  the  dark  abode 
Shalt  rise  victorious,  and  be  twice  a god.”1 

The  Saviour  Adonis  or  Tammuz , after  being  put  to  death,  rose 
from  the  dead.  The  following  is  an  account  given  of  the  rites  of 
Tammuz  or  of  Adonis  by  Julius  Firmicius  (who  lived  during  the 
reign  of  Constantine) : 

“ On  a certain  night  (while  the  ceremony  of  the  Adonia,  or  religious  rites  in 
honor  of  Adonis,  lasted),  an  image  was  laid  upon  a bed  (or  bier)  and  bewailed  in 
doleful  ditties.  After  they  had  satiated  themselves  with  fictitious  lamentations, 
light  was  brought  in : then  the  mouths  of  all  the  mourners  were  anointed  by  the 
priests  {with  oil),  upon  which  he,  with  a gentle  murmur,  whispered  : 

* Trust,  ye  Saint6,  your  God  restored. 

Trust  ye,  in  your  risen  Lord ; 

For  the  pains  which  he  endured 

Our  salvation  have  procured.’ 

“ Literally,  ‘ Trust,  ye  communicants : the  God  having  been  saved,  there  shall 
be  to  us  out  of  pain,  Salvation .’  ”2 

Upon  which  their  sorrow  was  turned  into  joy. 

Godwyn  renders  it : 

“ Trust  ye  in  Ood,  for  out  of  pains, 

Salvation  is  come  unto  us.  ”3 

Dr.  Prichard,  in  his  “ Egyptian  Mythology ,”  tells  us  that  the 
Syrians  celebrated,  in  the  early  spring , this  ceremony  in  honor  of 
the  resurrection  of  Adonis.  After  lamentations,  his  restoration 

was  commemorated  with  joy  and  festivity.4 

Mons.  Dupuis  says : 

“ The  obsequies  of  Adonis  were  celebrated  at  Alexandria  (in  Egypt)  with  the 
utmost  display.  His  image  was  carried  with  great  solemnity  to  a tomb,  which 
served  the  purpose  of  rendering  him  the  last  honors.  Before  singing  his  return 


1 Ovid’s  Metamorphoses,  as  rendered  by  114.  See  also,  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  pp.  1.63,  164. 

Addison.  Q.uoted  in  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  148.  3 Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  164. 

2 Quoted  by  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  4 Prichard’s  Egyptian  Mythology,  pp.  66,  67. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


217 


EEsculapius,  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour,  after  being  put  to 
death,  rose  from  the  dead.  His  history  is  portrayed  in  the  follow- 
ing lines  of  Ovid's,  which  are  prophecies  foretelling  his  life  and 

actions : j 

“ Once,  as  the  sacred  infant  she  surveyed,  ( 

The  god  was  kindled  in  the  raving  maid; 

And  thus  she  uttered  her  prophetic  tale : « 

Hail,  great  Physician  of  the  world  ! all  hail ! 

Hail,  mighty  infant,  who  in  years  to  come 
Shalt  heal  the  nations,  and  defraud  the  tomb  ! 

Swift  be  thy  growth,  thy  triumphs  unconfined, 

Make  kingdoms  thicker,  and  increase  mankind. 

Thy  daring  art  shall  animate  the  dead, 

And  draw  the  thunder  on  thy  guilty  head ; 

Then  shalt  thou  die,  but  from  the  dark  abode 
Shalt  rise  victorious,  and  be  twice  a god.”1 

The  Saviour  Adonis  or  Tammuz , after  being  put  to  death,  rose 
from  the  dead.  The  following  is  an  account  given  of  the  rites  of 
Tammuz  or  of  Adonis  by  Julius  Firmicius  (who  lived  during  the 
reign  of  Constantine) : 

“ On  a certain  night  (while  the  ceremony  of  the  Adonia,  or  religious  rites  in 
honor  of  Adonis,  lasted),  an  image  was  laid  upon  a bed  (or  bier)  and  bewailed  in 
doleful  ditties.  After  they  had  satiated  themselves  with  fictitious  lamentations, 
light  was  brought  in:  then  the  mouths  of  all  the  mourners  were  anointed  by  the 
priests  { with  oil),  upon  which  he,  with  a gentle  murmur,  whispered  : 

‘ Trust,  ye  Saints,  your  God  restored. 

Trust  ye,  in  your  risen  Lord ; 

For  the  pains  which  he  endured 
Our  salvation  have  procured.’ 

“ Literally,  ‘ Trust,  ye  communicants : the  God  having  been  saved,  there  shall 
be  to  us  out  of  pain,  Salvation .’  ”2 

Upon  which  their  sorrow  was  turned  into  joy. 

Godwyn  renders  it : 

“ Trust  ye  in  God,  for  out  of  pains, 

Salvation  is  come  unto  us.”3 

Dr.  Prichard,  in  his  “ Egyptian  Mythology ,”  tells  us  that  the 
Syrians  celebrated,  in  the  early  spring , this  ceremony  in  honor  of 
the  resurrection  of  Adonis.  After  lamentations,  his  restoration 
was  commemorated  with  joy  and  festivity.4 

Mons.  Dupuis  says : 

“ The  obsequies  of  Adonis  were  celebrated  at  Alexandria  (in  Egypt)  with  the 
utmost  display.  His  image  was  carried  with  great  solemnity  to  a tomb,  which 
served  the  purpose  of  rendering  him  the  last  honors.  Before  singing  his  return 


1 Ovid’s  Metamorphoses,  as  rendered  by  114.  See  also,  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  pp.  1.63,  164. 

Addison.  Q.uoted  in  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  148.  8 Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  164. 

2 Quoted  by  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  4 Prichard’s  Egyptian  Mythology,  pp.  66,  67. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


219 


nor  had  he  shown  himself  alive  after  his  death  to  those  who  were 
concerned  to  have  assurance  of  the  fact  that  they  might  believe. 

The  di/uine  oracle , be  it  observed,  which  Julius  Firmicius  says 
had  borne  testimony  to  Christ  Jesus’  resurrection,  was  none  other 
than  the  answer  of  the  god  Apollo,  whom  the  Pagans  worshiped 
at  Delphos , which  this  writer  derived  from  Porphyry’s  books 
“ On  the  Philosophy  of  Oracles”1 

Eusebius,  the  celebrated  ecclesiastical  historian,  has  also  con- 
descended to  quote  this  claimed  testimony  from  a Pagan  oracle , 
as  furnishing  one  of  the  most  convincing  proofs  that  could  be  ad- 
duced in  favor  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ  J esus. 

“But  thou  at  least  (says  he  to  the  Pagans),  listen  to  thine  own  gods,  to  thy 
oracular  deities  themselves , who  have  borne  witness,  and  ascribed  to  our  Saviour 
(Jesus  Christ)  not  imposture,  but  piety  and  wisdom,  and  ascent  into  heaven.” 

This  was  vastly  obliging  and  liberal  of  the  god  Apollo,  but,  it 
happens  awkwardly  enough,  that  the  whole  work  (consisting  of 
several  books)  ascribed  to  Porphyry,  in  which  this  and  other  admis- 
sions equally  honorable  to  the  evidences  of  the  Christian  religion  are 
made,  was  not  written  by  Porphyry,  but  is  altogether  the  pious 
fraud  of  Christian  hands,  who  have  kindly  fathered  the  great 
philosopher  with  admissions,  which,  as  he  would  certainly  never 
have  made  himself,  they  have  very  charitably  made  for  him.2 

The  festival  in  honor  of  the  resurrection  of  Adonis  was  observed 
in  Alexandria  in  Egypt — the  cradle  of  Christianity — in  the  time 
of  St.  Cyril,  Bishop  of  Alexandria  (a.  d.  412),  and  at  Antioch — the 
ancient  capital  of  the  Greek  Kings  of  Syria — even  as  late  as  the 
time  of  the  Emperor  Julian  (a.  d.  361-363),  whose  arrival  there, 
during  the  solemnity  of  the  festival,  was  taken  as  an  ill  omen.3 

It  is  most  curious  that  the  arrival  of  the  Emperor  Julian  at 
Antioch — where  the  followers  of  Christ  Jesus,  it  is  said,  were  first 
called  Christians — at  that  time,  should  be  considered  an  ill  omen. 
Why  should  it  have  been  so  ? He  was  not  a Christian,  but  a known 
apostate  from  the  Christian  religion,  and  a zealous  patron  of 
Paganism.  The  evidence  is  very  conclusive ; the  celebration  in 
honor  of  the  resurrection  of  Adonis  had  become  to  be  known  as  a 
Christian  festival,  which  has  not  been  abolished  even  unto  this  day. 
The  ceremonies  held  in  Roman  Catholic  countries  on  Good  Friday 
and  on  Easter  Sunday,  are  nothing  more  than  the  festival  of  the 
death  and  resurrection  of  Adonis,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

1 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Beliefs,  2 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  164.  We  shall 
p.  247,  and  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  164  speak  of  Christian  forgeries  anon. 

8 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  2. 


220 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Even  as  late  as  the  year  a.  d.  386,  the  resurrection  of  Adonis 
was  celebrated  in  Judea.  St.  Jerome  says : 

“ Over  Bethlehem  (in  the  year  386  after  Christ)  the  grove  of  Tammuz,  that  is, 
of  Adonis,  was  casting  its  shadow  ! And  in  the  grotto  where  formerly  the  infant 
Anointed  (».  e.t  Christ  Jesus)  cried,  the  lover  of  Venus  was  being  mourned.”1 * 

In  the  idolatrous  worship  practiced  by  the  children  of  Israel 
was  that  of  the  worship  of  Adonis. 

Under  the  designation  of  Tammuz , this  god  was  worshiped, 
and  had  his  altar  even  in  the  Temple  of  the  Lord  which  was  at 
Jerusalem.  Several  of  the  Psalms  of  David  were  parts  of  the 
liturgical  service  employed  in  his  worship ; the  110th,  in  partic- 
ular, is  an  account  of  a friendly  alliance  between  the  two  gods, 
Jehovah  and  Adonis,  in  which  Jehovah  adorns  Adonis  for  his 
priest,  as  sitting  at  his  right  hand,  and  promises  to  fight  for  him 
against  his  enemies.  This  god  was  worshiped  at  Byblis  in  Phoe- 
nicia with  precisely  the  same  ceremonies : the  same  articles  of  faith 
as  to  his  mystical  incarnation,  his  precious  death  and  burial,  and  his 
glorious  resurrection  and  ascension,  and  even  in  the  very  same 
words  of  religious  adoration  and  homage  which  are  now,  with  the 
slightest  degree  of  variation  that  could  well  be  conceived,  addressed 
to  the  Christ  of  the  Gospel. 

The  prophet  Ezekiel,  when  an  exile,  painted  once  more  the 
scene  he  had  so  often  witnessed  of  the  Israelitish  women  in  the 
Temple  court  bewailing  the  death  of  Tammuz.3 

Dr.  Parkhurst  says,  in  his  “ Hebrew  Lexicon 

“ I find  myself  obliged  to  refer  Tammuz,  as  well  as  the  Greek  and  Roman  Her- 
cules, to  that  class  of  idols  which  were  originally  designed  to  represent  the  prom- 
ised Saviour  (Christ  Jesus),  the  desire  of  all  nations.  His  other  name,  Adonis, 
is  almost  the  very  Hebrew  word  ‘ Our  Lord,’  a well-known  title  of  Christ.”4 

So  it  seems  that  the  ingenious  and  most  learned  orthodox  Dr. 
Parkhurst  was  obliged  to  consider  Adonis  a type  of  “ the  promised 
Saviour  (Christ  Jesus),  the  desire  of  all  nations.”  This  is  a very 
favorite  way  for  Christian  divines  to  express  themselves,  when 
pushed  thereto,  by  the  striking  resemblance  between  the  Pagan, 
virgin-born,  crucified,  and  resurrected  gods  and  Christ  Jesus. 

If  the  reader  is  satisfied  that  all  these  things  are  types  or  sym- 
bols of  what  the  “ real  Saviour  ” was  to  do  and  suffer,  he  is  welcome 


1 Quoted  in  Dunlap’s  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  of  Jerusalem,  the  Anointed  was  worshiped  in 

vii.  See  also,  Knight : Ancient  Art  and  My-  Babylon,  Basan,  Galilee  and  Palestine.”  (Son 

thology,  p.  xxvii.  of  the  Man,  p.  38.) 

“ From  the  days  of  the  prophet  Daniel,  down  3 Ezekiel,  viii.  14. 

to  the  time  when  the  red  cross  knights  gave  no  4 Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  162,  and 

quarter  (fighting  for  the  Christ)  in  the  streets  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  114. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


221 


to  such  food.  The  doctrine  of  Dr.  Parkhurst  and  others  comes 
with  but  an  ill  grace,  however,  from  Roman  Catholic  priests,  who 
have  never  ceased  to  suppress  information  when  possible,  and  when 
it  was  impossible  for  them  to  do  so,  they  claimed  these  things 
to  be  the  work  of  the  devil,  in  imitation  of  their  predecessors,  the 
Christian  Fathers. 

Julius  Firmicius  has  said:  “The  devil  has  his  Christs,”  and 
does  not  deny  that  Adonis  was  one.  Tertullian  and  St.  Justin 
explain  all  the  conformity  which  exists  between  Christianity  and 
Paganism , by  asserting  “ that  a long  time  before  there  were  Chris- 
tians in  existence,  the  devil  had  taken  pleasure  to  have  their  future 
mysteries  and  ceremonies  copied  by  his  worshipers.”1 2 

Osiris , the  Egyptian  Saviour,  after  being  put  to  death,  rose 
from  the  dead ,3  and  bore  the  title  of  “ The  Resurrected  One”* 

Prof.  Mahaffy,  lecturer  on  ancient  history  in  the  University  of 
Dublin,  observes  that : 

“ The  Resurrection  and  reign  over  an  eternal  kingdom,  by  an  incarnate 
mediating  deity  born  of  a virgin,  was  a theological  conception  which  pervaded 
the  oldest  religion  of  Egypt.”4 * 

The  ancient  Egyptians  celebrated  annually,  in  early  spring, 
about  the  time  known  in  Christian  countries  as  Easter,  the  resur- 
rection and  ascension  of  Osiris.  During  these  mysteries  the  mis- 
fortunes and  tragical  death  of  the  “ Saviour  ” were  celebrated  in 
a species  of  drama,  in  which  all  the  particulars  were  exhibited, 
accompanied  with  loud  lamentations  and  every  mark  of  sorrow. 
At  this  time  his  image  was  carried  in  a procession,  covered — as 
were  those  in  the  temples — with  black  veils.  On  the  25th  of  March 
his  resurrection  from  the  dead  was  celebrated  with  great  festivity 
and  rejoicings.6 

Alexander  Murray  says : 

“ The  worship  of  Osiris  was  universal  throughout  Egypt,  where  he  was  grate- 
fully regarded  as  the  great  exemplar  of  self-sacrifice — in  giving  his  life  for  others 
— as  the  manifestor  of  good,  as  the  opener  of  truth,  and  as  being  full  of  goodness 
and  truth.  After  being  dead,  he  was  restored  to  life.”6 

Mons.  Dupuis  says  on  this  subject : 

‘ ‘ The  Fathers  of  the  Church,  and  the  writers  of  the  Christian  sect,  speak 
frequently  of  these  feasts,  celebrated  in  honor  of  Osiris,  who  died  and  arose  from 


1 See  Justin  : Cum.  Typho,  and  Tertullian: 
De  Bap. 

2 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  16, 

and  vol.  i.  p.  E 19.  Also,  Prichard’s  Egyptian 

Mythology,  p.  66,  and  Bonwick’s  Egyptian 

Belief,  p.  163. 


3 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  166,  and 
Dunlap's  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  pp.  124,  125. 

4 Prolegomena  to  Ancient  History. 

6 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 

6 Murray  : Manual  of  Mythology,  pp.  347, 
348. 


222 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


the  dead,  and  they  draw  a parallel  with  the  adventurers  of  their  Christ. 
Athanasius,  Augustin,  Theophilus,  Athenagoras,  Minucius  Felix,  Lactantius, 
Firmicius,  as  also  the  ancient  authors  who  have  spoken  of  Osiris  ...  all 
agree  in  the  description  of  the  universal  mourning  of  the  Egyptians  at  the  festi- 
val, when  the  commemoration  of  that  death  took  place.  They  describe  the  cere- 
monies which  were  practiced  at  his  sepulchre,  the  tears,  which  were  there  shed 
during  several  days,  and  the  festivities  and  rejoicings,  which  followed  after  that 
mourning,  at  the  moment  when  his  resurrection  was  announced.”1 

Mr.  Bon  wick  remarks,  in  his  “ Egyptian  Belief,”  that : 

“It  is  astonishing  to  find  that,  at  least,  five  thousand  years  ago,  men  trusted 
an  Osiris  as  the  ‘ Risen  Saviour ,’  and  confidently  hoped  to  rise,  as  he  arose,  from 
the  grave.”2 

Again  he  says : 

‘ ‘ Osiris  was,  unquestionably,  the  popular  god  of  Egypt.  . . . Osiris  was 

dear  to  the  hearts  of  the  people.  He  was  pre-eminently  ‘ good .*  He  was  in  life 
and  death  their  friend.  His  birth,  death,  burial,  resurrection  and  ascension, 
embraced  the  leading  points  of  Egyptian  theology.”  “In  his  efforts  to  do  good, 
he  encounters  evil.  In  struggling  with  that,  he  is  overcome.  He  is  killed.  The 
story,  entered  into  in  the  account  of  the  Osiris  myth,  is  a circumstantial  one. 
Osiris  is  buried.  His  tomb  was  the  object  of  pilgrimage  for  thousands  of  years. 
But  he  did  not  rest  in  his  grave.  At  the  end  of  three  days,  or  forty,  he  arose  again, 
and  ascended  to  heaven.  This  is  the  story  of  his  humanity.”  “ As  the invictus 
Osiris,  his  tomb  was  illuminated,  as  is  the  holy  sepulchre  of  Jerusalem  now. 
The  mourning  song,  whose  plaintive  tones  were  noted  by  Herodotus,  and  has 
been  compared  to  the  ‘ miserere  ’ of  Rome,  was  followed,  in  three  days,  by  the 
languageof  triumph.”3 

Herodotus,  who  had  been  initiated  into  the  Egyptian  and  Gre- 
cian “ Mysteries ,”  speaks  thus  of  them  : 

“At  Sais  (in  Egypt),  in  the  sacred  precinct  of  Minerva;  behind  the  chapel 
and  joining  the  wall,  is  the  tomb  of  one  whose  name  I consider  it  impious  to 
divulge  on  such  an  occasion;  and  in  the  inclosure  stand  large  stone  obelisks,  and 
there  is  a lake  near,  ornamented  with  a stone  margin,  formed  in  a circle,  and  in 
size,  as  appeared  to  me,  much  the  same  as  that  in  Delos,  which  is  called  the  cir- 
cular. In  this  lake  they  perform  by  night  the  representation  of  that  person’s 
adventures,  which  they  call  mysteries.  On  these  matters,  however,  though 
accurately  acquainted  with  the  particulars  of  them,  I must  observe  a discreet 
silence  ; and  respecting  the  sacred  rites  of  Ceres,  which  the  Greeks  call  Thesmy- 
phoria,  although  I am  acquainted  with  them,  I must  observe  silence  except  so 
far  as  is  lawful  for  me  to  speak  of  them.”4 

Horus , son.  of  the  virgin  Isis , experienced  similar  misfortunes. 
The  principal  features  of  this  sacred  romance  are  to  be  found  in 
the  writings  of  the  Christian  Fathers.  They  give  us  a description 
of  the  grief  which  was  manifested  at  his  death,  and  of  the  rejoicings 
at  his  resurrection , which  are  similar  to  those  spoken  of  above.6 


1 Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  256.  4 Herodotus,  bk.  ii.  chs.  170,  171. 

9 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  vi.  6 See  Dupuis : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p. 

■ Ibid.  pp.  150-155,  178.  263,  and  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  102. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS, 


223 


Atys , the  Phrygian  Saviour,  was  put  to  death,  and  rose  again 
from  the  dead.  Various  histories  were  given  of  him  in  various 
places,  but  all  accounts  terminated  in  the  usual  manner.  He  was 
one  of  the  “ Slain  Ones  ” who  rose  to  life  again  on  the  25th  of 
March,  or  the  “ Hilaria  ” or  primitive  Easter.1 

Mithras , the  Persian  Saviour,  and  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  was  believed  by  the  inhabitants  of  Persia,  Asia  Minor  and 
Armenia,  to  have  been  put  to  death,  and  to  have  risen  again  from 
the  dead.  In  their  mysteries,  the  body  of  a young  man,  apparently 
dead,  was  exhibited,  which  was  feigned  to  be  restored  to  life.  By 
his  sufferings  he  was  believed  to  have  worked  their  salvation,  and 
on  this  account  he  was  called  their  “ Saviour.”  His  priests  watched 
his  tomb  to  the  midnight  of  the  veil  of  the  25th  of  March,  with 
loud  cries , and  in  darlcness ; when  all  at  once  the  lights  burst 
forth  from  all  parts,  and  the  priest  cried : 

“Rejoice,  Oh  sacred  Initiated,  your  god  is  risen.  His  death,  his  pains,  his  suf- 
ferings, have  worked  our  salvation.  ”'2 

Mons.  Dupuis,  speaking  of  the  resurrection  of  this  god,  says : 

“ It  is  chiefly  in  the  religion  of  Mithras.  . . . that  we  find  mostly  these 

features  of  analogy  with  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ,  and  with  the  mys- 
teries of  the  Christians.  Mithras,  who  was  also  born  on  the  25th  of  December, 
like  Christ,  died  as  he  did;  and  he  had  his  sepulchre,  over  which  his  disciples 
came  to  shed  tears.  During  the  night,  the  priests  carried  his  image  to  a tomb, 
expressly  prepared  for  him;  he  was  laid  out  on  a litter,  like  the  Phoenician 
Adonis. 

“These  funeral  ceremonies,  like  those  on  Good  Friday  (in  Roman  Catholic 
churches),  were  accompanied  with  funeral  dirges  and  groans  of  the  priests;  after 
having  spent  some  time  with  these  expressions  of  feigned  grief ; after  having 
lighted  the  sacred  flambeau,  or  their  paschal  candle,  and  anointed  the  image  with 
chrism  or  perfumes,  one  of  them  came  forward  and  pronounced  with  the  gravest 
mien  these  words:  ‘ Be  of 'good  cheer,  sacred  band  of  Initiates,  your  god  has  risen 
from  the  dead.  His  pains  and  his  sufferings  shall  be  your  salvation .’  ”3 

In  King’s  “ Gnostics  and  their  Remains  ” (Plate  XI.),  may  be 
seen  the  representation  of  a bronze  medal,  or  rather  disk,  engraved 


1 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  169. 
Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  104.  Dupuis  : 
Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  255.  Dunlap’s 
Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  110,  and  Knight : Anct. 
Art  and  Mythology,  p.  86. 

2 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  99.  Mith- 
ras remained  in  the  grave  a period  of  three  days, 
as  did  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  other  Christs. 
“ The  Persians  believed  that  the  soul  of  man 
remained  yet  three  days  in  the  world  after  its 
separation  from  the  body.”  (Dunlap : Mys- 
teries of  Adoni,  p.  63.) 

“ In  the  Zoroastrian  religion,  after  soul  and 


body  have  separated,  the  souls,  in  the  third 
night  after  death— as  soon  as  the  shining  sun 
ascends— come  over  the  Mount  Berezaiti  upon 
the  bridge  Tshinavat  which  leads  to  Garonmana, 
the  dwelling  of  the  good  gods.”  (Dunlap’s 
Spirit  Hist.,  p.  216,  and  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  60.) 

The  Ghost  of  Polydore  says  : 

“ Being  raised  up  this  third  day — light, 
Having  deserted  my  body  1”  (Euripides, 
Hecuba,  31,  32.) 

8 Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Beliefs,  pp 
246,  247. 


224 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


in  the  coarsest  manner,  on  which  is  to  be  seen  a female  figure, 
standing  in  the  attitude  of  adoration,  the  object  of  which  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  inscription — ortvs  sal  vat,  “ The  Rising  of  the 
Saviour  ” — i.  e.,  of  Mithras.1 

“This  medal  ” (says  Mr.  King),  “ doubtless  had  accompanied  the  interment  of 
some  individual  initiated  into  the  Mithraic  mysteries;  and  is  certainly  the  most 
curious  relic  of  that  faith  that  has  come  under  my  notice.”2 

Bacchus , the  Saviour,  son  of  the  virgin  Semele,  after  being  put 
to  death,  also  arose  from  the  dead.  During  the  commemoration 
of  the  ceremonies  of  this  event  the  dead  body  of  a young  man  was 
exhibited  with  great  lamentations,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  cases 
cited  above,  and  at  dawn  on  the  25th  of  March  his  resurrection 
from  the  dead  was  celebrated  with  great  rejoicings.3  After  having 
brought  solace  to  the  misfortunes  of  mankind,  he,  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, ascended  into  heaven .4 

Hercules , the  Saviour,  the  son  of  Zeus  by  a mortal  mother,  was 
put  to  death,  but  arose  from  the  funeral  pile,  and  ascended  into 
heaven  in  a cloud , ’mid  peals  of  thunder.  His  followers  manifested 
gratitude  to  his  memory  by  erecting  an  altar  on  the  spot  from 
whence  he  ascended.5 

Memnon  is  put  to  death,  but  rises  again  to  life  and  immortality. 
His  mother  Eos  weeps  tears  at  the  death  of  her  son — as  Mary  does 
for  Christ  Jesus — but  her  prayers  avail  to  bring  him  back,  like 
Adonis  or  Tammuz,  and  Jesus,  from  the  shadowy  region,  to  dwell 
always  in  Olympus.6 

The  ancient  Greeks  also  believed  that  Amjohiaraus — one  of 
their  most  celebrated  prophets  and  demi-gods — rose  from  the  dead. 
They  even  pointed  to  the  place  of  his  resurrection.7 

Baldur , the  Scandinavian  Lord  and  Saviour,  is  put  to  death,  but 
does  not  rest  in  his  grave.  He  too  rises  again  to  life  and  immor- 
tality.8 

When  “ Baldur  the  Good,”  the  beneficent  god,  descended  into 
hell,  Hela  (Death)  said  to  Hermod  (who  mourned  for  Baldur) : 
“ If  all  things  in  the  world,  both  living  and  lifeless,  weep  for  him, 
then  shall  he  return  to  the  JEsir  (the  gods).”  Upon  hearing  this, 
messengers  were  dispatched  throughout  the  world  to  beg  every- 


1 King’s  Gnostics  and  their  Remains,  p.  225.  6 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  294.  See  also, 

2 Ibid.  p.  226.  Goldzhier’s  Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  127.  Hig* 

3 See  Higgins:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  102.  gins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  322,  and  Cham- 

Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  pp.  256,  bers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Hercules.” 

257,  and  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  169.  6 Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  90. 

4 See  Dupuis:  Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  p.  7 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.56. 

135,  and  Higgius:  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  322.  8 Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  94. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


225 


thing  to  weep  in  order  that  Baldur  might  be  delivered  from  hell. 
All  things  everywhere  willingly  complied  with  this  request,  both 
men  and  every  other  living  being,  so  that  wailing  was  heard  in  all 
quarters. 1 2 3 4 

Thus  we  see  the  same  myth  among  the  northern  nations.  As 
Bunsen  says : 

“The  tragedy  of  the  murdered  and  risen  god  is  familiar  to  us  from  the  days 
of  ancient  Egypt:  must  it  not  he  of  equally  primeval  origin  here?”  [In  Teutonic 
tradition.] 

The  ancient  Scandinavians  also  worshiped  a god  called  Frey , 
who  was  put  to  death,  and  rose  again  from  the  dead? 

The  ancient  Druids  celebrated,  in  the  British  Isles,  in  heathen 
times,  the  rites  of  the  resurrected  Bacchus,  and  other  ceremonies, 
similar  to  the  Greeks  and  Homans.8 

Quetzalcoatle , the  Mexican  crucified  Saviour,  after  being  put  to 
death,  rose  from  the  dead . His  resurrection  was  represented  in 
Mexican  hieroglyphics,  and  may  be  seen  in  the  Codex  Borgianus .“ 

The  Jews  in  Palestine  celebrated  their  Passover  on  the  same 
day  that  the  Pagans  celebrated  the  resurrection  of  their  gods. 

Besides  the  resurrected  gods  mentioned  in  this  chapter,  who 
were  believed  in  for  centuries  before  the  time  assigned  for  the  birth 
of  Christ  Jesus,  many  others  might  be  named,  as  we  shall  see  in 
our  chapter  on  “Explanation.”  In  the  words  of  Dunbar  T. 
Heath  : 

“We  find  men  taught  everywhere,  from  Southern  Arabia  to  Greece,  by 
hundreds  of  symbolisms,  the  birth,  death,  and  resurrection  of  deities,  and  a res- 
urrection too,  apparently  after  the  second  day,  i.  e. , on  the  third.  ”5 6 7 

And  now,  to  conclude  all,  another  god  is  said  to  have  been  born 
on  the  same  day 6 as  these  Pagan  deities  ; he  is  crucified  and  buried, 
and  on  the  same  day1  rises  again  from  the  dead.  Christians  of 
Europe  and  America  celebrate  annually  the  resurrection  of  their 


1 Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  449. 

2 See  Knight:  Ancient  Art  and  [Mythology, 
p.  85. 

3 See  Davies:  Myths  and  Rites  of  the  British 
Druids,  pp.  89  and  208. 

4 See  Kingsborough’s  Mexican  Antiquities, 

rol.  vi.  p.  166. 

6 Quoted  in  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p. 
174. 

6 As  we  shall  see  in  the  chapter  on  “ The 
Birth-day  of  Christ  Jesus.” 

7 Easter , the  triumph  of  Christ,  was  origin- 
ally solemnized  on  the  25th  of  March,  the  very 
day  upon  which  the  Pagan  gods  were  believed 

to  have  risen  from  the  dead.  (See  Dupuis: 

15 


Origin  of  Religious  Belief,  pp.  244,  255.) 

A very  long  and  terrible  schism  took  place 
in  the  Christian  Church  upon  the  question 
whether  Easter,  the  day  of  the  resurrection, 
was  to  be  celebrated  on  the  14th  day  of  the  first 
month,  after  the  Jewish  custom,  or  on  the 
Lord’s  day  afterward;  and  it  was  at  last  de- 
cided in  favor  of  the  Lord’s  day.  (See  Hig- 
gins: Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  90,  and  Cham- 
bers’s Encyclopaedia,  art.  “Easter.”) 

The  day  upon  which  Easter  should  be  cele- 
brated was  not  settled  until  the  Council  of  Nice. 
(See  Euseb.  Life  of  Constantine,  lib.  3,  ch.  xv;i. 
Also,  Socrates’  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  1,  ch.  vi.) 


226 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Saviour  in  almost  the  identical  manner  in  which  the  Pagans  cele- 
brated the  resurrection  of  their  Saviours,  centuries  before  the  God 
of  the  Christians  is  said  to  have  been  born.  In  Roman  Catholic 
churches,  in  Catholic  countries,  the  body  of  a young  man  is  laid  on 
a bier,  and  placed  before  the  altar ; the  wound  in  his  side  is  to  be 
seen,  and  his  death  is  bewailed  in  mournful  dirges,  and  the  verse, 
Gloria  Patri , is  discontinued  in  the  mass.  All  the  images  in  the 
churches  and  the  altar  are  covered  with  black , and  the  priest  and 
attendants  are  robed  in  black  ; nearly  all  lights  are  put  out,  and  the 
windows  are  darkened.  This  is  the  “ Agonie,”  the  “ Miserere,” 
the  “ Good  Friday  ” mass.  On  Easter  Sunday1  all  the  drapery  has 
disappeared  ; the  church  is  illuminated , and  rejoicing,  in  place  of 
sorrow,  is  manifest.  The  Easter  hymns  partake  of  the  following 
expression  : 

“Rejoice,  Oh  sacred  Initiated , your  God  is  risen.  His  death,  his  pains,  his  suf- 
ferings, have  worked  our  salvation .” 

Cedrenus  (a  celebrated  Byzantine  writer),  speaking  of  the  25th 
of  March,  says : 

‘ ‘ The  first  day  of  the  first  month,  is  the  first  of  the  month  Nisan  ; it  corre- 
sponds to  the  25th  of  March  of  the  Romans,  and  the  Phamenot  of  the  Egyptians. 
On  that  day  Gabriel  saluted  Mary,  in  order  to  make  her  conceive  the  Saviour. 
I observe  that  it  is  the  same  month,  Phamenot,  that  Osiris  gave  fecundity  to  Isis, 
according  to  the  Egyptian  theology.  On  the  very  same  day,  our  God  Saviour 
(Christ  Jesus),  after  the  termination  of  his  career,  arose  from  the  dead ; that  is, 
what  our  forefathers  called  the  Pass-over,  or  the  passage  of  the  Lord.  It  is  also 
on  the  same  day,  that  our  ancient  theologians  have  fixed  his  return,  or  hi? 
second  advent.”2 

We  liave  seen,  then,  that  a festival  celebrating  the  resurrection 
of  their  several  gods  was  annually  held  among  the  Pagans,  before 
the  time  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  that  it  was  almost  universal.  That 
it  dates  to  a period  of  great  antiquity  is  very  certain.  The  adven- 
tures of  these  incarnate  gods,  exposed  in  their  infancy,  put  to  death, 
and  rising  again  from  the  grave  to  life  and  immortality,  were  acted 
on  the  Deisuls  and  in  the  sacred  theatres  of  the  ancient  Pagans,3 
just  as  the  “ Passion  Play  ” is  acted  to-day. 

Eusebius  relates  a tale  to  the  effect  that,  at  one  time,  the  Chris- 


*Even  the  name  of  “Easter”  is  derived 
from  the  heathen  goddess,  Ostrt,  of  the  Saxons, 
and  the  Eostre  of  the  Germans. 

“Many  of  the  popular  observances  con- 
nected with  Easter  are  clearly  of  Pagan  origin. 
The  goddess  Ostara  or  Eastre  seems  to  have 
been  the  personification  of  the  morning  or 
East,  and  also  of  the  opening  year  or  Spring. 
. . . With  her  usual  policy,  the  church  en- 


deavored to  give  a Christian  significance  to 
such  of  the  rites  as  could  not  be  rooted  out ; 
and  in  this  case  the  conversion  was  prac- 
tically easy.”  (Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art. 
“ Easter.”) 

2 Quoted  in  Dupuis : Origin  of  Religious 
Belief,  p.  244. 

8 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  340. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


227 


tians  were  about  to  celebrate  66  the  solemn  vigils  of  Easter,”  when, 
to  their  dismay,  they  found  that  oil  was  wanted.  Narcissus,  Bishop 
of  Jerusalem,  who  was  among  the  number,  “ commanded  that  such 
as  had  charge  of  the  lights , speedily  to  bring  unto  him  water,  drawn 
up  out  of  the  next  well.”  This  water  Narcissus,  “ by  the  wonder- 
ful power  of  God,”  changed  into  oil,  and  the  celebration  was 
continued.1 

This  tells  the  whole  story.  Here  we  see  the  oil — which  the 
Pagans  had  in  their  ceremonies,  and  with  which  the  priests  anointed 
the  lips  of  the  Initiates — and  the  lights,  which  were  suddenly 
lighted  when  the  god  was  feigned  to  have  risen  from  the  dead. 

With  her  usual  policy,  the  Christian  Church  endeavored  to  give 
a Christian  significance  to  the  rites  borrowed  from  Paganism,  and 
in  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  the  conversion  was  particularly 
easy. 

In  the  earliest  times,  the  Christians  did  not  celebrate  the  resur- 
rection of  their  Lord  from  the  grave.  They  made  the  Jewish 
Passover  their  chief  festival,  celebrating  it  on  the  same  day  as  the 
Jews,  the  lltli  of  Nisan,  no  matter  in  what  part  of  the  week  that 
day  might  fall.  Believing,  according  to  the  tradition,  that  Jesus  on 
the  eve  of  his  death  had  eaten  the  Passover  with  his  disciples,  they 
regarded  such  a solemnity  as  a commemoration  of  the  Supper  and 
not  as  a memorial  of  the  Besurrection.  But  in  proportion  as  Chris- 
tianity more  and  more  separated  itself  from  Judaism  and  imbibed 
paganism,  this  way  of  looking  at  the  matter  became  less  easy.  A 
new  tradition  gained  currency  among  the  Roman  Christians  to  the 
effect  that  Jesus  before  his  death  had  not  eaten  the  Passover,  but 
had  died  on  the  very  day  of  the  Passover,  thus  substituting  himself 
for  the  Paschal  Lamb.  The  great  Christian  festival  was  then  made 
the  Resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  was  celebrated  on  the  first  pagan 
holiday— Sun-day — after  the  Passover. 

This  Easter  celebration  was  observed  in  China,  and  called  a 
“Festival  of  Gratitude  to  Tien.”4  From  there  it  extended  over 
the  then  known  world  to  the  extreme  West. 

The  ancient  Pagan  inhabitants  of  Europe  celebrated  annually 
this  same  feast,  which  is  yet  continued  over  all  the  Christian  world. 
This  festival  began  with  a week’s  indulgence  in  all  kinds  of  sports, 
called  the  carne-vale,  or  the  taking  a farewell  to  animal  food, 
because  it  was  followed  by  a fast  of  forty  days.  This  was  in  honor 
of  the  Saxon  goddess  Ostrt  or  Eostre  of  the  Germans,  whence  our 
Easter? 


1 Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  6,  c.  viii. 


2 Anacalypsis,  ii.  59. 


228 


BIBLE  MYTHS 


The  most  characteristic  Easter  rite,  and  the  one  most  widely 
diffused,  is  the  use  of  Easter  eggs . They  are  usually  stained  of 
various  colors  with  dye-woods  or  herbs,  and  people  mutually  make 
presents  of  them  ; sometimes  they  are  kept  as  amulets , sometimes 
eaten.  Now,  “ dyed  eggs  were  sacred  Easter  offerings  in  Egypt ;”1 * 
the  ancient  Persians , “ when  they  kept  the  festival  of  the  solar 
new  year  (in  March),  mutually  presented  each  other  with  colored 
eggs ; ”3  “ the  Jews  used  eggs  in  the  feast  of  the  Passover and 
the  custom  prevailed  in  Western  countries.8 

The  stories  of  the  resurrection  written  by  the  Gospel  narrators 
are  altogether  different.  This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  story,  as 
related  by  one,  was  written  to  correct  the  mistakes  and  to  endeavor 
to  reconcile  with  common  sense  the  absurdities  of  the  other.  For 
instance,  the  “ Matthew  ” narrator  says  : “ And  when  they  saw  him 
(after  he  had  risen  from  the  dead)  they  worshiped  him  ; but  some 
doubted”' 

To  leave  the  question  where  this  writer  leaves  it  would  be  fatal. 
In  such  a case  there  must  be  no  doubt.  Therefore,  the  “ Mark  ” 
narrator  makes  Jesus  appear  three  times , under  such  circumstances 
as  to  render  a mistake  next  to  impossibly,  and  to  silence  the  most 
obstinate  skepticism.  He  is  first  made  to  appear  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, who  was  convinced  that  it  was  Jesus,  because  she  went  and 
told  the  disciples  that  he  had  risen,  and  that  she  had  seen  him. 
They — notwithstanding  that  Jesus  had  foretold  them  of  his  resur- 
rection— disbelieved,  nor  could  they  be  convinced  until  he  appeared 
to  them.  They  in  turn  told  it  to  the  other  disciples,  who  were  also 
skeptical ; and,  that  they  might  be  convinced,  Jesus  also  appeared 
to  them  as  they  sat  at  meat,  when  he  upbraided  them  for  their 
unbelief. 

This  story  is  much  improved  in  the  hands  of  the  “ Marie  ” nar- 
rator, but,  in  the  anxiety  to  make  a clear  case,  it  is  overdone,  as 
often  happens  when  the  object  is  to  remedy  or  correct  an  oversight 
or  mistake  previously  made.  In  relating  that  the  disciples  doubted 
the  words  of  Mary  Magdalene,  he  had  probably  forgotten  Jesus  had 
promised  them  that  he  should  rise,  for,  if  he  had  told  them  this, 
why  did  they  doubt  f 

Neither  the  “ Matthew  ” nor  the  “ Mark  ” narrator  says  in  what 
way  Jesus  made  his  appearance — whether  it  was  in  the  body  or  only 
in  the  spirit.  If  in  the  latter,  it  would  be  fatal  to  the  whole  theory 


1 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  24.  4 Matthew,  xxviii.  17. 

3 See  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Easter.”  6 See  xii.  40  ; xvi.  21  ; Mark,  ix.  31 ; xiv.  28  i 

3 Ibid.  John,  ii.  19. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


229 


of  the  resurrection,  as  it  is  a material  resurrection  that  Christianity 
taught — just  like  their  neighbors  the  Persians — and  not  a spirit- 
ual.1 * * 

To  put  this  disputed  question  in  its  true  light,  and  to  silence 
the  objections  which  must  naturally  have  arisen  against  it,  was 
the  object  which  the  “ Luke  ” narrator  had  in  view.  He  says  that 
when  Jesus  appeared  and  spoke  to  the  disciples  they  were  afraid : 
“ But  they  were  terrified  and  affrighted,  and  supposed  they  had 
seen  a spirit.”*  Jesus  then — to  show  that  he  was  not  a spirit — 
showed  the  wounds  in  his  hands  and  feet.  “ And  they  gave  him  a 
piece  of  a broiled  fish,  and  of  a honeycomb.  And  he  took  it,  and 
did  eat  before  them.”*  After  this,  who  is  there  that  can  doubt  ? 
but,  if  the  fish  and  honeycomb  story  was  true,  why  did  the  “ Mat- 
thew ” and  “ Mark  ” narrators  fail  to  mention  it  ? 

The  “ Luke  ” narrator,  like  his  predecessors,  had  also  overdone 
the  matter,  and  instead  of  convincing  the  skeptical,  he  only  excited 
their  ridicule. 

The  “ John  ” narrator  now  comes,  and  endeavors  to  set  matters 
right.  He  does  not  omit  entirely  the  story  of  Jesus  eating  fish ,for 
that  would  not  do,  after  there  had  been  so  much  said  about  it. 
He  might  leave  it  to  be  inferred  that  the  “ Luke  ” narrator  made 
a mistake,  so  he  modifies  the  story  and  omits  the  ridiculous  part. 
The  scene  is  laid  on  the  shores  of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias.  Under  the 
direction  of  Jesus,  Peter  drew  his  net  to  land,  full  of  fish.  “ Jesus 
said  unto  them  : Come  and  dine.  And  none  of  the  disciples  durst 
ask  him,  Who  art  thou  ? knowing  that  it  was  the  Lord.  Jesus  then 
cometh,  and  taketh  bread , and  givetli  them,  and  fish  likewise.”4 

It  does  not  appear  from  this  account  that  Jesus  ate  the  fish  at 
all.  He  took  the  fish  and  gave  to  the  disciples  / the  inference  is 
that  they  were  the  ones  that  ate.  In  the  “ Luke  ” narrator’s  ac- 
count, the  statement  is  reversed ; the  disciples  gave  the  fish  to 
Jesus,  and  he  ate.  The  “ John  ” narrator  has  taken  out  of  the  story 
that  which  was  absurd,  but  he  leaves  us  to  infer  that  the  “ Luke  ” 
narrator  was  careless  in  stating  the  account  of  what  took  place.  If 
we  leave  out  of  the  “Luke*  narrator’s  account  the  part  that  re- 
lates to  the  fish  and  honeycomb,  he  fails  to  prove  what  it  really 


1  “ And  let  not  any  one  among  you  say,  that 

this  very  flesh  is  not  judged,  neither  raised  up. 
Consider,  in  what  were  ye  saved  ? in  what  did  ye 
look  up,  if  not  whilst  ye  were  in  this  flesh  ? We 
must,  therefore,  keep  our  flesh  as  the  temple 

of  God.  For  in  like  manner  as  ye  were  called 

in  the  flesh,  ye  shall  also  come  to  judgment  in 
the  flesh.  Our  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  has 


saved  us,  being  first  a spirit,  was  made  flesh, 
and  so  called  us  : even  so  we  also  in  this  flesh , 
shall  receive  the  reward  {of  heaven).  (II.  Cor- 
inthians, ch.  iv.  Apoc.  See  also  the  Christian 
Creed  : “I  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
body .”) 

2 Luke,  xxiv.  37. 

3 Luke,  xxiv.  42,  43.  « John,  xxi.  12, 18. 


230 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


was  which  appeared  to  the  disciples,  as  it  seems  from  this  that  the 
disciples  could  not  be  convinced  that  Jesus  was  not  a spirit  until  he 
had  actually  eaten  something. 

Now,  if  the  eating  part  is  struck  out — which  the  “ John  ” nar- 
rator does,  and  which,  no  doubt,  the  ridicule  cast  upon  it  drove  him 
to  do — the  “ Luke  ” narrator  leaves  the  question  just  where  he 
found  it.  It  was  the  business  of  the  “ John  ” narrator  to  attempt 
to  leave  it  clean,  and  put  an  end  to  all  cavil. 

Jesus  appeared  to  the  disciples  when  they  assembled  at  Jerusa- 
lem. “ And  when  he  had  so  said,  he  shewed  unto  them  his  hands 
and  his  side.”1  They  were  satisfied,  and  no  doubts  were  expressed. 
But  Thomas  was  not  present,  and  when  he  was  told  by  the  breth- 
ren that  Jesus  had  appeared  to  them,  he  refused  to  believe ; nor 
would  he,  “ Except  I shall  see  in  his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails, 
and  put  my  finger  into  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  thrust  my  hand 
into  his  side,  I will  not  believe.”2  Now,  if  Thomas  could  be  con- 
vinced, with  all  his  doubts,  it  would  be  foolish  after  that  to  deny 
that  Jesus  was  not  in  the  body  when  he  appeared  to  his  disciples. 

After  eight  days  Jesus  again  appears,  for  no  other  purpose — as 
it  would  seem — but  to  convince  the  doubting  disciple  Thomas. 
Then  said  he  to  Thomas  : “ Reach  hither  thy  finger,  and  behold 
my  hands ; and  reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  thrust  it  into  my  side  ; 
and  be  not  faithless,  but  believing.”3  This  convinced  Thomas,  and 
he  exclaimed:  “ My  Lord  and  my  God.”  After  this  evidence,  if 
there  were  still  unbelievers,  they  were  even  more  skeptical  than 
Thomas  himself.  We  should  be  at  a loss  to  understand  why  the 
writers  of  the  first  three  Gospels  entirely  omitted  the  story  of 
Thomas , if  we  were  not  aware  that  when  the  “ John  ” narrator 
wrote  the  state  of  the  public  mind  was  such  that  proof  of  the  most 
unquestionable  character  was  demanded  that  Christ  Jesus  had  risen 
in  the  body.  The  “ John  ” narrator  selected  a person  who  claimed 
he  was  hard  to  convince,  and  if  the  evidence  was  such  as  to  satisfy 
him,  it  ought  to  satisfy  the  balance  of  the  world.4 

The  first  that  we  knew  of  the  fourth  Gospel — attributed  to 
John — is  from  the  writings  of  Irenmis  (a.  d.  177-202),  and  the 
evidence  is  that  he  is  the  author  of  it*  That  controversies  were 
rife  in  his  day  concerning  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  is  very  evident 
from  other  sources.  We  find  that  at  this  time  the  resurrection  of 


1 John,  xx.  20. 

a John,  xx.  25. 

3 John,  xx.  27. 

4 See,  for  a further  account  of  the  resurrec- 


tion, Reber’s  Christ  of  Paul  ; Scott’s  English 
Life  of  Jesus  ; and  Greg’s  Creed  of  Christen- 
dom. 

* See  the  Chapter  xxxviii. 


THE  RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


281 


the  dead  (according  to  the  accounts  of  the  Christian  forgers)  was 
very  far  from  being  esteemed  an  uncommon  event;  that  the 
miracle  was  frequently  performed  on  necessary  occasions  by  great 
fasting  and  the  joint  supplication  of  the  church  of  the  place,  and 
that  the  persons  thus  restored  by  their  prayers  had  lived  afterwards 
among  them  many  years.  At  such  a period,  when  faith  could 
boast  of  so  many  wonderful  victories  over  death,  it  seems  difficult 
to  account  for  the  skepticism  of  those  philosophers,  who  still  re- 
jected and  derided  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  A noble  Gre- 
cian had  rested  on  this  important  ground  the  whole  controversy, 
and  promised  Theophilus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  that  if  he  could  be 
gratified  by  the  sight  of  a single  person  who  had  been  actually 
raised  from  the  dead , he  would  immediately  embrace  the  Christian 
religion. 

“ It  is  somewhat  remarkable,”  says  Gibbon,  the  historian,  from 
whom  we  take  the  above,  “ that  the  prelate  of  the  first  Eastern 
Church,  however  anxious  for  the  conversion  of»  his  friend,  thought 
proper  to  decline  this  fair  and  reasonable  challenge.”1 

This  Christian  saint , Irenseus,  had  invented  many  stories  of 
others  being  raised  from  the  dead,  for  the  purpose  of  attempting 
to  strengthen  the  belief  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus.  In  the  words 
of  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Jones : 

“ Such  pious  frauds  were  very  common  among  Christians  even  in  the  first 
three  centuries  ; and  a forgery  of  this  nature,  with  the  view  above-mentioned, 
seems  natural  and  probable.  ” 

One  of  these  “ pious  frauds  ” is  the  “ Gospel  of  Nicodemus 
the  Disciple , concerning  the  Sufferings  amd  Resurrection  of  our 
Master  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ .”  Although  attributed  to 

Nicodemus,  a disciple  of  Jesus,  it  has  been  shown  to  be  a forgery, 
written  towards  the  close  of  the  second  century — during  the  time 
of  Irenceus , the  well-known  pious  forger.  In  this  book  we  find  the 
following  : 

“And  now  hear  me  a little.  We  all  know  the  blessed  Simeon,  the  high- 
priest,  who  took  Jesus  when  an  infant  into  his  arms  in  the  temple.  This  same 
Simeon  had  two  sons  of  his  own,  and  we  were  all  present  at  their  death  and 
funeral.  Go  therefore  and  see  their  tombs,  for  these  are  open,  and  they  are  risen  ; 
and  behold,  they  are  in  the  city  of  Arimathaea,  spending  their  time  together  in 
offices  of  devotion.”2 

The  purpose  of  this  story  is  very  evident.  Some  “ zealous 
believer,”  observing  the  appeals  for  proof  of  the  resurrection, 
wishing  to  make  it  appear  that  resurrections  from  the  dead  were 


1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  p.  541. 


9 Nicodemus,  Apoc.  ch.  xii. 


232 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


common  occurrences,  invented  this  story  towards  the  close  of  the 
second  century , and  fathered  it  upon  Nicodemus. 

We  shall  speak,  anon,  more  fully  on  the  subject  of  the  frauds 
of  the  early  Christians,  the  “ lying  and  deceiving  for  the  cause  of 
Christ ,”  which  is  carried  on  even  to  the  present  day. 

As  President  Cheney  of  Bates  College  has  lately  remarked, 
“ The  resurrection  is  the  doct/rine  of  Christianity  and  the  founda- 
tion of  the  entire  system,”1  but  outside  of  the  four  spurious  gos- 
pels this  greatest  of  all  recorded  miracles  is  hardly  mentioned. 
“We  have  epistles  from  Peter,  James,  John,  and  Jude — all  of 
whom  are  said  by  the  evangelists  to  have  seen  Jesus  after  he  rose 
from  the  dead,  in  none  of  which  epistles  is  the  fact  of  the  resurrec- 
tion even  stated,  much  less  that  Jesus  was  seen  by  the  writer  after 
his  resurrection.”2 

Many  of  the  early  Christian  sects  denied  the  resurrection  of 
Christ  Jesus,  but  taught  that  he  will  rise,  when  there  shall  be  a 
general  resurrection. 

No  actual  representation  of  the  resurrection  of  the  Christian’s 
Saviour  has  yet  been  found  among  the  monuments  of  early  Chris- 
tianity. The  earliest  representation  of  this  event  that  has  been 
found  is  an  ivory  carving,  and  belongs  to  the  fifth  or  sixth 
century.3 


1 Baccalaurr^t/?  Sermon,  June  26th,  1881.  8 See  Jameson’s  Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art* * 

* Gre#  : The  0*ed  of  Christendom,  p.  284.  vol.  ii.,  and  Lundy’s  Monumental  Christianity. 


CHAPTER  XXIY. 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  JESUS,  AND  THE  MILLENNIUM. 

The  second  coming  of  Christ  Jesus  is  clearly  taught  in  the 
canonical,  as  well  as  in  the  apocryphal,  books  of  the  Hew  Testa- 
ment. Paul  teaches,  or  is  made  to  teach  it,1  in  the  following 
words : 

“ If  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep 
in  Jesus  will  God  bring  with  him.  For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  that  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  not 
prevent  them  which  are  asleep.  For  the  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven 
with  a shout,  with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God, 
and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first:  Then  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  shall 
be  caught  up  together  with  them  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air : and 
so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the  Lord.”2 3 

He  further  tells  the  Thessalonians  to  4 4 abstain  from  all  appear- 
ance of  evil,”  and  to  44  be  preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ”* 

James,4  in  his  epistle  to  the  brethren,  tells  them  not  to  be  in 
too  great  a hurry  for  the  coming  of  their  Lord,  but  to  44  be  patient  ” 
and  wait  for  the  44  coming  of  the  Lord,”  as  the  44  husbandman 
waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit  of  the  earth.”  But  still  he  assures 
them  that  44  the  coming  of  the  Lord  draweth  nigh.”5 

Peter,  in  his  first  epistle,  tells  his  brethren  that  44  the  end  of 
all  things  is  at  hand,”6  and  that  when  the  44  chief  shepherd  ” does 
appear,  they  44  shall  receive  a crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not 
away.”7 

John,  in  his  first  epistle,  tells  the  Christian  community  to  44  abide 


1 We  say  “ is  made  to  teach  it,”  for  the 
probability  is  that  Paul  never  wrote  this  pas- 
sage. The  authority  of  both  the  Letters  to  the 

Thessalonians,  attributed  to  Paul,  is  undoubt- 
edly spurious.  (See  The  Bible  of  To-Day,  pp. 
211,  212.) 

3 I.  Thessalonians,  iv.  14-17. 

3 Ibid.  v.  22,  23. 

4 We  say  “James,”  but,  it  is  probable  that 


we  have,  in  this  epistle  of  James,  another  pseu- 
donymous writing  which  appeared  after  the 
time  that  James  must  have  lived.  (See  The 
Bible  of  To-Day,  p.  225.) 

6 James,  v.  7,  8. 

3 1.  Peter,  iv.  7. 

7 I.  Peter,  v.  7.  This  Epistle  is  not  authen- 
tic. (See  The  Bible  of  To-Day,  pp.  226,  227, 
228.) 


233 


234 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


in  him”  (Christ),  so  that,  “ when  he  shall  appear,  we  may  have  con- 
fidence, and  not  be  ashamed  before  him.”1 

He  further  says : 

“Behold,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and  it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 
shall  be,  but  we  know  that,  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we 
shall  see  him  as  he  is.”2 

According  to  the  writer  of  the  book  of  “ The  Acts,”  when 
Jesus  ascended  into  heaven,  the  Apostles  stood  looking  ujo  towards 
heaven,  where  he  had  gone,  and  while  thus  engaged : “ behold,  two 
men  stood  by  them  (dressed)  in  white  apparel,”  who  said  unto  them  : 

“Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand  ye  gazing  up  into  heaven  ? This  same  Jesus 
which  is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like  manner  as  ye  have 
seen  him  go  (up)  into  heaven”* * 

The  one  great  object  which  the  writer  of  the  book  of  Revela- 
tions wished  to  present  to  view,  was  “ the  second  coming  of  Christ .” 
This  writer,  who  seems  to  have  been  anxious  for  that  time,  which 
was  “ surely  ” to  come  “ quickly ; ” ends  his  book  by  saying  : 
“ Even  so,  come  Lord  Jesus.”4 

The  two  men,  dressed  in  white  apparel,  who  had  told  the 
Apostles  that  Jesus  should  “ come  again,”  were  not  the  only  per- 
sons whom  they  looked  to  for  authority.  He  himself  (according 
to  the  Gospel)  had  told  them  so : 

“The  Son  of  man  shall  come  (again)  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  his 
angels.” 

And,  as  if  to  impress  upon  their  minds  that  his  second  coming 
should  not  be  at  a distant  day,  he  further  said : 

“Verily  I say  unto  you,  there  be  some  standing  here,  which  shall  not  taste  of 
death,  till  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom .”6 

This,  surely,  is  very  explicit,  but  it  is  not  the  only  time  he 
speaks  of  his  second  advent.  When  foretelling  the  destruction 
of  the  temple,  his  disciples  came  unto  him,  saying  : 

“Tell  us  when  shall  these  things  be,  and  what  shall  be  the  sign  of  thy  com- 
ing?”6 

His  answer  to  this  is  very  plain  : 

“Verily  I say  unto  you,  this  generation  shall  not  pass  till  all  these  things  be 
fulfilled  (i.  e.,  the  destruction  of  the  temple  and  his  second  coming),  but  of  that 
day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  of  heaven,  but  my  Father 
only.”7 


1 1.  John,  ii.  28.  This  epistle  is  not  authen-  4 Rev.  xxii.  20. 

tic.  (See  Ibid.  p.  231.)  6 Matt.  xvi.  27,  28. 

* I.  John,  v.  2.  6 Ibid.  xxiv.  3. 

» Acts,  i.  10.  11.  7 ibid  x^iv.  34_36. 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


235 


In  the  second  Epistle  attributed  to  Peter,  which  was  written 
after  that  generation  had  passed  away,1  there  had  begun  to  be  some 
impatience  manifest  among  the  believers , on  account  of  the  long 
delay  of  Christ  Jesus’  second  coming.  44  Where  is  the  promise  of 
his  coming  ? ” say  they,  44  for  since  the  fathers  fell  asleep  all  things 
continue  as  they  were  from  the  beginning  of  the  creation.”2  In 
attempting  to  smoothe  over  matters,  this  writer  says  : 44  There  shall 
come  in  the  last  days  scoffers,  saying : 4 Where  is  the  promise  of 
his  coming  ? ’ ” to  which  he  replies  by  telling  them  that  they  were 
ignorant  of  all  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  and  that : 4 4 One  day  is  with 
the  Lord  as  a thousand  years,  and  a thousand  years  as  one  day.” 
He  further  says  : 4 4 The  Lord  is  not  slack  concerning  his  promise  ;” 
and  that  44  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  comeP  This  coming  is  to  be 
44  as  a thief  in  the  night,”  that  is,  when  they  least  expect  it.3 

Ho  wonder  there  should  have  been  scoffers — as  this  writer  calls 
them — the  generation  which  was  not  to  have  passed  away  before 
his  coming,  had  passed  away ; all  those  who  stood  there  had  been 
dead  many  years ; the  sun  had  not  yet  been  darkened  ; the  stars 
were  still  in  the  heavens,  and  the  moon  still  continued  to  reflect 
light.  Hone  of  the  predictions  had  yet  been  fulfilled. 

Some  of  the  early  Christian  Fathers  have  tried  to  account  for 
the  words  of  Jesus,  where  he  says:  44  Yerily  I say  unto  you,  there 
be  some  standing  here  which  shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they  see 
the  Son  of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom,”  by  saying  that  he  referred 
to  John  only,  and  that  that  Apostle  was  not  dead,  but  sleeping. 
This  fictitious  story  is  related  by  Saint  Augustin,  44  from  the  re- 
port,” as  he  says,  44  of  credible  persons,”  and  is  to  the  effect  that : 

“ At  Ephesus,  where  St.  John  the  Apostle  lay  buried,  he  was  not  believed  to 
be  dead,  but  to  be  sleeping  only  in  the  grave,  which  he  had  provided  for  himself 
till  our  Saviour’s  second  coming:  in  proof  of  which,  they  affirm,  that  the  earth, 
under  which  he  lay,  was  seen  to  heave  up  and  down  perpetually,  in  conformity 
to  the  motion  of  his  body,  in  the  act  of  breathing.”4 

This  story  clearly  illustrates  the  stupid  credulity  and  superstition 
of  the  primitive  age  of  the  church,  and  the  faculty  of  imposing  any 
fictions  upon  the  people,  which  their  leaders  saw  fit  to  inculcate. 

The  doctrine  of  the  millennium  designates  a certain  period  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  lasting  for  a long,  indefinite  space  (vaguely 
a thousand  years , as  the  word 44  millennium  ” implies)  during  which 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  Jesus  will  be  visibly  established  on  the  earth. 
The  idea  undoubtedly  originated  proximately  in  the  Messianic  ex- 


1 Towards  the  close  of  the  second  century.  » II.  Peter,  iii.  4.  3 II.  Peter,  iii.  8-10. 

(See  Bible  of  To-Day.)  4 gee  Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  188. 


236 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


pectation  of  the  Jews  (as  Jesus  did  not  sit  on  the  throne  of  David 
and  become  an  earthly  ruler,  it  must  be  that  he  is  coming  again  for 
this  purpose),  but  more  remotely  in  the  Pagan  doctrine  of  the  final 
triumph  of  the  several  “ Christs  ” over  their  adversaries. 

In  the  first  century  of  the  Church,  millenarianism  was  a whis- 
pered  belief,  to  which  the  book  of  Daniel,  and  more  particularly  the 
predictions  of  the  Apocalypse1  gave  an  apostolical  authority,  but, 
when  the  church  imbibed  Paganism , their  belief  on  this  subject 
lent  it  a more  vivid  coloring  and  imagery. 

The  unanimity  which  the  early  Christian  teachers  exhibit  in 
regard  to  millenarianism , proves  how  strongly  it  had  laid  hold  of 
the  imagination  of  the  Church,  to  which,  in  this  early  stage,  immor- 
tality and  future  rewards  were  to  a great  extent  things  of  this  world 
as  yet.  Not  only  did  Cerinthus,  but  even  the  orthodox  doctors — 
such  as  Papias  (Bishop  of  Hierapolis),  Irenaeus,  Justin  Martyr  and 
others — delighted  themselves  with  dreams  of  the  glory  and  magnifi- 
cence of  the  millennial  kingdom.  Papias,  in  his  collection  of 
traditional  sayings  of  Christ  Jesus,  indulges  in  the  most  monstrous 
representations  of  the  re-building  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  colossal 
vines  and  grapes  of  the  millennial  reign. 

According  to  the  general  opinion,  the  millennium  was  to  be 
preceded  by  great  calamities,  after  which  the  Messiah,  Christ  Jesus, 
would  appear,  and  would  bind  Satan  for  a thousand  years,  annihilate 
the  godless  heathen,  or  make  them  slaves  of  the  believers,  overturn 
the  Roman  empire,  from  the  ruins  of  which  a new  order  of  things 
would  spring  forth,  in  which  “ the  dead  in  Christ  ” would  rise,  and 
along  with  the  surviving  saints  enjoy  an  incomparable  felicity  in 
the  city  of  the  “New  Jerusalem.”  Finally,  all  nations  would  bend 
their  knee  to  him , and  acknowledge  him  only  to  be  the  Christ — his 
religion  would  reign  supreme.  This  is  the  “ Golden  Age  ” of  the 
future,  which  all  nations  of  antiquity  believed  in  and  looked  for- 
ward to. 

We  will  first  turn  to  India , and  shall  there  find  that  the  Hin- 
doos believed  their  “ Saviour ,”  or  “ Preserver”  Vishnu , who  ap- 
peared in  mortal  form  as  Crishna , is  to  come  again  in  the  latter 
days.  Their  sacred  books  declare  that  in  the  last  days,  when  the 
fixed  stars  have  all  apparently  returned  to  the  point  whence 
they  started,  at  the  beginning  of  all  things,  in  the  month  Scorpio , 
Yishnu  will  appear  among  mortals,  in  the  form  of  an  armed  war- 
rior, riding  a winged  white  horse  I In  one  hand  he  will  carry  a 


1 Chapters  xx.  and  xxi.  in  particular.  doo  Saviour , will  appear  “ in  the  latter  days  ” 

a The  Christian  Saviour , as  well  as  the  Hin - among  mortals  “ in  the  form  of  an  armed  war- 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


287 


scimitar,  “ blazing  like  a comet,”  to  destroy  all  the  impure  who 
shall  then  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  earth.  In  the  other  hand  he 
will  carry  a large  shining  ring,  to  signify  that  the  great  circle  of 
Yugas  (ages)  is  completed,  and  that  the  end  has  come.  At  I113 
approach  the  sun  and  moon  will  be  darkened , the  earth  will  tremble , 
and  the  stars  fall  from  the  firmament.* 1 * 3 

The  Buddhists  believe  that  Buddha  has  repeatedly  assumed  a 
human  form  to  facilitate  the  reunion  of  men  with  his  own  universal 
soul,  so  they  believe  that  “ in  the  latter  days  ” he  will  come  again . 
Their  sacred  books  predict  this  coming,  and  relate  that  his  mission 
will  be  to  restore  the  world  to  order  and  happiness.9  This  is  exact- 
ly the  Christian  idea  of  the  millennium. 

The  Chinese  also  believe  that  “ in  the  latter  days  ” there  is  to  be 
a millennium  upon  earth.  Their  five  sacred  volumes  are  full  of 
prophesies  concerning  this  “Golden  Age  of  the  Future.”  It  is  the 
universal  belief  among  them  that  a “ Divine  Man  ” will  establish 
himself  on  earth,  and  everywhere  restore  peace  and  happiness.8 

The  ancient  Persians  believed  that  in  the  last  days,  there  would 
be  a millennium  on  earth,  when  the  religion  of  Zoroaster  would  be 
accepted  by  all  mankind.  The  Parsees  of  to-day,  who  are  the 
remnants  of  the  once  mighty  Persians,  have  a tradition  that  a holy 
personage  is  waiting  in  a region  called  Kanguedez,  for  a sutnmons 
from  the  Ized  Serosch,  who  in  the  last  days  will  bring  him  to  Per- 
sia, to  restore  the  ancient  dominion  of  that  country,  and  spread  the 
religion  of  Zoroaster  over  the  whole  earth.4 

The  Bev.  Joseph  B.  Gross,  in  his  “Heathen  Beligion,”5  speak- 
ing of  the  belief  of  the  ancient  Persians  in  the  millennium,  says  : 

“ The  dead  would  be  raised,*  and  he  who  has  made  all  things,  cause  the 
earth  and  the  sea  to  return  again  the  remains  of  the  departed.1  Then  Ormilzd 
shall  clothe  them  with  flesh  and  blood,  while  they  that  live  at  the  time  of  the 
resurrection,  must  die  in  order  to  likewise  participate  in  its  advantage. 

“ Before  this  momentous  event  takes  place,  three  illustrious  prophets  shall 
appear,  who  will  announce  their  presence  by  the  performance  of  miracles. 

“ During  this  period  of  its  existence,  and  till  its  final  removal,  the  earth  will 
be  afflicted  with  pestilence,  tempests,  war,  famine,  and  various  other  baneful 
calamities.  **° 


ricr,  riding  a white  horse."  St.  John  sees  this  s See  Pro?.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  209. 
in  his  vision,  and  prophecies  it  in  his  “ Revela-  4 See  Ibid.  p.  279.  The  Angel-Messiah,  p. 

tion  ” thus  : “ And  I saw,  and  behold  a white  287,  and  chap.  xiii.  this  work. 

horse : and  he  that  sat  on  him  had  a bow  ; 6 Pp.  122,  123. 

and  a crown  was  given  unto  him  : and  he  went  6 “ And  I saw  the  dead,  small  and  great, 

forth  conquering,  and  to  conquer.”  (Rev.  vi.  2.)  stand  before  God.”  (Rev.  xx.  12.) 

1 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  L p.  75.  Hie't.  7 “ And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which 

Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  pp.  497-503.  See  also,  Wil*  were  in  it.”  (Rev.  xx.  13.) 
liams  : Hinduism,  p.  108.  8 “ And  ye  shall  hear  of  wars,  and  rumors  of 

3 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  i.  247,  and  Bunsen’s  ' wars.”  “ Nation  shall  rise  against  nation,  and 

Angel-Messiah,  p.  43. 


238 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 

“ After  the  resurrection,  eve? y one  will  he  apprised  of  the  good  or  evii 
which  he  may  have  done,  and  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  will  be  separated 
from  each  other. 1 Those  of  the  latter  whose  offenses  have  not  yet  been  expiated, 
will  be  cast  into  hell  during  the  term  of  three  days  and  three  nights,2  in  the 
presence  of  an  assembled  world,  in  order  to  be  purified  in  the  burning  stream  of 
liquid  ore.3  After  this,  they  enjoy  endless  felicity  in  the  society  of  the  blessed, 
and  the  pernicious  empire  of  Ahriman  (the  devil),  is  fairly  exterminated.4  Even 
this  lying  spirit  will  be  under  the  necessity  to  avail  himself  of  this  fiery  ordeal, 
and  made  to  rejoice  in  its  expurgating  and  cleansing  efficacy.  Nay,  hell  itself  is 
purged  of  its  mephitic  impurities,  and  washed  clean  in  the  flames  of  a universal 
regeneration.5 

“ The  earth  is  now  the  habitation  of  bliss,  all  nature  glows  in  light;  and  the 
equitable  and  benignant  laws  of  Ormuzd  reign  supremety  through  the  illimitable 
universe.6  Finally,  after  the  resurrection,  mankind  will  recognize  each  other 
again;  wants,  cares,  and  passions  will  cease;7  and  everything  in  the  paradisian 
and  all-embracing  empire  of  light,  shall  rebound  to  the  praise  of  the  benificent 
God.”8 

The  disciples  of  Bacchus  expected  his  second  advent.  They 
hoped  he  would  assume  at  some  future  day  the  government  of  the 
universe,  and  that  he  would  restore  to  man  his  primary  felicity.9 

The  Esthonian  from  the  time  of  the  German  invasion  lived  a 
life  of  bondage  under  a foreign  yoke,  and  the  iron  of  his  slavery 
entered  into  his  soul.  He  told  how  the  ancient  hero  Kalewipoeg 
sits  in  the  realms  of  shadows,  waiting  until  his  country  is  in  it3 
extremity  of  distress,  when  he  will  return  to  earth  to  avenge  the 
injuries  of  the  Esths,  and  elevate  the  poor  crushed  people  into  a 
mighty  power.10 

The  suffering  Celt  has  his  Brian  Boroihme,  or  Arthur,  who  will 
come  again , the  first  to  inaugurate  a Fenian  millennium,  the  second 
to  regenerate  Wales.  Olger  Dansk  waits  till  the  time  arrives  when 
he  is  to  start  from  sleep  to  the  assistance  of  the  Dane  against  the 
hated  Prussian.  The  Messiah  is  to  come  and  restore  the  kingdom 


kingdom  against  kingdom,  and  there  shall  be 
famines,  pestilences,  and  earthquakes  in  divers 
places.”  (Matt.  xxiv.  6,  7.) 

1 “ And  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  na- 
tions : and  he  shall  separate  them  one  from 
another,  as  a shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from 
the  goats.  (Matt.  xxv.  32,  33.) 

2 “ He  descended  into  hell,  the  third  day  he 
rose  (again)  from  the  dead.”  (Apostles’ 
Creed.) 

2 Purgatory— a place  in  which  sonls  are 
supposed  by  the  papists  to  be  purged  by  fire 
from  carnal  impurities,  before  they  are  received 
into  heaven. 

* “ And  he  laid  hold  on  the  dragon,  that 
old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil,  and  Satan,  and 
bound  him  a thousand  years.”  (Rev.  xx.  2.) 

6  “ And  death  and  hell  were  cast  into  the 


lake  of  fire.”  (Rev.  xx.  14.) 

6 “ And  I saw  a new  heaven  and  a new 
earth  ; for  the  first  earth,  and  the  first  heaven 
were  passed  away.”  (Rev.  xxi.  1.) 

7 ‘‘‘And  God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears 
from  their  eyes  ; and  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither 
shall  there  be  any  more  pain  : for  the  former 
things  are  passed  away.”  (Rev.  xxi.  4.) 

8 “ And  after  these  things  I heard  a great 

voice  of  much  people  in  heaven,  saying,  ‘Alle- 
luia; salvation,  and  glory,  and  honor,  and 
power,  unto  the  Lord,  our  God.’  ” (Rev. 
xix.  1.)  “ For  the  Lord  God  omnipotent 

reigneth.”  (Rev.  xix.  6.) 

9 Dupuis  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief. 

10  Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  I. 
p.  407. 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


239 


of  the  Jews.  Charlemagne  was  the  Messiah  of  mediaeval  Teuton- 
dom.  He  it  was  who  founded  the  great  German  empire,  and  shed 
over  it  the  blaze  of  Christian  truth,  and  now  he  sleeps  in  the  Kyff- 
hauserberg,  waiting  till  German  heresy  has  reached  its  climax  and 
Germany  is  wasted  through  internal  conflicts,  to  rush  to  earth  once 
more,  and  revive  the  great  empire  and  restore  the  Catholic  faith.1 2 

The  ancient  Scandinavians  believed  that  in  the  “ latter  days  ” 
great  calamities  would  befall  mankind.  The  earth  would  tremble, 
and  the  stars  fall  from  heaven.  After  which,  the  great  serpent 
would  be  chained,  and  the  religion  of  Odin  would  reign  supreme.3 

The  disciples  of  Quetzalcoatle , the  Mexican  Saviour,  expected 
his  second  advent.  Before  he  departed  this  life,  he  told  the  in- 
habitants of  Cholula  that  he  would  return  again  to  govern  them.3 
This  remarkable  tradition  was  so  deeply  cherished  in  their  hearts, 
says  Mr.  Prescott  in  his  “ Conquest  of  Mexico,”  that  “ the  Mexicans 
looked  confidently  to  the  return  of  their  benevolent  deity.”4 

So  implicitly  was  this  believed  by  the  subjects,  that  when  the 
Spaniards  appeared  on  the  coast,  they  were  joyfully  hailed  as  the 
returning  god  and  his  companions.  Montezuma’s  messengers  re- 
ported to  the  Inca  that  “ it  was  Quetzalcoatle  who  was  coming, 
bringing  his  temples  (ships)  with  him.”  All  throughout  Hew 
Spain  they  expected  the  reappearance  of  this  “ Son  of  the  Great 
God  ” into  the  world,  who  would  renew  all  things.5 

Acosta  alludes  to  this,  in  his  “ History  of  the  Indies,”  as  fol- 
lows : 

“In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1518,  they  (the  Mexicans),  discovered  a fleet  at 
sea,  in  the  which  was  the  Marques  del  Yalle,  Don  Fernando  Cortez,  with  his  com- 
panions, a news  which  much  troubled  Montezuma,  and  conferring  with  his 
council,  they  all  said,  that  without  doubt,  their  great  and  ancient  lord  Quetzal- 
coatle was  come,  who  had  said  that  he  would  return  from  the  East,  whither  he 
had  gone.”6 

The  doctrine  of  the  millennium  and  the  second  advent  of  Christ 
Jesus,  has  been  a very  important  one  in  the  Christian  church.  The 
ancient  Christians  were  animated  by  a contempt  for  their  present 
existence,  and  by  a just  confidence  of  immortality,  of  which  the 
doubtful  and  imperfect  faith  of  modern  ages  cannot  give  us  any 
adequate  notion.  In  the  primitive  church,  the  influence  of  truth 
was  powerfully  strengthened  by  an  opinion,  which,  however  much 
it  may  deserve  respect  for  its  usefulness  and  antiquity,  has  not  been 


1 Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i. 
p.  407. 

2 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities. 

3 Humboldt : Amer.  Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  91. 


4  Prescott : Con.  of  Mexico,  vol.  i.  p.  60. 

6 Fergusson  : Tree  and  Serpent  Worstip,  p. 
37.  Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  187, 

6 Acosta  : Hist.  Indies,  vol.  ii.p.  513. 


240 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


found  agreeable  to  experience.  It  was  universally  believed , that 
the  end  of  the  world  and  thekvngdom  of  heaven  were  at  hand } The 
near  approach  of  this  wonderful  event  had  been  predicted,  as  we 
have  seen,  by  the  Apostles  ; the  tradition  of  it  was  preserved  by 
their  earliest  disciples,  and  those  who  believed  that  the  discourses 
attributed  to  Jesus  were  really  uttered  by  him,  were  obliged  to  expect 
the  second  and  glorious  coming  of  the  “ Son  of  Man  ” in  the  clouds, 
before  that  generation  was  totally  extinguished  which  had  beheld 
his  humble  condition  upon  earth,  and  which  might  still  witness 
the  calamities  of  the  Jews  under  Yespasian  or  Hadrian.  The  revolu- 
tion of  seventeen  centuries  has  instructed  us  not  to  press  too  closely 
the  mysterious  language  of  prophecy  and  revelation  ; but  as  long  as 
this  error  was  permitted  to  subsist  in  the  church,  it  was  productive 
of  the  most  salutary  effects  on  the  faith  and  practice  of  Christians, 
who  lived  in  the  awful  expectation  of  that  moment  when  the  globe 
itself  and  all  the  various  races  of  mankind,  should  tremble  at  the 
appearance  of  their  divine  judge.  This  expectation  was  counte- 
nanced— as  we  have  seen — by  the  twenty-fourth  chapter  of  St. 
Matthew,  and  by  the  first  epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Tliessalonians. 
Erasmus  (one  of  the  most  vigorous  promoters  of  the  Reformation) 
removes  the  difficulty  by  the  help  of  allegory  and  metaphor ; and 
the  learned  Grotius  (a  learned  theologian  of  the  16th  century)  ven- 
tures to  insinuate,  that,  for  wise  purposes,  the  pious  deception  was 
permitted  to  take  place. 

The  ancient  and  popular  doctrine  of  the  millennium  was  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  second  coming  of  Christ  J esus.  As  the 
works  of  the  creation  had  been  fixed  in  six  days , their  duration  in 
the  present  state,  according  to  a tradition  which  was  attributed  to 
the  prophet  Elijah,  was  fixed  to  six  thousand  years .1 2  By  the  same 
analogy  it  was  inferred,  that  this  long  period  of  labor  and  conten- 
tion, which  had  now  almost  elapsed,  would  be  succeeded  by  a joyful 
Sabbath  of  a thousand  years , and  that  Christ  Jesus,  with  the  trium- 
phant band  of  the  saints  and  the  elect  who  had  escaped  death,  or  who 
had  been  miraculously  revived,  would  reign  upon  earth  until  the  time 
appointed  for  the  last  and  general  resurrection.  So  pleasing  was  this 
hope  to  the  mind  of  the  believers,  that  the  “Hew  Jerusalem,”  the 


1 Over  all  the  Higher  Asia  there  seems  to 
have  been  diffused  an  immemorial  tradition 
relative  to  a second  grand  convulsion  of  na- 
ture, and  the  final  dissolution  of  the  earth  by 
the  terrible  agency  of  fire,  as  the  first  is  said 
to  have  been  by  that  of  water.  It  was 

taught  by  the  Hindoos,  the  Egyptians,  Plato, 
Pythagoras,  Zoroaster,  the  Stoics,  and  others, 


and  was  afterwards  adopted  by  the  Christians. 
(II.  Peter,  iii.  9.  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  pp. 
498-500.) 

2 “ And  God  made,  in  six  days,  the  works  of 
his  hands,  . . . the  meaning  of  it  is  this  ; 
that  in  six  thousand  years  the  Lord  will  bring 
all  things  to  an  end.”  (Barnabas.  Apoc.  c. 
xiii.) 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


241 


seat  of  this  blissful  kingdom,  was  quickly  adorned  with  all  the  gay- 
est colors  of  the  imagination.  A felicity  consisting  only  of  pure 
and  spiritual  pleasure  would  have  been  too  refined  for  its  in- 
habitants, who  were  still  supposed  to  possess  their  human  nature 
and  senses.  A “ Garden  of  Eden,”  with  the  amusements  of  the 
pastoral  life,  was  no  longer  suited  to  the  advanced  state  of  society 
which  prevailed  under  the  Roman  empire.  A city  was  therefore 
erected  of  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  a supernatural  plenty  of 
corn  and  wine  was  bestowed  on  the  adjacent  territory ; in  the  free 
enjoyment  of  whose  spontaneous  productions,  the  happy  and  benev- 
olent people  were  never  to  be  restrained  by  any  jealous  laws  of  ex- 
clusive property.  Host  of  these  pictures  were  borrowed  from  a 
misrepresentation  of  Isaiah,  Daniel,  and  the  Apocalypse.  One  of 
the  grossest  images  may  be  found  in  Irenaeus  (1.  v.)  the  disciple  of 
Papias,  who  had  seen  the  Apostle  St.  John.  Though  it  might  not 
be  universally  received,  it  appears  to  have  been  the  reigning  senti- 
ment of  the  orthodox  believers ; and  it  seems  so  well  adapted  to 
the  desires  and  apprehensions  of  mankind,  that  it  must  have  con- 
tributed in  a very  considerable  degree  to  the  progress  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith.  But  when  the  edifice  of  the  church  was  almost  com- 
pleted, the  temporary  support  was  laid  aside.  The  doctrine  of 
Christ  Jesus’  reign  upon  earth  was  at  first  treated  as  a profound 
allegory , was  considered  by  degrees  as  a doubtful  and  useless  opin- 
ion, and  was  at  length  rejected  as  the  absurd  invention  of  heresy 
and  fanaticism.  But  although  this  doctrine  had  been  “ laid  aside,” 
and  “ rejected,”  it  was  again  resurrected,  and  is  alive  and  rife  at 
the  present  day,  even  among  those  who  stand  as  the  leaders  of  the 
orthodox  faith. 

The  expectation  of  the  “ last  day  ” in  the  year  1000  a.  d.,  rein- 
vested the  doctrine  with  a transitory  importance ; but  it  lost  all 
credit  again  when  the  hopes  so  keenly  excited  by  the  crusades 
faded  away  before  the  stern  reality  of  Saracenic  success,  and  the 
predictions  of  the  “ Everlasting  Gospel,”  a work  of  Joachim  de 
Eloris,  a Franciscan  abbot,  remained  unfulfilled.1 

At  the  period  of  the  Reformation , millenarianism  once  more 
experienced  a partial  revival,  because  it  was  not  a difficult  matter 


1 After  the  devotees  and  followers  of  the 
new  gospel  had  in  vain  expected  the  Holy 
One  who  was  to  come,  they  at  last  pitched 
upon  St.  Francis  as  having  been  the  expected 
one,  and,  of  course,  the  most  surprising  and 
absurd  miracles  were  said  to  have  been  per- 
formed by  him.  Some  of  the  fanatics  who 
believed  in  this  man,  maintained  that  St. 

16 


Francis  was  “ wholly  and  entirely  transformed 
into  the  person  of  Christ  ” — Totum  Christo 
configuratum.  Some  of  them  maintained  that 
the  gospel  of  Joachim  was  expressly  prefer- 
red to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  (Mosheim  : Hist. 
Cent.,  xiii.  pt.  ii.  sects,  xxxiv.  and  xxxvi. 
Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  695,) 


242 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


to  apply  some  of  its  symbolism  to  the  papacy.  The  Pope,  for  ex- 
ample, was  Antichrist — a belief  still  adhered  to  by  some  extreme 
Protestants.  Yet  the  doctrine  was  not  adopted  by  the  great  body 
of  the  reformers,  but  by  some  fanatical  sects,  such  as  the  Anabaptists, 
and  by  the  Theosophists  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

During  the  civil  and  religious  wars  in  France  and  England, 
when  great  excitement  prevailed,  it  was  also  prominent.  The 
“ Fifth  Monarchy  Men  ” of  Cromwell’s  time  were  millenarians  of  the 
most  exaggerated  and  dangerous  sort.  Their  peculiar  tenet  was  that 
the  millennium  had  come,  and  that  they  were  the  saints  who  were 
to  inherit  the  earth.  The  excesses  of  the  French  Roman  Catholic 
Mystics  and  Quietists  terminated  in  chiliastic 1 views.  Among  the 
Protestants  it  was  during  the  “ Thirty  Years’  War  ” that  the  most  en- 
thusiastic and  learned  chiliasts  flourished.  The  awful  suffering  and 
wide-spread  desolation  of  that  time  led  pious  hearts  to  solace  them- 
selves with  the  hope  of  a peaceful  and  glorious  future.  Since  then 
the  pencha/nt  which  has  sprung  up  for  expounding  the  prophetical 
books  of  the  Bible,  and  particularly  the  Apocalypse,  with  a view  to 
present  events,  has  given  the  doctrine  a faint  semi-theological  life, 
very  different,  however,  from  the  earnest  faith  of  the  first  Christians. 

Among  the  foremost  chiliastic  teachers  of  modern  centuries  are 
to  be  mentioned  Ezechiel  Meth,  Paul  Felgenhauer,  Bishop  Co- 
menius,  Professor  Jurien,  Seraris,  Poiret,  J.  Mede ; while  Thomas 
Burnet  and  William  Whiston  endeavored  to  give  chiliasm  a geolog- 
ical foundation,  but  without  finding  much  favor.  Latterly,  es- 
pecially since  the  rise  and  extension  of  missionary  enterprise,  the 
opinion  has  obtained  a wide  currency,  that  after  the  conversion  of 
the  whole  world  to  Christianity,  a blissful  and  glorious  era  will  en- 
sue ; but  not  much  stress — except  by  extreme  literalists — is  now 
laid  on  the  nature  or  duration  of  this  far-off  felicity. 

Great  eagerness,  and  not  a little  ingenuity  have  been  exhibited 
by  many  persons  in  fixing  a date  for  the  commencement  of  the 
millennium.  The  celebrated  theologian,  Johann  Albrecht  Bengel, 
who,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  revived  an  earnest  interest  in  the 
subject  amongst  orthodox  Protestants,  asserted  from  a study  of  the 
prophecies  that  the  millennium  would  begin  in  1836.  This  date 
was  long  popular.  Swedenborg  held  that  the  last  judgment  took 
place  in  1757,  and  that  the  new  church,  or  “ Church  of  the  New 
Jerusalem ,”  as  his  followers  designate  themselves — in  other  words, 
the  millennial  era — then  began. 


1 Chiliasm— the  thousand  years  when  Satan  is  bound. 


THE  SECOND  COMING  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


243 


In  America,  considerable  agitation  was  excited  by  the  prea  ching 
of  one  William  Miller,  who  fixed  the  second  advent  of  Christ 
Jesus  about  1843.  Of  late  years,  the  most  noted  English  millen- 
arian  was  Dr.  John  Cumming,  who  placed  the  end  of  the  present 
dispensation  in  1866  or  1867  ; but  as  that  time  passed  without 
any  millennial  symptoms,  he  modified  his  original  views  consider- 
ably, before  he  died,  and  conjectured  that  the  beginning  of 
the  millennium  would  not  differ  so  much  after  all  from  the 
years  immediately  preceding  it,  as  people  commonly  suppose. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


CHRIST  JESUS  AS  JUDGE  OF  THE  DEAD. 

According  to  Christian  dogma,  “ God  the  Father  ” is  not  to  be 
the  judge  at  the  last  day,  but  this  very  important  office  is  to  be 
held  by  “ God  the  Son.  ” This  is  taught  by  the  writer  of  “ The 
Gospel  according  to  St.  John” — whoever  he  may  have  been — 
when  he  says : 

“For  the  Father  judgeth  no  man,  but  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the 
Son”1 

Paul  also,  in  his  “ Epistle  to  the  Romans  ” (or  some  other  person 
who  has  interpolated  the  passage),  tells  us  that : 

“In  the  day  when  Grod  shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men,”  this  judgment  shall 
be  done  “by  Jesus  Christ”  his  son.2 3 

Again,  in  his  “ Epistle  to  Timothy,”8  he  says : 

“ The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead,  at  his  appearing 
and  his  kingdom.”4 

The  writer  of  the  “ Gospel  according  to  St.  Matthew,”  also  de- 
scribes Christ  Jesus  as  judge  at  the  last  day.6 

How,  the  question  arises,  is  this  doctrine  original  with  Chris- 
tianity f To  this  we  must  answer  no.  It  was  taught,  for  ages  be- 
fore the  time  of  Christ  Jesus  or  Christianity,  that  the  Supreme 
Being — whether  “Brahma,”  “Zeruane  Akerene,”  “Jupiter,” 
or  “Yahweh,”6 — was  not  to  be  the  judge  at  the  last  day,  but  that 
their  sons  were  to  hold  this  position. 

The  sectarians  of  Buddha  taught  that  he  (who  was  the  Son  of 
God  (Brahma)  and  the  Holy  Virgin  Maya),  is  to  be  the  judge  of  the 
dead.7 


1 John,  v.  22. 

2 Romans,  ii.  16. 

3 Not  authentic.  (See  The  Bible  of  To-Day, 

p.  212.) 

4 II.  Timothy,  iv.  1. 

[244] 


6 Matt.  xxv.  31-46. 

6 Through  an  error  we  pronounce  this 
name  Jehovah. 

7 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Relief,  p 
366. 


CHRIST  JESUS  AS  JUDGE  OF  THE  DEAD. 


245 


According  to  the  religion  of  the  Hindoos,  Crishna  (who  was 
the  Son  of  God , and  the  Holy  Virgin  Devaki),  is  to  be  the  judge 
at  the  last  day.1 *  And  Yama  is  the  god  of  the  departed  spirits, 
and  the  judge  of  the  dead,  according  to  the  Vedas? 

Osiris , the  Egyptian  “ Saviour  ” and  son  of  the  “ Immaculate 
Virgin  ” Keith  or  Nout,  was  believed  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  to 
be  the  judge  of  the  dead.3  He  is  represented  on  Egyptian  monu- 
ments, seated  on  his  throne  of  judgment,  bearing  a staff,  and  car- 
rying the  crux  ansata , or  cross  with  a handle.4  St.  Andrew's 
cross  is  upon  his  breast.  His  throne  is  in  checkers,  to  denote  the 
good  and  evil  over  which  he  presides,  or  to  indicate  the  good  and 
evil  who  appear  before  him  as  the  judge.”5 * 

Among  the  many  hieroglyphic  titles  which  accompany  his  figure 
in  these  sculptures,  and  in  many  other  places  on  the  walls  of  tem- 
ples and  tombs, are  “Lord of  Life,”  “ The  Eternal  Ruler,”  “Mani- 
fester  of  Good,”  “Revealer  of  Truth,”  “Full  of  Goodness  and 
Truth,”  &c.8 

Mr.  Bonwick,  speaking  of  the  Egyptian  belief  in  the  last  judg- 
ment, says : 

“ A perusal  of  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew  will  prepare  the  reader 
for  the  investigation  of  the  Egyptian  notion  of  the  last  judgment.”7 

Prof.  Carpenter,  referring  to  the  Egyptian  Bible — which  is  by 
far  the  most  ancient  of  all  holy  books8 — says : 

“ In  the  ‘ Book  of  the  Dead,’  there  are  used  the  very  phrases  we  find  in  the 
New  Testament,  in  connection  with  the  day  of  judgment”9 

According  to  the  religion  of  the  Persians,  it  is  Ormuzd , uThe 
First  Born  of  the  Eternal  One”  who  is  judge  of  the  dead.  He 
had  the  title  of  “The  All-Seeing,”  and  “The  Just  Judge.”10 

Zeruane  Akerene  is  the  name  of  him  who  corresponds  to  “ God 
the  Father”  among  other  nations.  He  was  the  “ One  Supreme 
essence,”  the  “Invisible  and  Incomprehensible.”11 

Among  the  ancient  Greeks , it  was  Aeacus — Son  of  the  Most 
High  God — who  was  to  be  judge  of  the  dead.13 

The  Christian  Emperor  Constantine,  in  his  oration  to  the  clergy, 
speaking  of  the  ancient  poets  of  Greece,  says : 


1 See  Samuel  Johnson’s  Oriental  Religions, 

p.  504. 

3 See  Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  25. 

3 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  120. 

Renouf  : Religions  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians, 

p.  110,  and  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  152. 

* See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  151, 

and  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  152. 


6 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  151. 
8 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  154.' 

7 Egyptian  Belief,  p.  419. 

8 See  Ibid.  p.  185. 

9 Quoted  in  Ibid.  p.  419. 

10  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  259. 

“ Ibid.  p.  258. 

13  See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  16. 


246 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“They  affirm  that  men  who  are  the  sons  of  the  gods,  do  judge  departed 
souls.”1 * 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  “ there  are  no  examples  of  Christ 
Jesns  conceived  as  judge,  or  the  last  judgment,  in  the  early  art 
of  Christianity.”3 

The  author  from  whom  we  quote  the  above,  says,  “ It  would  be 
difficult  to  define  the  cause  of  this,  though  many  may  be  con- 
jectured.” 

Would  it  be  unreasonable  to  “ conjecture”  that  the  eaHy  Chris- 
tians did  not  teach  this  doctrine,  but  that  it  was  imbibed,  in  after 
years,  with  many  other  heathen  ideas  ? 


1 Constantine’s  Oration  to  the  Clergy,  ch.  x.  vol.  ii.  p.  392. 

* Jameson : History  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,  • Ibid. 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 


CHRIST  JESUS  AS  CREATOR,  AND  ALPHA  AND  OMEGA. 

Christian  dogma  also  teaches  that  it  was  not  “ God  the  Father/’ 
but  “ God  the  Son  ” who  created  the  heavens,  the  earth,  and  all 
that  therein  is. 

The  writer  of  the  fourth  Gospel  says : 

“ All  things  were  made  by  him , and  without  him  was  not  anything  made  that 
was  made.”1 

Again : 

“ He  was  in  the  world  and  the  world  was  made  by  him,  and  the  world  knew 
him  not.”2 * 

In  the  “ Epistle  to  the  Colossians,”  we  read  that : 

“ By  him  were  all  things  created  that  are  in  heaven,  and  that  are  in  earth, 
visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or 
powers;  all  things  were  created  by  him . ** 

Again,  in  the  “ Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,”  we  are  told  that : 

“ God  hath  spoken  unto  us  by  his  son,  whom  he  hath  appointed  heir  of  all 
things,  by  whom  also  he  made  the  world.  ”4 * 

Samuel  Johnson,  D.  O.  Allen,6  and  Thomas  Maurice,®  tell  us 
that,  according  to  the  religion  of  the  Hindoos , it  is  Crishna , the 
Son,  and  the  second  person  in  the  ever-blessed  Trinity,7  “ who  is  the 
origin  and  end  of  all  the  worlds ; all  this  universe  came  into  being 
through  him , the  eternal  maker .”* 

In  the  holy  book  of  the  Hindoos,  called  the  “ Bhagvat  Geela]- 
may  be  found  the  following  words  of  Crishna , addressed  to  his 
“ beloved  disciple  ” Ar-jouan  : 

“lam  the  Lord  of  all  created  beings.”*  “ Mankind  was  created  by  me  of  four 
kinds,  distinct  in  their  principles,  and  in  their  duties;  know  me  then  to  be  the 
Creator  of  mankind,  uncreated,  and  without  decay.”10 


1 John,  i.  3.  6 Indian  Antiq.,  vol.  ii.  p.  288. 

9 John,  i.  10.  7 See  the  chapter  on  the  Trinity. 

* Colossians,  i.  • Oriental  Religions,  p.  602. 

4 Hebrews,  i.  2.  * Lecture  iv.  p.  61, 

* Allen’s  India,  pp.  137  and  380.  Geeta,  p.  52. 


247 


248 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


In  Lecture  VII.,  entitled : “ Of  the  Principles  of  Nature,  and  the 
Yital  Spirit,”  he  also  says  : 

“lam  the  creation  and  the  dissolution  of  the  whole  universe.  There  is  not 
anything  greater  than  I,  and  all  things  hang  on  me.” 

Again,  in  Lecture  IX.,  entitled,  “ Of  the  Chief  of  Secrets  and 
Prince  of  Science,”  Crishna  says : 

“ The  whole  world  was  spread  abroad  by  me  in  my  invisible  form.  All 
things  are  dependent  on  me.”  “ I am  the  Father  and  the  Mother  of  this  world, 
the  Grandsire  and  the  Preserver.  I am  the  Holy  One  worthy  to  be  known;  the 
mystic  figure  OM. 1 ...  I am  the  journey  of  the  good;  the  Comforter / 

the  Creator ; the  Witness;  the  Resting-place ; the  Asylum  and  the  Friend”* 

In  Lecture  X.,  entitled,  “ Of  the  diversity  of  the  Divine  Nature,” 
he  says : 

“ I am  the  Creator  of  all  things,  and  all  things  proceed  from  me.  Those 
who  are  endued  with  spiritual  wisdom,  believe  this  and  worship  me;  their  very 
hearts  and  minds  are  in  me;  they  rejoice  amongst  themselves,  and  delight  in 
speaking  of  my  name,  and  teaching  one  another  my  doctrine.”3 

Innumerable  texts,  similar  to  these,  might  be  produced  from  the 
Hindoo  Scriptures,  but  these  we  deem  sufficient  to  show,  in  the 
words  of  Samuel  Johnson  quoted  above,  that,  “ According  to  the 
religion  of  the  Hindoos,  it  is  Crishna  who  is  the  origin  and  the  end 
of  all  the  worlds ;”  and  that  “ all  this  universe  came  into  being 
through  him,  the  Eternal  Maker.”  The  Chinese  believed  in  One 
Supreme  God,  to  whose  honor  they  burnt  incense,  but  of  whom  they 
had  no  image.  This  “ God  the  Father  ” was  not  the  Creator,  ac- 
cording to  their  theology  or  mythology;  but  they  had  another  god, 
of  whom  they  had  statues  or  idols,  called  Natiqai,  who  was  the 
god  of  allterrestrial  things  ; in  fact,  God,  the  Creator  of  this  world 
— inferior  or  subordinate  to  the  Supreme  Being — from  whom  they 
petition  for  fine  weather,  or  whatever  else  they  want — a sort  of 
mediator .4 

Lanthu , who  was  born  of  a “ pure,  spotless  virgin,”  is  believed 
by  his  followers  or  disciples  to  be  the  Creator  of  all  things  ;5  and 
Taou , a deified  hero,  who  is  mentioned  about  560  b.  c.,  is  believed 
by  some  sects  and  affirmed  by  their  books,  to  be  “ the  original  source 
and  first  productive  cause  of  all  things.”6 

In  the  Chaldean  oracles,  the  doctrine  of  the  “ Only  Begotten 
Son,”  I A O,  as  Creator , is  plainly  taught. 


1 O.  M.  or  A.  U.  M.  is  the  Hindoo  ineffable 1  2 Geeta,  p.  80. 

name  ; the  mystic  emblem  of  the  deity.  It  is  3 Geeta,  p.  84. 

never  uttered  aloud,  but  only  mentally  by  the  4 See  Higgins  : Anacaiypsts,  vol  i.  p.  48. 
devout.  It  signifies  Brahma,  Viehnou,  and  6 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  35. 

Siva,  the  Hindoo  Trinity.  (See  Charles  Wilkes  6 See  Davis  : Hist.  China,  vol.  ii.  pp.  109  and 

in  Geeta,  p.  142,  and  King’s  Gnostics  and  their  113,  and  Thornton,  vol.  i.  p.  137. 

Remains,  p.  163.) 


CHRIST  JESUS  AS  CREATOR. 


249 


According  to  ancient  Persian  mythology,  there  is  one  supreme 
essence,  invisible  and  incomprehensible,  named  “ Zerucme  AJce- 
rene ,”  which  signifies  “ unlimited  time,”  or  “ the  eternal.”  From 
him  emanated  Ormuzd , the  “ King  of  Light,”  the  “ First-born  of  the 
Eternal  One,”  &c.  Kow,  this  “ First-born  of  the  Eternal  One  ” is 
he  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  all  things  came  into  being 
through  him  ; he  is  the  Creator.1 

A large  portion  of  the  Zend-Avesta — the  Persian  Sacred  Book  or 
Bible — is  filled  with  prayers  to  Ormuzd,  God’s  First-Born.  The 
following  are  samples : 

"I  address  my  prayer  to  Ormuzd,  Creator  of  all  things;  who  always  has 
been,  who  is,  and  who  will  be  forever;  who  is  wise  and  powerful;  who  made 
the  great  arch  of  heaven,  the  sun,  the  moon,  stars,  winds,  clouds,  waters,  earth, 
fire,  trees,  animals  and  men,  whom  Zoroaster  adored.  Zoroaster,  who  brought 
to  the  world  knowledge  of  the  law,  who  knew  by  natural  intelligence,  and  by 
the  ear,  what  ought  to  be  done,  all  that  has  been,  all  that  is,  and  all  that  will  be ; 
the  science  of  sciences,  the  excellent  word , by  which  souls  pass  the  luminous  and 
radiant  bridge,  separate  themselves  from  the  evil  regions,  and  go  to  light  and 
holy  dwellings,  full  of  fragrance.  0 Creator,  I obey  thy  laws,  I think,  act,  speak, 
according  to  thy  orders.  I separate  myself  from  all  sin.  I do  good  works 
according  to  my  power.  I adore  thee  with  purity  of  thought,  word,  and  action. 
I pray  to  Ormuzd,  who  recompenses  good  works,  who  delivers  unto  the  end  all 
those  who  obey  his  laws.  Grant  that  I may  arrive  at  paradise,  where  all  is  fra- 
grance, light,  and  happiness.”2 * 

According  to  the  religion  of  the  ancient  Assyrians,  it  was  Na/r- 
duk , the  Logos,  the  word,  “ the  eldest  son  of  Hea,”  “ the  Merciful 
One,”  “ the  Life-giver,”  &c.,  who  created  the  heavens,  the  earth,  and 
all  that  therein  is.8 

Adonis , the  Lord  and  Saviour,  was  believed  to  be  the  Creator  of 
men,  and  god  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.4 * 

Prometheus , the  Crucified  Saviour,  is  the  divine  forethought, 
existing  before  the  souls  of  men,  and  the  creator  Hominium.6 

The  writer  of  “ The  Gospel  according  to  St.  John,”  has  made 
Christ  Jesus  co-eternal  with  God,  as  well  as  Creator,  in  these  words  : 

“In  the  beginning  was  the  Word , and  the  Word  was  with  God.”  “The 
same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.”6 

Again,  in  praying  to  his  Father,  he  makes  Jesus  say : 

“ And  now,  O Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory 
which  1 had  with  thee  before  the  world  was.  ”7 


1 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  259.  In 

the  most  ancient  parts  of  the  Zend-Avesta, 

Ormuzd  is  said  to  have  created  the  world  by 

his  word.  (See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p. 

104,  and  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  302,  Note 

by  Guizot.)  In  the  beginning  was  the  word, 

and  the  word  was  with  God,  and  the  word  was 

God.”  (John,  i.  1.) 


a Quoted  in  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p. 
267. 

3 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  404. 

4 See  Dunlap’s  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  156. 

8 See  Ibid.  p.  156,  and  Bulflnch,  Age  of 
Fable. 

« John,  i.  1,  2. 

7 John,  xvii.  6. 


2 50 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Paul  is  made  to  say  : 

“ And  he  (Christ)  is  before  all  things.”1 

Again : 

“ Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.”8 

St.  John  the  Divine,  in  his  “ Revelation,”  has  made  Christ 
Jesus  say : 

“lam  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end” — “which  is,  and 
which  was,  and  which  is  to  come,  the  Almighty,”3  “ the  first  and  the  last.”4 

Hindoo  scripture  also  makes  Crishna  “ the  first  and  the  last,” 
“ the  beginning  and  the  end.”  We  read  in  the  “ Geeta,”  where 
Crishna  is  reported  to  have  said  : 

“I  myself  never  was  not.”5  “Learn  that  he  by  whom  all  things  were 
formed”  (meaniug  himself)  “is  incorruptible.”6  “I  am  eternity  and  non- 
eternity.  “ I am  before  all  things,  and  the  mighty  ruler  of  the  universe.  ”8  “ I 
am  the  beginning,  the  middle  and  the  end  of  all  things.  ”8 

Arjouan,  his  disciple,  addresses  him  thus : 

“ Thou  art  the  Supremo  Being,  incorruptible,  worthy  to  be  known;  thou  art 
prime  supporter  of  the  universal  orb;  thou  art  the  never-failing  and  eternal 
guardian  of  religion;  thou  art  from  all  beginning,  and  I esteem  thee.”10  Thou 
art  “ the  Divine  Being,  before  all  other  gods.”11 

Again  he  says : 

“ Reverence  ! Reverence  be  unto  thee,  before  and  behind  I Reverence  be 
unto  thee  on  all  sides,  O thou  who  art  all  in  all  1 Infinite  in  thy  power  and  thy 
glory  1 Thou  includest  all  things,  wherefore  thou  art  all  things.”18 

In  another  Holy  Book  of  the  Hindoos,  called  the  “ Vishnu 
Purana,”  we  also  read  that  Vishnu — in  the  form  of  Crishna — 
“ who  descended  into  the  womb  of  the  (virgin)  Devaki,  and  was 
born  as  her  son”  was  “ without  beginning , middle  or  end”13 

Bvddha  is  also  Alpha  and  Omega,  without  beginning  or  end, 
“The  Lord,”  “the  Possessor  of  All,”  “He  who  is  Omnipotent  and" 
Everlastingly  to  be  Contemplated,”  “the  Supreme  Being,  the 
Eternal  One.”14 

Lao-hiun , the  Chinese  virgin-born  God,  who  came  upon  earth 
about  six  hundred  years  before  Jesus,  was  without  beginning.  It 
was  said  that  he  had  existed  from  all  eternity.14 


* Col.  i.  17. 

2 Hebrews,  xiii.  8. 

* Rev.  i.  8,  22,  13. 

« Rev.  i.  17 ; xii.  13. 

• Geeta,  p.  35.  v 

• Geeta,  p.  36. 

1 Lecturo  ix.  p.  80. 

8 Lecturo  x.  p.  83. 


0 Lecture  x.  p.  85. 
i°  Lecture  ix.  p.  91- 

11  Lecture  x.  p.  84. 

*2  Lecture  x\.  p.  95. 

*3  See  Vishnu  Purana,  pr  440. 

>3  See  chapter  xii. 

»»  See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol. !.  p.  2001 


CHRIST  JESUS  AS  CREATOR. 


251 


The  legends  of  the  Taou-tsze  sect  in  China  declare  their 
founder  to  have  existed  antecedent  to  the  birth  of  the  elements,  in 
the  Great  Absolute ; that  he  is  the  “ pure  essence  of  the  teen  /” 
that  he  is  the  original  ancestor  of  the  prime  breath  of  life  ; that  he 
gave  form  to  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  caused  creations  and 
annihilations  to  succeed  each  other,  in  an  endless  series,  during  in- 
numerable periods  of  the  world.  He  himself  is  made  to  say : 

“ I was  in  existence  prior  to  the  manifestation  of  any  corporeal  shape;  I ap 
peared  anterior  to  the  supreme  being,  or  first  motion  of  creation.”1 2 

According  to  the  Zend  Avesta , Ormuzd,  the  lirst-born  of  the 
Eternal  One,  is  he  “ who  is,  always  has  been,  and  who  will  be  for- 
ever.”8 

Zeus  was  Alpha  and  Omega.  An  Orphic  line  runs  thus  : 

“Zeus  is  the  beginning,  Zeus  the  middle,  out  of  Zeus  all  things  have  been 
made.”3 

Bacchus  was  without  beginning  or  end.  An  inscription  on  an 
ancient  medal,  referring  to  him,  reads  thus : 

“ It  is  I who  leads  you;  it  is  I who  protects  you,  and  who  saves  you.  I am 
Alpha  and  Omega.” 

Beneath  this  inscription  is  a serpent  with  his  tail  in  his  mouth, 
thus  forming  a circle , which  was  an  emblem  of  eternity  among  the 
ancients.4 * * * 

Without  enumerating  them,  we  may  say  that  the  majority  of 
the  virgin-born  gods  spoken  of  in  Chapter  XII.  were  like  Christ 
Jesus — without  beginning  or  end — and  that  many  of  them  were 
considered  Creators  of  all  things.  This  has  led  M.  Dridon  to 
remark  (in  his  Hist,  de  Dieu),  that  .in  early  works  of  art , Christ 
Jesus  is  made  to  take  the  place  of  his  Father  in  creation  and  in 
similar  labors,  just  as  in  heathen  religions  an  inferior  deity  does 
the  work  under  a superior  one. 


1 Thornton  : Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  p.  137. 

2 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  ii.  p.  267. 

* Muller’s  Chips,  vol.  ii.  p.  15. 

4 “ C’est  moi  qui  vous  condnis,  vous  ettont 

ce  qui  vous  regarde.  C’est  moi,  qui  vous  con- 

serve, ou  qui  vous  sauve.  Je  suis  Alpha  et 

Omega.  II  y a au  dessous  de  l’inscription  un 
serpent  qui  tient  sa  queue  dans  sa  gueule  et 

dans  la  cercle  qu’il  decrit,  cest  trois  lettre 


Greques  THE,  qui  sont  le  nombre  365.  Le  ser- 
pent, qui  est’ordinaire  unembleme  del’eternite 
est  ici  celui  de  eoleil  et  de  ses  revolutions.” 
Beausobre : Hist,  de  Manichee,  Tom.  ii. 

p.  56. 

“ I say  that  I am  immortal,  Dionysus 
(Bacchus)  son  of  Deus.”  ( Aristophanes , in 
Myst.  of  Adoni,  pp.  80  and  105.) 


CHAPTEK  XXVII. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS  AND  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHRI8TIAN8. 

The  legendary  history  of  Jesns  of  Nazareth,  contained  in  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  is  full  of  prodigies  and  wonders. 
These  alleged  prodigies,  and  the  faith  which  the  people  seem  to 
have  put  in  such  a tissue  of  falsehoods,  indicate  the  prevalent  dis- 
position of  the  people  to  believe  in  everything,  and  it  was  among 
such  a class  that  Christianity  was  propagated.  All  leaders  of  relig- 
ion had  the  reputation  of  having  performed  miracles  ; the  biogra- 
phers of  Jesus,  therefore,  not  wishing  their  Master  to  be  outdone, 
have  made  him  also  a wonder-worker,  and  a performer  of  miracles  ; 
without  them  Christianity  could  not  prosper.  Miracles  were  needed 
in  those  days,  on  all  special  occasions.  “ There  is  not  a single  his- 
torian of  antiquity,  whether  Greek  or  Latin,  who  has  not  recorded 
oracles,  prodigies,  prophecies,  and  miracles , on  the  occasion  of  some 
memorable  events,  or  revolutions  of  states  and  kingdoms.  Many  of 
these  are  attested  in  the  gravest  manner  by  the  gravest  writers,  and 
were  firmly  believed  at  the  time  by  the  people”1 

Hindoo  sacred  books  represent  Crishna , their  Saviour  and  Re- 
deemer, as  in  constant  strife  against  the  evil  spirit.  He  surmounts 
extraordinary  dangers  ; strews  his  way  with  miracles  ; raising  the 
dead,  healing  the  sick,  restoring  the  maimed,  the  deaf  and  the  blind  ; 
everywhere  supporting  the  weak  against  the  strong,  the  oppressed 
against  the  powerful.  The  people  crowded  his  way  and  adored 
him  as  a God,  and  these  miracles  were  the  evidences  of  his  divin- 
ity for  centuries  before  the  time  of  Jesus. 

The  learned  Thomas  Maurice,  speaking  of  Crishna,  tells  us  that 
he  passed  his  innocent  hours  at  the  home  of  his  foster-father,  in 
rural  diversions,  his  divine  origin  not  being  suspected,  until  repeated 
miracles  soon  discovered  his  celestial  origin  y2  and  Sir  William 
Jones  speaks  of  his  raising  the  dead , and  saving  multitudes  by  his 


1 Dr.  Conyers  Middleton  : Free  Enquiry,  p.  177. 

252 


2 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  iiL  p.  46, 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


253 


miraculous  powers.1  To  enumerate  the  miracles  of  Crishna  would 
be  useless  and  tedious ; we  shall  therefore  mention  but  a few,  of 
which  the  Hindoo  sacred  books  are  teeming. 

When  Crishna  was  born,  his  life  was  sought  by  the  reigning 
monarch,  Kansa,  who  had  the  infant  Saviour  and  his  father  and 
mother  locked  in  a dungeon,  guarded,  and  barred  by  seven  iron 
doors.  While  in  this  dungeon  the  father  heard  a secret  voice  dis- 
tinctly utter  these  words : “ Son  of  Yadu,  take  up  this  child  and 
carry  it  to  Gokool,  to  the  house  of  Handa.”  Yasudeva,  struck  with 
astonishment,  answered  : “ How  shall  I obey  this  injunction,  thus 
vigilantly  guarded  and  barred  by  seven  iron  doors  that  prohibit 
all  egress  V9  The  unknown  voice  replied  : “ The  doors  shall  open 
of  themselves  to  let  thee  pass,  and  behold,  I have  caused  a deep 
slumber  to  fall  upon  thy  guards,  which  shall  continue  till  thy  jour- 
ney be  accomplished.”  Yasudeva  immediately  felt  his  chains  mirac- 
ulously loosened,  and,  taking  up  the  child  in  his  arms,  hurried 
with  it  through  all  the  doors,  the  guards  being  buried  in  profound 
sleep.  When  he  came  to  the  river  Yumna,  which  he  was  obliged 
to  cross  to  get  to  Gokool,  the  waters  immediately  rose  up  to  kiss 
the  child’s  feet,  and  then  respectfully  retired  on  each  side  to  make 
way  for  its  transportation,  so  that  Y asudeva  passed  dry-shod  to  the 
opposite  shore.3 

When  Crishna  came  to  man’s  estate,  one  of  his  first  miracles 
was  the  cure  of  a leper. 

A passionate  Brahman,  having  received  a slight  insult  from  a 
certain  Bajah,  on  going  out  of  his  doors,  uttered  this  curse  : “ That 
he  should,  from,  head  to  foot,  be  covered  with  boils  and  leprosy 
which  being  fulfilled  in  an  instant  upon  the  unfortunate  king,  he 
prayed  to  Crishna  to  deliver  him  from  his  evil.  At  first,  Crishna 
did  not  heed  his  request,  but  finally  he  appeared  to  him,  asking 
what  his  request  was  ? He  replied,  “ To  be  freed  from  my  dis- 
temper.” The  Saviour  then  cured  him  of  his  distemper.3 

Crishna  was  one  day  walking  with  his  disciples,  when  “ they 
met  a poor  cripple  or  lame  woman,  having  a vessel  filled  with 
spices,  sweet-scented  oils,  sandal- wood,  saffron,  civet  and  other  per- 
fumes. Crishna  making  a halt,  she  made  a certain  sign  with  her 
finger  on  his  forehead,  casting  the  rest  upon  his  head.  Crishna  ask- 
ing her  what  it  was  she  would  request  of  him,  the  woman  replied, 
nothing  but  the  use  of  my  limbs.  Crishna,  then,  setting  his  foot  upon 
hers,  and  taking  her  by  the  hand,  raised  her  from  the  ground,  and  not 


1 Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  237. 


2 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  331. 


« Ibid.  p.  319. 


254 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


only  restored  her  limbs,  but  renewed  her  age,  so  that,  instead  of  a 
wrinkled,  tawny  skin,  she  received  a fresh  and  fair  one  in  an  in- 
stant. At  her  request,  Crisbna  and  bis  company  lodged  in  her 
house.”1 * 

On  another  occasion,  Crisbna  having  requested  a learned  Brah- 
man to  ask  of  him  whatever  boon  he  most  desired,  the  Brahman  said, 
“ Above  all  things,  I desire  to  have  my  two  dead  sons  restored  to 
life.”  Crishna  assured  him  that  this  should  be  done,  and  immedi- 
ately the  two  young  men  were  restored  to  life  and  brought  to  their 
father.3 

The  learned  Orientalist,  Thomas  Maurice,  after  speaking  of  the 
miracles  performed  by  Crishna,  says  : 

“ In  regard  to  the  numerous  miracles  wrought  by  Crishna,  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  miracles  are  never  wanting  to  the  decoration  of  an  Indian 
romance;  they  are,  in  fact,  the  life  and  soul  of  the  vast  machine;  nor  is  it  at  all 
a subject  of  wonder  that  the  dead  should  be  raised  to  life  in  a history  expressly 
intended,  like  all  other  sacred  fables  of  Indian  fabrication,  for  the  propagation 
and  support  of  the  whimsical  doctrine  of  the  Metempsychosis.  ”3 

To  speak  thus  of  the  miracles  of  Christ  Jesus,  would,  of  course, 
be  heresy — although  what  applies  to  the  miracles  of  Crishna  apply 
to  those  of  Jesus — we,  therefore,  find  this  gentleman  branding  as 
“ infidel  ” a learned  French  orientalist  who  was  guilty  of  doing  this 
thing. 

Buddha  performed  great  miracles  for  the  good  of  mankind,  and 
the  legends  concerning  him  are  full  of  the  most  extravagant  prodi- 
gies and  wonders.4  “ By  miracles  and  preaching,”  says  Burnouf, 
“ was  the  religion  of  Buddha  established.” 

R.  Spence  Hardy  says  of  Buddha  : 

“All  the  principal  events  of  his  life  are  represented  as  being  attended  by  in- 
credible prodigies.  He  could  pass  through  the  air  at  will,  and  know  the 
thoughts  of  all  beings.”6 

Prof.  Max  Muller  says : 

‘ ‘ The  Buddhist  legends  teem  with  miracles  attributed  to  Buddha  and  his 
disciples — miracles  which  in  wonderfulness  certainly  surpass  the  miracles  of  any 
other  religion.”6 

Buddha  was  at  one  time  going  from  the  city  of  Rohita-vastu  to 
the  city  of  Benares,  when,  coming  to  the  banks  of  the  river  Ganges, 
and  wishing  to  go  across,  he  addressed  himself  to  the  owner  of  a 


1 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  320.  Vishnu  era  Monachism.  Beal’s  Romantic  Hi6t. 
Parana,  bk.  v.  ch.  xx.  Buddha.  Bunsen’s  Angel-Meesiah,  and  Hue’s 

8 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  68.  Travels,  &c. 

8 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  269.  6 Hardy  : Buddhist  Legends,  pp.  xxi.  xxii. 

4 See  Hardy’s  Buddhist  Legends,  and  East-  6 The  Science  of  Religion,  p.  27. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


255 


terry  boat,  thus;  “Hail!  respectable  sir!  I pray  yea  take  me 
across  the  river  in  your  boat !”  To  this  the  boatman  replied,  “ If  you 
can  pay  me  the  fare,  I will  willingly  take  you  across  the  river.” 
Buddha  said,  “ Whence  shall  I procure  money  to  pay  you  your  fare, 
I,  who  have  given  up  all  worldly  wealth  and  riches,  &c.”  The 
boatman  still  refusing  to  take  him  across,  Buddha,  pointing  to  a 
flock  of  geese  flying  from  the  south  to  the  north  banks  of  the  Gan- 
ges, said : 

“ See  yonder  geese  in  fellowship  passing  o’er  the  Ganges, 

They  ask  not  as  to  fare  of  any  boatman, 

But  each  by  his  inherent  strength  of  body 
Flies  through  the  air  as  pleases  him. 

So,  by  my  power  of  spiritual  energy, 

Will  I transport  myself  across  the  river, 

Even  though  the  waters  on  this  southern  bank 
Stood  up  as  high  and  firm  as  (Mount)  Semeru.”1 * 

He  then  floats  through  the  air  across  the  stream. 

In  the  Lalita  Vistara  Buddha  is  called  the  “ Great  Physician” 
who  is  to  “ dull  all  human  pain.”  At  his  appearance  the  “ sick  are 
healed,  the  deaf  are  cured,  the  blind  see,  the  poor  are  relieved.” 
He  visits  the  sick  man,  Su-ta,  and  heals  soul  as  well  as  body. 

At  Yaisali,  a pest  like  modern  cholera  was  depopulating  the  king- 
dom, due  to  an  accumulation  of  festering  corpses.  Buddha^  sum- 
moned, caused  a strong  rain  which  carried  away  the  dead  bodies  and* 
cured  every  one.  At  Gaudhara  was  an  old  mendicant  afflicted  with  a 
disease  so  loathsome  that  none  of  his  brother  monks  could  go  near 
him  on  account  of  his  fetid  humors  and  stinking  condition.  The 
“ Great  Physician  ” was,  however,  not  to  be  deterred  ; he  washed  the 
poor  old  man  and  attended  to  his  maladies.  A disciple  had  his  feet 
hacked  off  by  an  unjust  king,  and  Buddha  cured  even  him.  To 
convert  certain  skeptical  villagers  near  Sravasti,  Buddha  showed 
them  a man  walking  across  the  deep  and  rapid  river  without  im- 
mersing his  feet.  Purna,  one  of  Buddha’s  disciples,  had  a brother 
in  imminent  danger  of  shipwreck  in  a “ black  storm.”  The  “ spirits 
that  are  favorable  to  Purna  and  Arya  ” apprised  him  of  this  and  he 
at  once  performed  the  miracle  of  transporting  himself  to  the  deck 
of  the  ship.  “ Immediately  the  black  tempest  ceased,  as  if  Sumera 
arrested  it.”8 

When  Buddha  was  told  that  a woman  was  suffering  in  severe 
labor,  unable  to  bring  forth,  he  said,  Go  and  say  : “I  have  never 
knowingly  put  any  creature  to  death  since  I was  born  ; by  the  vir- 


1 Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  246,  247.  det,  pp.  186  and  192.  Boumouf  : Intro,  p, 

a Dhammapada,  pp.  47,  50  and  90.  Bigan-  156.  In  Lillie’s  Buddhism,  pp.  139,  140. 


256 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


tue  of  this  obedience  may  you  be  free  from  pain !”  When  these 
words  were  repeated  in  the  presence  of  the  mother,  the  child  was 
instantly  born  with  ease.1 2 

Innumerable  are  the  miracles  ascribed  to  Buddhist  saints,  and 
to  others  who  followed  their  example.  Their  garments,  and  the 
staffs  with  which  they  walked,  are  supposed  to  imbibe  some  myste- 
rious power,  and  blessed  are  they  who  are  allowed  to  touch  them.3 
A Buddhist  saint  who  attains  the  power  called  “perfection”  is 
able  to  rise  and  float  along  through  the  air.3  Having  this  power, 
the  saint  exercises  it  by  mere  determination  of  his  will,  his  body 
becoming  imponderous,  as  when  a man  in  the  common  human  state 
determines  to  leap,  and  leaps.  Buddhist  annals  relate  the  perform- 
ance of  the  miraculous  suspension  by  Gautama  Buddha,  himself, 
as  well  as  by  other  saints .4 

In  the  year  217  b.  c.,  a Buddhist  missionary  priest,  called  by 
the  Chinese  historians  Shih-le-fang,  came  from  “ the  west  ” into 
Shan-se,  accompanied  by  eighteen  other  priests,  with  their  sacred 
books,  in  order  to  propagate  the  faith  of  Buddha.  The  emperor, 
disliking  foreigners  and  exotic  customs,  imprisoned  the  missiona- 
ries ; but  an  angel,  genii,  or  spirit,  came  and  opened  the  prison  door, 
and  liberated  them.5 

Here  is  a third  edition  of  “ Peter  in  prison,”  for  we  have  already 
seen  that  the  Hindoo  sage  Yasudeva  was  liberated  from  prison  in 
like  manner. 

Zoroaster , the  founder  of  the  religion  of  the  Persians,  opposed 
his  persecutors  by  performing  miracles,  in  order  to  confirm  his  di- 
vine mission.6 

Bochia  of  the  Persians  also  performed  miracles;  the  places 
where  he  performed  them  were  consecrated,  and  people  flocked  in 
crowds  to  visit  them.7 

Ilorus , the  Egyptian  Saviour,  performed  great  miracles,  among 
which  was  that  of  raising  the  dead  to  life.8 

Osiris  of  Egypt  also  performed  great  miracles  ;9  and  so  did  the 
virgin  goddess  Isis. 

Pilgrimages  were  made  to  the  temples  of  Isis,  in  Egypt,  by  the 
sick.  Diodorus,  the  Grecian  historian,  says  that : 


1 Hardy  : Manual  of  Buddhism.  8 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief, 

2 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  229.  p.  240,  and  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p. 

3 See  Tylor  : Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  135,  460. 

and  Hardy  : Buddhist  Legends,  pp.  98, 126,  137.  7 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  34, 

4 See  Tylor  : Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  8 See  Lundy  : Monumental  Christianity,  pp. 

135.  303-405. 

6 Thornton  : Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  p.  341.  9 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


257 


“Those  who  go  to  consult  in  dreams  the  goddess  Isis  recover  perfect  health. 
Many  whose  cure  has  been  despaired  of  by  physicians  have  by  this  means  been 
saved,  and  others  who  have  long  been  deprived  of  sight,  or  of  some  other  i>art  of 
the  body,  by  taking  refuge,  so  to  speak,  in  the  arms  of  the  goddess,  have  been 
restored. to  the  enjoyment  of  their  faculties.”1 

Serapis , the  Egyptian  Saviour,  performed  great  miracles,  prin- 
cipally those  of  healing  the  sick.  He  was  called  “ The  Healer  of 
the  World.”2 

Marduk , the  Assyrian  God,  the  “ Logos,”  the  “ Eldest  Son  of 
Hea  “ He  who  made  Heaven  and  Earth  ;”  the  “ Merciful  One ;” 
the  * Life-Giver,”  &c.,  performed  great  miracles,  among  which  was 
that  of  raising  the  dead  to  life.3 

Bacchus , son  of  Zeus  by  the  virgin  Semele,  was  a great  per- 
former of  miracles,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  his  changing 
water  into  wine,4  as  it  is  recorded  of  Jesus  in  the  Gospels. 

“ In  his  gentler  aspects  he  is  the  giver  of  joy,  the  healer  of  sick- 
nesses, the  guardian  against  plagues.  As  such  he  is  even  a law-giver 
and  a promoter  of  peace  and  concord.  As  kindling  new  or  strange 
thoughts  in  the  mind,  he  is  a giver  of  wisdom  and  the  revealer  of 
hidden  secrets  of  the  future.”5 

The  legends  related  of  this  god  state  that  on  one  occasion  Pan- 
theus,  King  of  Thebes,  sent  his  attendants  to  seize  Bacchus,  the 
“ vagabond  leader  of  a faction  ” — as  he  called  him.  This  they 
were  unable  to  do,  as  the  multitude  who  followed  him  were  too 
numerous.  They  succeeded,  however,  in  capturing  one  of  his  dis- 
ciples, Acetes,  who  was  led  away  and  shut  up  fast  in  prison  ; but 
while  they  were  getting  ready  the  instruments  of  execution,  the 
prison  doors  came  open  of  their  own  accord , and  the  chains  fell 
from  his  limbs , and  when  they  looked  for  him  he  was  nowhere  to 
be  found.6  Here  is  still  another  edition  of  “Peter  in  prison.” 

JEsculapius  was  another  great  performer  of  miracles.  The 
ancient  Greeks  said  of  him  that  he  not  only  cured  the  sick  of  the 
most  malignant  diseases,  but  even  raised  the  dead. 


1 Quoted  by  Baring- Gould  : Orig.  Relig. 
Belief,  vol.  i.  p.  397. 

2 See  Prichard’s  Mythology,  p.  347. 

3 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  404. 

4 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious  Belief, 
258,  and  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  102.  Compare 
John,  ii.  7. 

A Grecian  festival  called  thyia  was  ob- 
served by  the  Eleans  in  honor  of  Bacchus.  The 

priests  conveyed  three  empty  vessels  into  a 
chapel,  in  the  presence  of  a large  assembly, 
after  which  the  doors  were  shut  and  sealed. 


On  the  morrow  the  company  returned,  and 
after  every  man  had  looked  upon  his  own  seal, 
and  seen  that  it  was  unbroken,  the  doors  being 
opened,  the  vessels  were  found  full  of  wine.” 
The  god  himself  is  said  to  have  appeared  in 
person  and  filled  the  vessels.  (Bell’s  Pantheon.) 

5 Cox  : Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  295. 

6 Bulfinch : The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  225. 
“ And  they  laid  their  hands  on  the  apostles, 
and  put  them  in  the  common  prison  ; but  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  by  night  opened  the  prison 
doors,  and  brought  them  forth.”  (Acts,  v. 
18,  19.) 


17 


258 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


A writer  in  Bell’s  Pantheon  says  : 

“ As  the  Greeks  always  carried  the  encomiums  of  their  great  men  beyond  the 
truth,  so  they  feigned  that  iEsculapius  was  so  expert  in  medicine  as  not  only  to 
cure  the  sick,  but  even  to  raise  the  dead.”1 

Eusebius,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  speaking  of  AEsculapius, 
says : 

“ He  sometimes  appeared  unto  them  (the  Cilicians)  in  dreams  and  visions, 
and  sometimes  restored  the  sick  to  health.” 

He  claims,  however,  that  this  was  the  work  of  the  Devil, 
“ who  by  this  means  did  withdraw  the  minds  of  men  from  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  Saviour.”2 

For  many  years  after  the  death  of  Aesculapius,  miracles  contin- 
ued to  be  performed  by  the  efficacy  of  faith  in  his  name.  Patients 
were  conveyed  to  the  temple  of  Aesculapius,  and  there  cured  of 
their  disease.  A short  statement  of  the  symptoms  of  each  case,  and 
the  remedy  employed,  were  inscribed  on  tablets  and  hung  up  in  the 
temples.3  There  were  also  a multitude  of  eyes,  ears,  hands,  feet, 
and  other  members  of  the  human  body,  made  of  wax,  silver,  or 
gold,  and  presented  by  those  whom  the  god  had  cured  of  blindness, 
deafness,  and  other  diseases.4 * 

Marinus,  a scholar  of  the  philosopher  Proclus,  relates  one  of 
these  remarkable  cures,  in  the  life  of  his  master.  He  says  : 

“ Asclipigenia,  a young  maiden  who  had  lived  with  her  parents,  was  seized 
with  a grievous  distemper,  incurable  by  the  physicians.  All  help  from  the  phy- 
sicians failing,  the  father  applied  to  the  philosopher,  earnestly  entreating  him  to 
pray  for  his  daughter.  Proclus,  full  of  faith,  went  to  the  temple  of  HSsculapius, 
intending  to  pray  for  the  sick  young  woman  to  the  god — for  the  city  (Athens) 
was  at  that  time  blessed  in  him,  and  still  enjoyet  the  undemolished  temple  of 
The  Saviour — but  while  he  was  praying,  a sudden  change  appeared  in  the  dam- 
sel, and  she  immediately  became  convalescent,  for  the  Saviour,  iEsculapius,  as 
being  God,  easily  healed  her.”6 

Dr.  Conyers  Middleton  says  : 

“ Whatever  proof  the  primitive  (Christian)  Church  might  have  among  them- 
selves, of  the  miraculous  gift,  yet  it  could  have  but  little  effect  towards  making 
proselytes  among  those  who  pretended  to  the  same  gift — possessed  more  largely 
and  exerted  more  openly,  than  in  the  private  assemblies  of  the  Christians.  For 
in  the  temples  of  ^Esculapius,  all  kinds  of  diseases  were  believed  to  be  publicly 
cured,  by  the  pretended  help  of  that  deity,  in  proof  of  which  there  were  erected 
in  each  temple,  columns  or  tables  of  brass  or  marble,  on  which  a distinct  narra- 
tive of  each  particular  cure  was  inscribed.  Pausanias6  writes  that  in  the  temple 


1 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  28. 

a Eusebius : Life  of  Constantine,  lib.  3,  ch. 

liv. 

“ JEsculapius,  the  son  of  Apollo,  was  en- 

dowed by  his  father  with  such  skill  in  the 
healing  art  that  he  even  restored  the  dead  to 

life.”  (Bulfinch:  The  Age  of  Fable,  p,  246.) 


3 Murray  : Manual  of  Mythology,  pp.  179, 
180. 

4 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  304. 

6 Marinus  : Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p. 
151. 

* Pausanias  was  one  of  the  most  eminent 
Greek  geographers  and  historians. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


259 


at  Epidaurus  there  were  many  columns  anciently  of  this  kind,  and  six  of  them 
remaining  to  his  time,  inscribed  with  the  names  of  men  and  women  who  had  been 
cured  by  the  god , with  an  account  of  their  several  cases,  and  the  method  of  their 
cure  ; and  that  there  was  an  old  pillar  besides,  which  stood  apart,  dedicated  to 
the  memory  of  Hippolytus,  who  had  been  raised  from  the  dead . Strabo,  also,  an- 
other grave  writer,  informs  us  that  these  temples  were  constantly  filled  with  the 
sick,  imploring  the  help  of  the  god,  and  that  they  had  tables  hanging  around 
them,  in  which  all  the  miraculous  cures  were  described.  There  is  a remarkable 
fragment  of  one  of  these  tables  still  extant,  and  exhibited  by  Gruter  in  his  collec- 
tion, as  it  was  found  in  the  ruins  of  iEsculapius’s  temple  in  the  Island  of  the 
Tiber,  in  Rome,  which  gives  an  account  of  two  blind  men  restored  to  sight  by 
iEsculapius,  in  the  open  view, 1 and  with  the  loud  acclamation  of  the  people, 
acknowledging  the  manifest  power  of  the  god.”2 * 

Livy,  the  most  illustrious  of  Roman  historians  (born  b.  c.  61), 
tells  us  that  temples  of  heathen  gods  were  rich  in  the  number  of 
offerings  which  the  people  used  to  make  in  return  for  the  cures 
and  benefits  which  they  received  from  them? 

A writer  in  BelVs  Pantheon  says : 

‘ ‘ Making  presents  to  the  gods  was  a custom  even  from  the  earliest  times, 
either  to  deprecate  their  wrath,  obtain  some  benefit,  or  acknowledge  some  favor. 
These  donations  consisted  of  garlands,  garments,  cups  of  gold,  or  whatever  con- 
duced to  the  decoration  or  splendor  of  their  temples.  They  were  sometimes  laid 
on  the  floor,  sometimes  hung  upon  the  walls,  doors,  pillars,  roof,  or  any  other 
conspicuous  place.  Sometimes  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  was  inscribed, 
either  upon  the  thing  itself,  or  upon  a tablet  hung  up  with  it.”4 

No  one  custom  of  antiquity  is  so  frequently  mentioned  by  an- 
cient historians,  as  the  practice  which  was  so  common  among  the 
heathens , of  making  votive  offerings  to  their  deities,  and  hanging 
them  up  in  their  temples,  many  of  which  are  preserved  to  this  day, 
viz.,  images  of  metal,  stone,  or  clay,  as  well  as  legs,  arms,  and  other 
parts  of  the  body,  in  testimony  of  some  divine  cure  effected  in  that 
particula/r  member ? 

Horace  says : 

“ Me  tabula  sacer 

VotivS  paries  indicat  humida 
Suspendisse  potenti 

Yestimenta  maris  Deo.”  (Lib.  1,  Ode  Y.) 

It  was  the  custom  of  offering  ex-votos  of  Priapic  forms,  at  the 
church  of  Isernia,  in  the  Christian  kingdom  of  Naples,  during  the 
last  century,  which  induced  Mr.  R.  Payne  Knight  to  compile  his 
remarkable  work  on  Phallic  Worship. 


1 “And  when  Jesus  departed  thence,  two 

blind  men  followed  him,  crying  and  saying  : 
thou  son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  us.  . . . 
And  Jesus  said  unto  them : Believe  ye  that  I 
am  able  to  do  this  ? They  said  unto  him,  Yea> 

Lord.  Then  touched  he  their  eyes,  saying  : 

According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you, 


and  their  eyes  were  opened.”  (Matt.  ix.  27- 
30.) 

3 Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  pp.  63,  64. 

8 Ibid.  p.  48. 

4 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  62. 

6 See  Middleton’s  Letters  from  Rome,  p.  76. 


260 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Juvenal,  who  wrote  a.  d.  81-96,  says  of  the  goddess  Isis, 
whose  religion  was  at  that  time  in  the  greatest  vogue  at  Rome,  that 
the  painters  get  their  livelihood  out  of  her.  This  was  because  “ the 
most  common  of  all  offerings  (made  by  the  heathen  to  their  deities) 
were  pictures  presenting  the  history  of  the  miraculous  cure  or  de- 
liverance, vouchsafed  upon  the  vow  of  the  donor.”1 2  One  of  their 
prayers  ran  thus : 

“ Now,  Goddess,  help,  for  thou  canst  help  bestow, 

As  all  these  'pictures  round  thy  altars  show”* 

In  Chambers’s  Encyclopaedia  may  be  found  the  following : 

“ Patients  that  were  cured  of  their  ailments  (by  AEsculapius,  or  through  faith 
in  him)  hung  up  a tablet  in  his  temple,  recording  the  name,  the  disease,  and  the 
manner  of  cure.  Many  of  these  notice  tablets  are  still  extant.  ”3 4 * 

Alexander  S.  Murray,  of  the  department  of  Greek  and  Roman 
Antiquities  in  the  British  Museum,  speaking  of  the  miracles  per- 
formed by  ESsculapius , says : 

“A  person  who  had  recovered  from  a local  illness  would  dictate  a sculptured 
representation  of  the  part  that  had  been  affected.  Of  such  sculptures  there  are 
a number  of  examples  in  the  British  Museum”* 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  Apology  for  the  Christian  religion,  ad- 
dressed to  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  says : 

“As  to  our  Jesus  curing  the  lame,  and  the  paralytic,  and  such  as  were  crip- 
pled from  birth,  this  is  little  more  than  what  you  say  of  your  AEsculapim.  ”6 

At  a time  when  the  Romans  were  infested  with  the  plague, 
having  consulted  their  sacred  books,  they  learned  that  in  order  to 
be  delivered  from  it,  they  were  to  go  in  quest  of  ESsculapius  at 
Epidaurus ; accordingly,  an  embassy  was  appointed  of  ten  senators, 
at  the  head  of  whom  was  Quintus  Ogulnius,  and  the  worship  of 
JEsculapius  was  established  at  Rome,  a.  u.  c.  462,  that  is,  b.  c.  288. 
But  the  most  remarkable  coincidence  is  that  the  worship  of  this 
god  continued  with  scarcely  any  diminished  splendor,  for  several 
hundred  years  after  the  establishment  of  Christianity.6 

Hermes  or  Mercury,  the  Lord’s  Messenger,  was  a wonder-work- 
er. The  staff  or  rod  which  Hermes  received  from  Plioibos  (Apol- 


1 See  Middleton’s  Letters  from  Rome,  p.  76.  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  29. 

2 “Nunc  Dea,  nunc  succurre  mihi,  nam  “There  were  numerous  oracles  of  ^Escu- 

posse  mederi  lapius,  but  the  most  celebrated  one  was  at  Epi- 

Picta  docet  temptes  multa  tabella  tuie.”  daurus.  Here  the  sick  sought  responses  and 

(Horace  : Tibull.  lib.  1,  Eleg.  iii.  In  the  recovery  of  their  health  by  sleeping  in  the 

Ibid.)  temple.  . . . The  worship  of  ^Esculapius 

8 Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “^Esculapius.”  was  introduced  into  Rome  in  a time  of  great 

4 Murray  : Manual  of  Mythology,  p.  180.  sickness,  and  an  embassy  sent  to  the  temple 

6 Apol.  1,  ch.  xxii.  Epidaurus  to  entreat  the  aid  of  the  god.” 

0 Deane:  Serp.  Wor.  p.  204.  See  also,  Bell’s  (Bulfinch  : The  Age  of  Fable,  p.  397.) 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


261 


lo),  and  which  connects  this  myth  with  the  special  emblem  of  Vish- 
nu (the  Hindoo  Saviour),  was  regarded  as  denoting  his  heraldic 
office.  It  was,  however,  always  endowed  with  magic  properties,  and 
had  the  power  even  of  raising  the  dead.1 

Herodotus,  the  Grecian  historian,  relates  a wonderful  miracle 
which  happened  among  the  Spartans , many  centuries  before  the 
time  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus.  The  story  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

A Spartan  couple  of  great  wealth  and  influence,  had  a daughter  born  to  them 
who  was  a cripple  from  birth.  Her  nurse,  perceiving  that  she  was  misshapen, 
and  knowing  her  to  be  the  daughter  of  opulent  persons,  and  deformed,  and  see- 
ing, moreover,  that  her  parents  considered  her  form  a great  misfortune,  consid- 
ering these  several  circumstances,  devised  the  following  plan.  She  carried  her 
every  day  to  the  temple  of  the  Goddess  Helen,  and  standing  before  her  image, 
prayed  to  the  goddess  to  free  the  child  from  its  deformity.  One  day,  as  the 
nurse  was  going  out  of  the  temple,  a woman  appeared  to  her,  and  having  ap- 
peared, asked  what  she  was  carrying  in  her  arms;  and  she  answered  that  she 
was  carrying  an  infant;  whereupon  she  bid  her  show  it  to  her,  but  the  nurse  re- 
fused, for  she  had  been  forbidden  by  the  parents  to  show  the  child  to  any  one. 
The  woman,  however — who  was  none  other  than  the  Goddess  herself — urged 
her  by  all  means  to  show  it  to  her,  and  the  nurse,  seeing  that  the  woman  was  so 
very  anxious  to  see  the  child,  at  length  showed  it;  upon  which  she,  stroking  the 
head  of  the  child  with  her  hands,  said  that  she  would  surpass  all  the  women  in 
Sparta  in  beauty.  From  that  day  her  appearance  began  to  change,  her  deformed 
limbs  became  symmetrical,  and  when  she  reached  the  age  for  marriage  she  was 
the  most  beautiful  woman  in  all  Sparta.2 

Apollonius  of  Tyana,  in  Cappadocia,  who  was  born  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Augustus,  about  four  years  before  the 
time  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  who  was  therefore  con- 
temporary with  him,  was  celebrated  for  the  wonderful  miracles  he 
performed.  Oracles  in  various  places  declared  that  he  was  endowed 
with  a portion  of  Apollo’s  power  to  cure  diseases,  and  foretell 
events ; and  those  who  were  affected  were  commanded  to  apply  to 
him.  The  priests  of  Iona  made  over  the  diseased  to  his  care,  and 
his  cures  were  considered  so  remarkable,  that  divine  honors  were 
decreed  to  him.3 

He  at  one  time  went  to  Ephesus,  but  as  the  inhabitants  did  not 
hearken  to  his  preaching,  he  left  there  and  went  to  Smyrna,  where 
he  was  well  received  by  the  inhabitants.  While  there,  ambassadors 


1 Aryan  Mytho.  voi.  ii.  p.  238. 

2 Herodotus:  bk.  vi.  ch.  61. 

3 See  Philostratus:  Vie  d’Apo. 

Gibbon,  the  historian,  says  of  him  : “ Apol- 
lonius of  Tyana,  born  about  the  same  time  as 
Jesus  Christ.  His  life  (that  of  the  former)  is 
related  in  so  fabulous  a manner  by  his  disci- 
ples, that  we  are  at  a loss  to  discover  whether 


he  was  a sage,  an  impostor,  or  a fanatic.” 
(Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  p.  353,  note.)  What 
this  learned  historian  says  of  Apollonius  applies 
to  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  His  disciples  have  re- 
lated his  life  in  so  fabulous  a manner,  that 
some  consider  him  to  have  been  an  impostor, 
others  a fanatic,  others  a sage,  and  others  a 
God. 


262 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


came  from  Ephesus,  begging  him  to  return  to  that  city,  where  a 
terrible  plague  was  raging,  as  he  had  prophesied.  He  went  imme- 
diately, and  as  soon  as  he  arrived,  he  said  to  the  Ephesians : “ Be 

not  dejected,  I will  this  day  put  a stop  to  the  disease.”  According 
to  his  words,  the  pestilence  was  stayed,  and  the  people  erected  a 
statue  to  him,  in  token  of  their  gratitude.1 

In  the  city  of  Athens,  there  was  one  of  the  dissipated  young 
citizens,  who  laughed  and  cried  by  turns,  and  talked  and  sang  to 
himself,  without  apparent  cause.  His  friends  supposed  these  habits 
were  the  effects  of  early  intemperance,  but  Apollonius,  who  hap- 
pened to  meet  the  young  man,  told  him  he  was  possessed  of  a 
demon  ; and,  as  soon  as  he  fixed  his  eyes  upon  him,  the  demon 
broke  out  into  all  those  horrid,  violent  expressions  used  by  people 
on  the  rack,  and  then  swore  he  would  depart  out  of  the  youth,  and 
never  enter  another.2  The  young  man  had  not  been  aware  that 
he  was  possessed  by  a devil,  but  from  that  moment,  his  wild,  dis- 
turbed looks  changed,  he  became  very  temperate,  and  assumed  the 
garb  of  a Pythagorean  philosopher. 

Apollonius  went  to  Rome,  and  arrived  there  after  the  emperor 
Hero  had  passed  very  severe  laws  against  magicians.  He  was  met 
on  the  way  by  a person  who  advised  him  to  turn  back  and  not  enter 
the  city,  saying  that  all  who  wore  the  philosopher’s  garb  were  in 
danger  of  being  arrested  as  magicians.  He  heeded  not  these  words 
of  warning,  but  proceeded  on  his  wray,  and  entered  the  city.  It 
was  not  long  before  he  became  an  object  of  suspicion,  was  closely 
watched,  and  finally  arrested,  but  when  his  accusers  appeared  be- 
fore the  tribunal  and  unrolled  the  parchment  on  which  the  charges 
against  him  had  been  written,  they  found  that  all  the  characters  had 
disappeared.  Apollonius  made  such  an  impression  on  the  magistrates 
by  the  bold  tone  he  assumed,  that  he  was  allowed  to  go  where  he 
pleased.3 

Many  miracles  were  performed  by  him  while  in  Rome,  among 
others  may  be  mentioned  his  restoring  a dead  maiden  to  life. 

She  belonged  to  a family  of  rank,  and  was  just  about  to  be 
married,  when  she  died  suddenly.  Apollonius  met  the  funeral  pro- 
cession that  was  conveying  her  body  to  the  tomb.  He  asked  them 
to  set  down  the  bier,  saying  to  her  betrothed  ; “ I will  dry  up  the 

tears  you  are  shedding  for  this  maiden.”  They  supposed  he  was 
going  to  pronounce  a funeral  oration,  but  he  merely  took  her  hand , 
bent  over  her,  and  uttered  a few  words  in  a low  tone.  She  opened 


1 See  Pbilostratus,  p.  146. 


2 Ibid.  p.  158. 


8 See  Ibid.  p.  182. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


263 


her  eyes,  and  began  to  speak,  and  was  carried  back  alive  and  well 
to  her  father’s  house.1 * 

Passing  through  Tarsus,  in  his  travels,  a young  man  was  pointed 
out  to  him  who  had  been  bitten  thirty  days  before  by  a mad  dog, 
and  who  was  then  running  on  all  fours,  barking  and  howling. 
Apollonius  took  his  case  in  hand,  and  it  was  not  long  before  the 
young  man  was  restored  to  his  right  mind.3 

Domitian,  Emperor  of  Home,  caused  Apollonius  to  be  arrested, 
during  one  of  his  visits  to  that  city,  on  charge  of  allowing  himself 
to  be  worshiped  (the  people  having  given  him  divine  honors ), 
speaking  against  the  reigning  powers,  and  pretending  that  his  words 
were  inspired  by  the  gods.  He  was  taken,  loaded  with  irons,  and 
cast  into  prison.  “ I have  bound  you,”  said  the  emperor,  “ and 
you  will  not  escape  me.” 

Apollonius  was  one  day  visited  in  his  prison  by  his  steadfast 
disciple,  Damus,  who  asked  him  when  he  thought  he  should  recover 
his  liberty,  whereupon  he  answered  : “ This  instant,  if  it  depended 
upon  myself,”  and  drawing  his  legs  out  of  the  shackles,  he  added : 
“ Keep  up  your  spirits,  you  see  the  freedom  I enjoy.”  He  was 
brought  to  trial  not  long  after,  and  so  defended  himself,  that  the 
emperor  was  induced  to  acquit  him,  but  forbade  him  to  leave 
Home.  Apollonius  then  addressed  the  emperor,  and  ended  by 
saying : “You  cannot  kill  me,  because  I am  not  mortal ;”  and 
as  soon  as  he  had  said  these  words,  he  vanished  from  the  tribunal .* 
Damus  (the  disciple  who  had  visited  him  in  prison)  had  previously 
been  sent  away  from  Home,  with  the  promise  of  his  master  that 
he  would  soon  rejoin  him.  Apollonius  vanished  from  the  presence 
of  the  emperor  (at  Home)  at  noon.  On  the  evening  of  the  same 
day , he  suddenly  appeared  before  Damus  and  some  other  friends 
who  were  at  Puteoli , more  than  a hundred  miles  from  Rome. 
They  started,  being  doubtful  whether  or  not  it  was  his  spirit,  but  he 
stretched  out  his  hand,  saying:  “ Take  it,  and  if  I escape  from  you 
regard  me  as  an  apparition.”4 


1 Compare  Matt.  ix.  18-25.  “There  came 
a certain  ruler  and  worshiped  him,  saying  : 

‘ My  daughter  is  even  now  dead,  but  come  and 
lay  thy  hand  upon  her,  and  she  shall  live,’ 
And  Jesus  arose  and  followed  him,  and  so  did 
his  disciples.  . . . And  when  Jesus  came  into 
the  ruler’s  house,  and  saw  the  minstrels  and 
the  people  making  a noise,  he  said  unto  them: 

‘ Give  peace,  for  the  maid  is  not  dead,  but 
sleepeth.’  And  they  laughed  him  to  scorn. 

But  when  the  people  were  put  forth,  he  went 


in,  and  took  her  by  the  hand , and  the  maid 
arose.” 

2 See  Philostratus,  pp.  285-286. 

8 “ He  could  render  himself  invisible,  evoke 
departed  spirits,  utter  predictions,  and  discover 
the  thoughts  of  other  men.”  (Hardy  : Eastern 
Monachism,  p.  380.) 

4 “And  as  they  thus  spoke,  Jesus  himself 
stood  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  said  unto 
them:  ‘Peace  be  unto  you.’  But  they  were 
terrified  and  affrighted,  and  supposed  that  they 


264 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


When  Apollonius  had  told  his  disciples  that  he  had  made  his 
defense  in  Rome,  only  a few  hours  before,  they  marveled  how  he 
could  have  performed  the  journey  so  rapidly.  He,  in  reply,  said 
that  they  must  ascribe  it  to  a god.1 

The  Empress  Julia,  wife  of  Alexander  Severus,  was  so  much 
interested  in  the  history  of  Apollonius,  that  she  requested  Flavius 
Philostratus,  an  Athenian  author  of  reputation,  to  write  an  account 
of  him.  The  early  Christian  Fathers,  alluding  to  this  life  of  Apol- 
lonius, do  not  deny  the  miracles  it  recounts,  but  attribute  to  them 
the  aid  of  evil  spirits.2 

Justin  Martyr  was  one  of  the  believers  in  the  miracles  per- 
formed by  Apollonius,  and  by  others  through  him,  for  he  says : 

“ How  is  it  that  the  talismans  of  Apollonius  have  power  in  certain  members 
of  creation  ? for  they  prevent,  as  we  see,  the  fury  of  the  waves,  and  the  violence  of 
the  winds,  and  the  attacks  of  wild  beasts,  and  whilst  our  Lord’s  miracles  are 
preserved  by  tradition  alone,  those  of  Apollonius  are  most  numerous,  and  actually 
manifested  in  present  facts,  so  as  to  lead  astray  all  beholders .”3 

So  much  for  Apollonius.  We  will  now  speak  of  another  miracle 
performer,  Simon  Magus. 

Simon  the  Samaritan,  generally  called  Simon  Magus , produced 
marked  effects  on  the  times  succeeding  him  ; being  the  progenitor 
of  a large  class  of  sects,  which  long  troubled  the  Christian  churches. 

In  the  time  of  Jesus  and  Simon  Magus  it  was  almost  univer- 
sally believed  that  men  could  foretell  events,  cure  diseases,  and  ob- 
tain control  over  the  forces  of  nature,  by  the  aid  of  spirits,  if  they 
knew  how  to  invoke  them.  It  was  Simon’s  proficiency  in  this 
occult  science  which  gained  him  the  surname  of  Magus , or 
Magician. 

The  writer  of  the  eighth  chapter  of  “ The  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles ” informs  us  that  when  Philip  went  into  Samaria,  “ to  preach 
Christ  unto  them,”  he  found  there  “ a certain  man  called  Simon, 
which  beforetime  in  the  same  city  used  sorcery,  and  bewitched  the 
people  of  Samaria,  giving  out  that  himself  was  some  great  one. 
To  whom  they  all  gave  heed,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest,  saying  : 
This  man  is  the  great  power  of  God.”4 

Simon  traveled  about  preaching,  and  made  many  proselytes.  He 
professed  to  be  “ The  Wisdom  of  God”  “ The  Word  of  Godf 


had  seen  a spirit.  And  he  said  unto  them  : 
‘ Why  are  ye  troubled  ? and  why  do  thoughts 
arise  in  your  hearts  ? Behold  my  hands  and 
my  feet,  that  it  is  myself  ; handle  me  and  see  ; 
for  a spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as  ye  see 
me  have.'”  (Luke,  xxiv.  38-39.) 


i See  Philostratus,  p.  342. 
a Ibid.  p.  5. 

3 Justin  Martyr’s  ” Qucest,"  xxiv.  Quoted 
In  King’s  Gnostics,  p.  242 

4 Acts,  viii.  9.  10. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


265 


“ The  Paraclete , or  Comforter ” “ The  Image  of  the  Eternal 
Father , Manifested  in  the  Flesh”  and  his  followers  claimed  that 
he  was  “ The  First  Born  of  the  Supreme.”1  All  of  these  are  titles, 
which,  in  after  years,  were  applied  to  Christ  Jesns.  His  followers 
had  a gospel  called  “ The  Four  Corners  of  the  World”  which  re- 
minds us  of  the  reason  given  by  Irenseus,  for  there  being  four 
Gospels  among  the  Christians.  He  says : 

“ It  is  impossible  that  there  could  be  more  or  less  than  four.  For  there  are 
four  climates,  and  four  cardinal  winds ; but  the  Gospel  is  the  pillar  and  founda- 
tion of  the  Church,  and  its  breath  of  life.  The  Church,  therefore,  was  to  have 
four  pillars,  blowing  immortality  from  every  quarter,  and  giving  life  to 
men.”2 

Simon  also  composed  some  works,  of  which  but  slight  fragments 
remain,  Christian  authority  having  evidently  destroyed  them.  That 
he  made  a lively  impression  on  his  contemporaries  is  indicated  by 
the  subsequent  extension  of  his  doctrines,  under  varied  forms,  by 
the  wonderful  stories  which  the  Christian  Fathers  relate  of  him, 
and  by  the  strong  dislike  they  manifested  toward  him. 

Eusebius,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  says  of  him  : 

“The  malicious  power  of  Satan,  enemy  to  all  honesty,  and  foe  to  all  human 
salvation,  brought  forth  at  that  time  this  monster  Simon,  a father  and  worker 
of  all  such  mischiefs,  as  a great  adversary  unto  the  mighty  and  holy  Apostles. 

“ Coming  into  the  city  of  Rome,  he  was  so  aided  by  that  power  which  prevail- 
ed in  this  world,  that  in  short  time  he  brought  his  purpose  to  such  a pass,  that 
his  picture  was  there  placed  with  others,  and  he  honored  as  a god.”3 

Justin  Martyr  says  of  him  : 

“After  the  ascension  of  our  Savior  into  heaven,  the  DEVIL  brought  forth  cer- 
tain men  which  called  themselves  gods,  who  not  only  suffered  no  vexation  of  you 
(Romans),  but  attained  unto  honor  amongst  you,  by  name  one  Simon,  a Samari- 
tan, born  in  the  village  of  Gitton,  who  (under  Claudius  Caesar)  by  the  art  of 
devils,  through  whom  he  dealt,  wrought  devilish  enchantments,  was  esteemed 
and  counted  in  your  regal  city  of  Rome  for  a god,  and  honored  by  you  as  a god, 
with  a picture  between  two  bridges  upon  the  river  Tibris,  having  this  Roman 
inscription  : * Simoni  deo  Sancto  * (To  Simon  the  Holy  God).  And  in  manner 
all  the  Samaritans,  and  certain  also  of  other  nations,  do  worship  him,  acknowl- 
edging him  for  their  chief  god.”4 

According  to  accounts  given  by  several  other  Christian  Fathers, 
he  could  make  his  appearance  wherever  he  pleased  to  be  at  any 
moment ; could  poise  himself  on  the  air  ; make  inanimate  things 


1 See  Mosheim,  vol.  i.  pp.  137,  140. 

2 Irenaeus:  Against  Heresies,  bk.  iii.  ch.  xi. 

Tlie  authorship  of  the  fourth  gospel,  attrib- 

uted to  John,  has  been  traced  to  this  same 
Irenceus.  He  is  the  first  person  who  speaks 
of  it ; and  adding  this  fact  to  the  statement 


that  ‘ it  is  impossible  that  there  could  be  more 
or  less  than  four,"  certainly  makes  it  ap- 
pear very  suspicious.  We  shall  allude  to  this 
again. 

3 Eusebius:  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  2,  ch.  xiv. 

4 Apol.  1,  ch.  xxiv. 


266 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


move  without  visible  assistance  ; produce  trees  from  the  earth  sud- 
denly ; cause  a stick  to  reap  without  hands  ; change  himself  into 
the  likeness  of  any  other  person,  or  even  into  the  forms  of  animals ; 
fling  himself  from  high  precipices  unhurt,  walk  through  the  streets 
accompanied  by  spirits  of  the  dead ; and  many  other  such  like  per- 
formances.1 

Simon  went  to  Kome,  where  he  gave  himself  out  to  be  an  “ In- 
carnate Spirit  of  God.”2  He  became  a favorite  with  the  Emperor 
Claudius,  and  afterwards  with  Nero.  His  Christian  opponents,  as 
we  have  seen  in  the  cases  cited  above,  did  not  deny  the  miracles 
attributed  to  him,  but  said  they  were  done  through  the  agency  of 
evil  spirits,  which  was  a common  opinion  among  the  Fathers.  They 
claimed  that  every  magician  had  an  attendant  evil  spirit,  who  came 
when  summoned,  obeyed  his  commands,  and  taught  him  ceremonies 
and  forms  of  words,  by  which  he  was  able  to  do  supernatural 
things.  In  this  way  they  were  accustomed  to  account  for  all  the 
miracles  performed  by  Gentiles  and  heretics.3 

Menander — who  was  called  the  “ Wonder-Worker” — was  an- 
other great  performer  of  miracles.  Eusebius,  speaking  of  him,  says 
that  he  was  skilled  in  magical  art,  and  performed  devilish  operations ; 
and  that  “ as  yet  there  be  divers  which  can  testify  the  same  of 
him.”4 * 

Dr.  Conyers  Middleton,  speaking  on  this  subject,  says : 

“It  was  universally  received  and  believed  through  all  ages  of  the  primitive 
church,  that  there  was  a number  of  magicians,  necromancers,  or  conjurors, 
both  among  the  Gentiles,  and  the  heretical  Christians,  who  had  each  their  peculiar 
demon  or  evil  spirit,  for  their  associates,  perpetually  attending  on  their  persons 
and  obsequious  to  their  commands,  by  whose  help  they  could  perform  miracles, 
foretell  future  events,  call  up  the  souls  of  the  dead,  exhibit  them  to  open  view, 
and  infuse  into  people  whatever  dreams  or  visions  they  saw  fit,  all  which  is 
constantly  affirmed  by  the  primitive  writers  and  apologists,  and  commonly  ap- 
plied by  them  to  prove  the  immortality  of  the  soul.”6 

After  quoting  from  Justin  Martyr,  who  says  that  these  magicians 
could  convince  any  one  “ that  the  souls  of  men  exist  still  after 
death,”  he  continues  by  saying  : 

“ Lactantius,  speaking  of  certain  philosophers  who  held  that  the  soul  perished 
with  the  body,  says  : ‘ they  durst  not  have  declared  such  an  opinion,  in  the 
presence  of  any  magician,  for  if  they  had  done  it,  he  would  have  confuted  them 


1 See  Prog.  Rehg.  Ideas,  sol.  ii.  pp.  241,  that  belong  to  God.”  (See  “ Son  of  the 

242.  Man,”  p.  67.) 

2 According  to  Hieronymus  (a  Christian  3 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  ii.  p.  316,  and 

Father,  born  a.  d.  346),  Simon  Magus  applied  Middleton’s  Free  Inquiry,  p.  62. 

to  himself  these  words  : “lam  the  Word  (or  4 Eusebius  : Ecc..  Hist.,  lib.  3,  ch.  xiv. 

Logos)  of  God  ; I am  the  Beautiful,  I the  Ad-  6 Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  54. 

vocate,  I the  Omnipotent ; I am  all  things 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JE8US. 


267 


upon  the  spot,  by  sensible  experiments ; by  calling  up  souls  from  the  dead,  and  ren- 
dering them  visible  to  human  eyes,  and  making  them  speak  and  foretell  future  eventi”1 

The  Christian  Father  Theophilus,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  who  was 
contemporary  with  Irenseus  (a.  d.  177-202),  went  so  far  as  to  de- 
clare that  it  was  evil  spirits  who  inspired  the  old  poets  and  prophets 
of  Greece  and  Borne.  He  says  : 

“ The  truth  of  this  is  manifestly  shown;  because  those  who  are  possessed  by 
devils,  even  at  this  day,  are  sometimes  exorcised  by  us  in  the  name  of  God ; and 
the  seducing  spirits  confess  themselves  to  be  the  same  demons  who  before  in- 
spired the  Gentile. poets.”2 

Even  in  the  second  century  after  Christianity,  foreign  conjurors 
were  professing  to  exhibit  miracles  among  the  Greeks.  Lucian 
gives  an  account  of  one  of  these  “ foreign  barbarians  ” — as  he  calls 
them3 — and  says  : 

“ I believed  and  was  overcome  in  spite  of  my  resistance,  for  what  was  I to 
do  when  I saw  him  carried  through  the  air  in  daylight,  and  Walking  on  the 
water,4  and  passing  leisurely  and  slowly  through  the  fire  ?”5 

He  further  tells  us  that  this  “ foreign  barbarian  ” was  able  to 
raise  the  dead  to  life.6 

Athenagoras,  a Christian  Father  who  flourished  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  second  century,  says  on  this  subject : 

“We  (Christians)  do  not  deny  that  in  several  places,  cities,  and  countries, 
there  are  some  extraordinary  works  performed  in  the  name  of  idols,”  i.  e.,  heathen 
gods.7 

Miracles  were  not  uncommon  things  among  the  Jews  before 
and  during  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus.  Casting  out  devils  was  an 
every-day  occurrence,8  and  miracles  frequently  happened  to  confirm 
the  sayings  of  Babbis.  One  cried  out,  when  his  opinion  was  dis- 
puted, “May  this  free  prove  that  I am  right !”  and  forthwith  the 
tree  was  torn  up  by  the  roots,  and  hurled  a hundred  ells  off.  But 


i Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  54. 

9 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  ii.  p.  312,  and 
Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  10. 

3 “ The  Egyptians  call  all  men  ‘ barbarians  ’ 
who  do  not  speak  the  same  language  as  them- 
selves.” (Herodotus,  book  ii.  ch.  158.) 

“By  ‘barbarians'  the  Greeks  meant  all 
who  were  not  sprung  from  themselves— all 
foreigners.”  (Henry  Cary,  translator  of  Hero- 
dotus.) 

The  Chinese  call  the  English,  and  all  for- 
eigners from  western  countries,  “ western  bar- 

barians the  Japanese  were  called  by  them 
the  “ eastern  barbarians.'"  (See  Thornton’s 
History  of  China,  vol.  i.) 

The  Jews  considered  all  who  did  not  be- 

long to  their  race  to  be  heathens  and  barba- 
rians. 


The  Christians  consider  those  who  are  not 
followers  of  Christ  Jesus  to  be  heathens  and 
barbarians. 

The  Mohammedans  consider  all  others  to  be 
dogs , infidels , and  barbarians. 

4 “ And  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night, 
Jesus  went  unto  them,  walking  on  the  sea.” 
(Matt.  xiv.  25.) 

6 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  ii.  p.  236.  We 
have  it  on  the  authority  of  Strabo  that  Roman 
priests  walked  barefoot  over  burning  coals, 
without  receiving  the  slightest  injury.  This 
was  done  in  the  presence  of  crowds  of  people. 
Pliny  also  relates  the  same  story. 

8 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  ii.  p.  236. 

7 Athenagoras,  Apolog.  p.  25.  Quoted  in 
Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  62. 

8 Geikie  : Life  of  Christ,  vol.  ii.  p.  610. 


268 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


his  opponents  declared  that  a tree  could  prove  nothing.  “ May 
this  stream,  then,  witness  for  me  I”  cried  Eliezar,  and  at  once  it 
flowed  the  opposite  way.1 

Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  tells  us  that  King  Solomon  was 
expert  in  casting  out  devils  who  had  taken  possession  of  the  body 
of  mortals.  This  gift  was  also  possessed  by  many  Jews  throughout 
different  ages.  He  (Josephus)  relates  that  he  saw  one  of  his  own 
countrymen  (Eieazar)  casting  out  devils,  in  the  presence  of  a vast 
multitude.2 

Dr.  Conyers  Middleton  says  : 

“It  is  remarkable  that  all  the  Christian  Fathers,  who  lay  so  great  a stress  on 
the  particular  gift  of  casting  out  devils,  allow  the  same  power  both  to  the  Jews 
and  the  Gentiles,  as  well  before  as  after  our  Saviour's  coming.  ”3 

Vespasian , who  wTas  born  about  ten  years  after  the  time  as- 
signed for  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus,  performed  wonderful  miracles, 
for  the  good  of  mankind.  Tacitus,  the  Homan  historian,  informs 
us  that  he  cured  a Hind  man  in  Alexandria,  by  means  of  his  spit- 
tle, and  a lame  man  by  the  mere  touch  of  his  foot. 

The  words  of  Tacitus  are  as  follows : 


“ Vespasian  passed  some  months  at  Alexandria,  having  resolved  to  defer  his 
voyage  to  Italy  till  the  return  of  summer,  when  the  winds,  blowing  in  a regular 
direction,  afford  a safe  and  pleasant  navigation.  During  his  residence  in  that 
city,  a number  of  incidents,  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  nature,  seemed  to 
mark  him  as  the  peculiar  favorite  of  the  gods.  A man  of  mean  condition,  born 
at  Alexandria,  had  lost  his  sight  by  a defluxion  on  his  eyes.  He  presented  him- 
self before  Vespasian,  and,  falling  prostrate  on  the  ground,  implored  the  emperor 
to  administer  a cure  for  his  blindness.  He  came,  he  said,  by  the  admonition  of 
Serapis,  the  god  whom  the  superstition  of  the  Egyptians  bolds  in  the  highest 
veneration.  The  request  was,  that  the  emperor,  with  his  spittle,  would  conde- 
scend to  moisten  the  poor  man’s  face  and  the  balls  of  his  eyes.4 *  Another,  who 
had  lost  the  use  of  his  hand,  inspired  by  the  same  god,  begged  that  he  would 
tread  on  the  part  affe«ted.  ...  In  the  presence  of  a prodigious  multitude, 
all  erect  with  expectation,  he  advanced  with  an  air  of  serenity,  and  hazarded  the 
experiment.  The  paralytic  hand  recovered  its  functions,  and  the  blind  man  saw 
the  light  of  the  sun.6  By  living  witnesses,  who  were  actually  on  the  spot,  both 
events  are  confirmed  at  this  hour,  when  deceit  and  flattery  can  hope  for  no 
reward.”6 


The  striking  resemblance  between  the  account  of  these  mira- 
cles, and  those  attributed  to  Jesus  in  the  Gospels  “ according  to” 


1 Geikie  : Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.  p.  75. 

2 Jewish  Antiqiities,  bk.  viii.  ch.  ii. 

8 Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  68. 

4 “ And  he  cometh  to  Bethsaida,  and  they 

bring  a blind  man  unto  him,  and  besought  him 

to  touch  him.  And  he  took  the  blind  man  by 
the  hand  . . . and  when  he  had  spit  on  his 
eyes , ...  he  looked  up  and  said  : 4 1 see 


men  and  trees,’  . . . and  he  was  restored.” 
(Mark,  viii.  22-25.) 

6 44  And  behold  there  was  a man  which  had 
his  hand  withered.  . . . Then  said  he  unto 
the  man,  4 Stretch  forth  thine  hand  ; ’ and  he 
stretched  it  forth,  and  it  was  restored  whole, 
like  as  the  other.”  (Matt.  xii.  10-13.) 

• Tacitus  : Hist.,  lib.  iv.  jch.  lxxxi. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


269 


Mattliew  and  Mark,  would  lead  us  to  think  that  one  had  been 
copied  from  the  other,  but  when  we  find  that  Tacitus  wrote  his 
history  a.  d.  98, 1 and  that  the  “ Matthew  ” and  Mark  narrators’ 
works  were  not  known  until  after  that  time,2  the  evidence  certainly 
is  that  Tacitus  was  not  the  plagiarist,  but  that  this  charge  must  fall 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  Christian  writers,  whoever  they  may  have 
been. 

To  come  down  to  earlier  times,  even  the  religion  of  the  Ma- 
hometans is  a religion  of  miracles  and  wonders.  Mahomet,  like 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  did  not  claim  to  perform  miracles,  but  the  vot- 
aries of  Mahomet  are  more  assured  than  himself  of  his  miraculous 
gifts  ; and  their  confidence  and  credulity  increase  as  they  are  farther 
removed  from  the  time  and  place  of  his  spiritual  exploits.  They 
believe  or  affirm  that  trees  went  forth  to  meet  him ; that  he  was 
saluted  by  stones  ; that  water  gushed  from  his  fingers  ; that  he  fed 
the  hungry,  cured  the  sick,  and  raised  the  dead  ; that  a beam 
groaned  to  him  ; that  a camel  complained  to  him  ; that  a shoulder 
of  mutton  informed  him  of  its  being  poisoned  ; and  that  both  ani- 
mate and  inanimate  nature  were  equally  subject  to  the  apostle 
of  God.  His  dream  of  a nocturnal  journey  is  seriously  described 
as  a real  and  corporeal  transaction.  A mysterious  animal,  the  Borak, 
conveyed  him  from  the  temple  of  Mecca  to  that  of  Jerusalem  ; with 
his  companion  Gabriel  he  successively  ascended  the  seven  heavens, 
and  received  and  repaid  the  salutations  of  the  patriarchs,  the 
prophets,  and  the  angels  in  their  respective  mansions.  Beyond  the 
seventh  heaven,  Mahomet  alone  was  permitted  to  proceed ; he 
passed  the  veil  of  unity,  approached  within  two  bow-shots  of  the 
throne,  and  felt  a cold  that  pierced  him  to  the  heart,  when  his 
shoulder  was  touched  by  the  hand  of  God.  After  a familiar, 
though  important  conversation,  he  descended  to  Jerusalem,  re- 
mounted the  Borak,  returned  to  Mecca,  and  performed  in  the 
tenth  part  of  a night  the  journey  of  many  thousand  years.  His 
resistless  word  split  asunder  the  orb  of  the  moon,  and  the  obedient 
planet  stooped  from  her  station  in  the  sky.* 

These  and  many  other  wonders,  similar  in  character  to  the  story 
of  Jesus  sending  the  demons  into  the  swine,  are  related  of  Mahomet 
by  his  followers. 

It  is  very  certain  that  the  same  circumstances  which  are 
claimed  to  have  taken  place  with  respect  to  the  Christian  religion, 
are  also  claimed  to  have  taken  place  in  the  religions  of  Crishna,  Bud- 

1 See  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Tacitus.”  2 See  The  Bible  of  To-Day,  pp.  273,  278. 

3 See  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  pp.  539-541. 


270 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


dha,  Zoroaster,  iEsculapius,  Bacchus,  Apollonius,  Simon  Magus, 
&c.  Histories  of  these  persons,  with  miracles,  relics,  circumstances 
of  locality,  suitable  to  them,  were  as  common,  as  well  authenticated 
(if  not  better),  and  as  much  believed  by  the  devotees  as  were  those 
relating  to  Jesus. 

All  the  Christian  theologians  which  the  world  has  yet  produced 
have  not  been  able  to  procure  any  evidence  of  the  miracles  recorded 
in  the  Gospels , half  so  strong  as  can  be  procured  in  evidence  of 
miracles  performed  by  heathens  and  heathen  gods,  both  before 
and  after  the  time  of  J esus  ; and,  as  they  cannot  do  this,  let  them 
give  us  a reason  why  we  should  reject  the  one  and  receive  the  other. 
And  if  they  cannot  do  this,  let  them  candidly  confess  that  we  must 
either  admit  them  all,  or  reject  them  all,  for  they  all  stand  on  the 
same  footing. 

In  the  early  times  of  the  Roman  republic,  in  the  war  with  the 
Latins,  the  gods  Castor  and  Pollux  are  said  to  have  appeared  on 
white  horses  in  the  Roman  army,  which  by  their  assistance  gained 
a complete  victory : in  memory  of  which,  the  General  Posthumius 
vowed  and  built  a temple  to  these  deities ; and  for  a proof  of  the 
fact,  there  was  shown,  we  find,  in  Cicero’s  time  (106  to  43  b.  c.), 
the  marks  of  the  horses’  hoofs  on  a rock  at  Regillum,  where  they 
first  appeared.1 

How  this  miracle,  with  those  which  have  already  been  men- 
tioned, and  many  others  of  the  same  kind  which  could  be  men- 
tioned, has  as  authentic  an  attestation,  if  not  more  so,  as  any  of  the 
Gospel  miracles.  It  has,  for  instance  : The  decree  of  a senate  to 

confirm  it ; visible  marks  on  the  spot  where  it  was  transacted  ; and 
all  this  supported  by  the  best  authors  of  antiquity,  amongst  whom 
Dionysius,  of  Halicarnassus,  who  says  that  there  was  subsisting  in 
his  time  at  Rome  many  evident  proofs  of  its  reality,  besides  a 
yearly  festival,  with  a solemn  sacrifice  and  procession,  in  memory 
of  it.2 

With  all  these  evidences  in  favor  of  this  miracle  having  really 
happened,  it  seems  to  us  so  ridiculous,  that  we  wonder  how  there 
could  ever  have  been  any  so  simple  as  to  believe  it,  yet  we  should 
believe  that  Jesus  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  after  he  had  been 
in  the  tomb  four  days,  our  only  authority  being  that  anonymous 
book  known  as  the  “ Gospel  according  to  St.  John,”  which  was  not 


1 Middleton’s  Letters  from  Rome,  p.  102. 
See  also,  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  16. 

2 Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  one  of  the  most 
accurate  historians  of  antiquity,  says  : “ In  the 
war  with  the  Latins,  Castor  and  Pollux  ap- 
peared visibly  on  white  horses,  and  fought 


on  the  side  of  the  Romans,  who  by  their  as- 
sistance gained  a complete  victory.  As  a per- 
petual memorial  of  it,  a temple  was  erected  and 
a yearly  festival  instituted  in  honor  of  these 
deities.”  (Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  323,  and 
Middleton’s  Letters  f:tom  Rome,  p.  103.) 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


271 


known  until  after  a.  d.  173.  Albert  Barnes,  in  bis  “ Lectures  on 
the  Evidences  of  Christianity,55  speaking  of  the  authenticity  of  the 
Gospel  miracles,  makes  the  following  damaging  confession : 

* ‘ An  important  question  is,  whether  there  is  any  stronger  evidence  in  favor  of 
miracles,  than  there  is  in  favor  of  witchcraft,  or  sorcery,  or  the  re-appearance  of 
the  dead,  of  ghosts,  of  apparitions  ? Is  not  the  evidence  in  favor  of  these  as 
strong  as  any  that  can  be  adduced  in  favor  of  miracles  ? Have  not  these  things 
been  matters  of  universal  belief  ? In  what  respect  is  the  evidence  in  favor  of 
the  miracles  of  the  Bible  stronger  than  that  which  can  be  adduced  in  favor  of 
witchcraft  and  sorcery  ? Does  it  differ  in  nature  and  degrees;  and  if  it  differs, 
is  it  not  in  favor  of  witchcraft  and  sorcery  ? Has  not  the  evidence  in  favor  of 
the  latter  been  derived  from  as  competent  and  reliable  witnesses  ? Has  it  not 
been  brought  to  us  from  those  who  saw  the  facts  alleged  ? Has  it  not  been  sub- 
jected to  a close  scrutiny  in  the  courts  of  justice,  to  cross-examination,  to 
tortures  ? Has  it  not  convinced  those  of  highest  legal  attainments;  those  accus- 
tomed to  sift  testimony;  those  who  understood  the  true  principles  of  evidence? 
Has  not  the  evidence  in  favor  of  witchcraft  and  sorcery  had,  what  the  evidence 
in  favor  of  miracles  has  not  had,  the  advantage  of  strict  judicial  investigation? 
and  been  subjected  to  trial,  where  evidence  should  be,  before  courts  of  law? 
Have  not  the  most  eminent  judges  in  the  most  civilized  and  enlightened  courts 
of  Europe  and  America  admitted  the  force  of  such  evidence,  and  on  the  ground 
of  it  committed  great  numbers  of  innocent  persons  to  the  gallows  and  to  the 
stake?  1 confess  that  of  all  the  questions  ever  asked  on  the  subject  of  miracles,  this  is 
the  most  perplexing  and  the  most  difficult  to  answer.  It  is  rather  to  be  wondered  at 
that  it  has  not  been  pressed  with  more  zeal  by  those  who  deny  the  reality  of 
miracles,  and  that  they  have  placed  their  objections  so  extensively  on  other 
grounds.” 

It  was  a common  adage  among  the  Greeks,  “ Miracles  for 
fools”  and  the  same  proverb  obtained  among  the  shrewder  Bo- 
mans,  in  the  saying : “ The  common  people  like  to  be  deceived — 

deceived  let  them  be.” 

St.  Chrysostom  declares  that  “ miracles  are  proper  only  to  excite 
sluggish  and  vulgar  minds,  men  of  sense  ha/ve  no  occasion  for  them 
and  that  “they  frequently  carry  some  untoward  suspicion  along 
with  them  ;55  and  Saint  Chrysostom,  J erome,  Euthemius,  and  The- 
ophylact,  prove  by  several  instances,  that  real  miracles  had  been 
performed  by  those  who  were  not  Catholic,  but  heretic,  Christians.1 

Celsus  (an  Epicurean  philosopher,  towards  the  close  of  the 
second  century),  the  first  writer  who  entered  the  lists  against  the 
claims  of  the  Christians,  in  speaking  of  the  miracles  which  were 
claimed  to  have  been  performed  by  Jesus,  says : 

“ His  miracles,  granted  to  be  true , were  nothing  more  than  the  common  works 
of  those  enchanters,  who,  for  a few  oboli,  will  perform  greater  deeds  in  the  midst 
of  the  Forum,  calling  up  the  souls  of  heroes,  exhibiting  sumptuous  banquets,  and 
tables  covered  with  food,  which  have  no  reality.  Such  things  do  not  prove  these 
jugglers  to  be  sons  of  God;  nor  do  Christ’s  miracles.”2 


1 See  Prefatory  Discourse  to  vol.  iii.  Mid-  2 See  Origen:  Contra  Celus,  bk.  1,  ch.  lxviii 

dleton’s  Works,  p.  54. 


272 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Ceisus,  in  common  with  most  of  the  Grecians,  looked  upon 
Christianity  as  a blind  faith,  that  shunned  the  light  of  reason.  In 
speaking  of  the  Christians,  he  says  : 

“ They  are  forever  repeating:  ‘ Do  not  examine.  Only  believe,  and  thy  faith 
will  make  thee  blessed.  Wisdom  is  a bad  thing  in  life;  foolishness  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred.’ ”» 

He  jeers  at  the  fact  that  ignorant  men  were  allowed  to  preach, 
and  says  that  “ weavers,  tailors,  fullers,  and  the  most  illiterate  and 
rustic  fellows,1 2 * ” set  up  to  teach  strange  paradoxes.  “ They  openly 
declared  that  none  but  the  ignorant  (were)  fit  disciples  for  the  God 
they  worshiped,”  and  that  one  of  their  rules  was,  a let  no  man  that 
is  learned  come  among  us.”J 

The  miracles  claimed  to  have  been  performed  by  the  Christians, 
he  attributed  to  magic*  and  considered — as  we  have  seen  above — 
their  miracle  performers  to  be  on  the  same  level  with  all  Gentile 
magicians.  He  says  that  the  “ wonder-workers  ” among  the  Chris- 
tians “ rambled  about  to  play  tricks  at  fairs  and  markets,”  that  they 
never  appeared  in  the  circles  of  the  wiser  and  better  sort,  but  al- 
ways took  care  to  intrude  themselves  among  the  ignorant  and  un- 
cultured.4 

“The  magicians  in  Egypt  (says  he),  cast  out  evil  spirits,  cure  diseases  by 
a breath,  call  up  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  make  inanimate  things  move  as  if  they 
were  alive,  and  so  influence  some  uncultured  men,  that  they  produce  in  them 
whatever  sights  and  sounds  they  please.  But  because  they  do  such  things  shall 
we  consider  them  the  sons  of  God?  Or  shall  we  call  such  things  the  tricks  of 
pitiable  and  wicked  men?  ”5 

He  believed  that  Jesus  was  like  all  these  other  wonder-workers, 
that  is,  simply  a necromancer , and  that  he  learned  his  magical  arts 
in  Egypt.6  All  philosophers,  during  the  time  of  the  Early  Fathers, 
answered  the  claims  that  Jesus  performed  miracles,  in  the  same 
manner.  “ They  even  ventured  to  call  him  a magician  and  a de- 
ceiver of  the  people,”  says  Justin  Martyr,7  and  St.  Augustine  as- 
serted that  it  was  generally  believed  that  Jesus  had  been  initiated 
in  magical  art  in  Egypt,  and  that  he  had  written  books  concerning 
magic,  one  of  which  was  called  “ Magia  Jesu  Ghristi In  the 
Clementine  Recognitions,  the  charge  is  brought  against  Jesus  that 
he  did  not  perform  his  miracles  as  a Jewish  prophet,  but  as  a ma- 
gician, an  initiate  of  the  heathen  temples.9 

1 See  Origen:  Contra  Ceisus,  bk.  1,  ch.  ix.  8 See  Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  148. 

2 Ibid  bk.  iii.  ch.  xliv.  9 See  Baring-Gould’s  Lost  and  Hostile  Gos- 

8 Ibid.  pels.  A knowledge  of  magic  had  spread  from 

4 Ibid.  bk.  1,  ch.  lxviii.  Central  Asia  into  Syria,  by  means  of  the  retun. 

8 Ibid.  of  the  Jews  from  Babylon,  and  had  afterwards 

9 Ibid.  extended  widely,  through  the  mixing  of  na- 

7 Dial.  Cum.  Typho.  ch.  lxix.  tions  produced  by  Alexander’s  conquests. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


273 


The  casting  out  of  devils  was  the  most  frequent  and  among  the 
most  striking  and  the  oftenest  appealed  to  of  the  miracles  of  Jesus ; 
yet,  in  the  conversation  between  himself  and  the  Pharisees  (Matt, 
xii.  24-27),  he  speaks  of  it  as  one  that  was  constantly  and  habitually 
performed  by  their  own  exorcists  ; and,  so  far  from  insinuating  any 
difference  between  the  two  cases,  expressly  puts  them  on  a level. 

One  of  the  best  proofs,  and  most  unquestionable,  that  Jesus  was 
accused  of  being  a magician , or  that  some  of  the  early  Christians 
believed  him  to  have  been  such,  may  be  found  in  the  representations 
of  him  performing  miracles.  On  a sarcophagus  to  be  found  in  the 
Museo  Gregoriano , which  is  paneled  with  bas-reliefs,  is  to  be  seen 
a representation  of  Jesus  raising  Lazarus  from  the  grave.  He  is 
represented  as  a young  man,  beardless,  and  equipped  with  a wand 
in  the  received  guise  of  a necromemcer , whilst  the  corpse  of  Laz- 
arus is  swathed  in  bandages  exactly  as  an  Egyptian  mummy.1 *  On 
other  Christian  monuments  representing  the  miracles  of  Jesus,  he 
is  pictured  in  the  same  manner.  For  instance,  when  he  is  repre- 
sented as  turning  the  water  into  wine,  and  multiplying  the  bread  in 
the  wilderness,  he  is  a necromancer  with  a wand  in  his  hand.’ 

Horus , the  Egyptian  Saviour,  is  represented  on  the  ancient 
monuments  of  Egypt,  with  a wand  in  his  hand  raising  the  dead' 
to  life , “ just  as  we  see  Christ  doing  the  same  thing,”  says  J.  P. 
Lundy,  “ in  the  same  way,  to  Lazarus,  in  our  Christian  monu- 
ments.”3 

Dr.  Conyers  Middleton,  speaking  of  the  primitive  Christians, 
says : 

“ In  the  performance  of  their  miracles,  they  were  always  charged  with  fraud 
and  imposture,  by  their  adversaries.  Lucian  (who  flourished  during  the  second 
century),  tells  us  that  whenever  any  crafty  juggler,  expert  in  his  trade,  and  who 
knew  how  to  make  a right  use  of  things,  went  over  to  the  Christians,  he  was 
sure  to  grow  rich  immediately,  by  making  a prey  of  their  simplicity.  And 
Celsus  represents  all  the  Christian  wonder-workers  as  mere  vagabonds  and  com- 
mon cheats,  who  rambled  about  to  play  their  tricks  at  fairs  and  markets;  not  in 
the  circles  of  the  wiser  and  the  better  sort,  for  among  such  they  never  ventured  to 
appear,  but  wherever  they  observed  a set  of  raw  young  fellows,  slaves  or  fools, 
there  they  took  care  to  intrude  themselves,  and  to  display  all  their  arts.  ”4 

The  same  charge  was  constantly  urged  against  them  by  Julian, 
Porphyry  and  others.  Similar  sentiments  were  entertained  by  Poly- 
bius, the  Pagan  philosopher,  who  considered  all  miracles  as  fables, 
invented  to  preserve  in  the  unlearned  a due  sense  of  respect  for  the 
deity.5 


1 See  King’s  Gnostics,  p.  145.  Monumental  H i st.  of  Our  Lord,  vol.  i.  p.  16. 
Christianity,  pp.  100  and  402,  and  Jameson’s  8 Monumental  Christianity,  pp.  403-405. 

Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,  rol.  i.  p.  16.  4 Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  19. 

3 See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  402,  and  5 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  59. 


274 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Edward  Gibbon,  speaking  of  the  miracles  of  the  Christians, 
writes  in  his  familiar  style  as  follows : 

“ How  shall  we  excuse  the  supine  inattention  of  the  Pagan  and  philosophic 
world,  to  those  evidences  which  were  represented  by  the  hand  of  Omnipotence, 
not  to  their  reason,  but  to  their  senses?  During  the  age  of  Christ,  of  his  apostles, 
and  of  their  first  disciples,  the  doctrine  which  they  preached  was  confirmed  by 
innumerable  prodigies.  The  lame  walked,  the  blind  saw,  the  sick  were  healed, 
the  dead  were  raised,  demons  were  expelled,  and  the  laws  of  nature  were  fre- 
quently suspended  for  the  benefit  of  the  church.  But  the  sages  of  Greece  and 
Rome  turned  aside  from  the  awful  spectacle,  and,  pursuing  the  ordinary  occupa- 
tions of  life  and  study,  appeared  unconscious  of  any  alterations  in  the  moral  or 
physical  government  of  the  world.”1 

The  learned  Dr.  Middleton,  whom  we  have  quoted  on  a preced- 
ing page,  after  a searching  inquiry  into  the  miraculous  powers  of 
the  Christians,  says : 

“ From  these  short  hints  and  characters  of  the  primitive  wonder-workers,  as 
given  both  by  friends  and  enemies,  we  may  fairly  conclude,  that  the  celebrated 
gifts  of  these  ages  were  generally  engrossed  and  exercised  by  the  primitive 
Christians,  chiefly  of  the  laity,  who  used  to  travel  about  from  city  to  city,  to  assist 
the  ordinary  pastors  of  the  church,  and  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  in  the  conversion 
of  Pagans,  by  the  extraordinary  gifts  with  which  they  were  supposed  to  be 
indued  by  the  spirit  of  God,  and  the  miraculous  works  which  they  pretended 
to  perform.  . . . 

“We  have  just  reason  to  suspect  that  there  was  some  original  fraud  in  the 
case;  and  that  the  strolling  wonder-workers,  by  a dexterity  of  jugglery  which 
art,  not  heaven,  had  taught  them,  imposed  upon  the  credulity  of  the  pious  Fathers, 
whose  strong  prejudices  and  ardent  zeal  for  the  interest  of  Christianity  would 
dispose  them  to  embrace,  without  examination,  whatever  seemed  to  promote  so 
good  a cause.  That  this  was  really  the  case  in  some  instances,  is  certain  and 
notorious,  and  that  it  was  so  in  all,  will  appear  still  more  probable,  when  we 
have  considered  the  particular  characters  of  the  several  Fathers,  on  whose  testi- 
mony the  credit  of  these  wonderful  narratives  depends.”2 

Again  he  says : 

“The  pretended  miracles  of  the  primitive  church  were  all  mere  fictions, 
which  the  pious  and  zealous  Fathers,  partly  from  a weak  credulity,  and  partly 
from  reasons  of  policy,  believing  some  perhaps  to  be  true,  and  knowing  all  of 
them  to  be  useful,  were  induced  to  espouse  and  propagate,  for  the  support  of  a 
righteous  cause.”3 

Origen,  a Christian  Father  of  the  third  century,  uses  the  follow- 
ing words  in  his  answer  to  Celsus  : 

“ A vast  number  of  persons  who  have  left  those  horrid  debaucheries  in  which 
they  formerly  wallowed,  and  have  professed  to  embrace  the  Christian  religion, 


1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  p.  588.  An  emi- 
nent heathen  challenged  his  Christian  friend 

Theophilus,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  a champion 
of  the  Gospel,  to  show  him  but  one  person 
who  had  been  raised  from  the  dead,  on  the 

condition  of  turning  Christian  himself  upon 
it.  The  Christian  bishop  yoas  unable  to  give 


him  that  satisfaction.  (See  Gibbon’s  Rome, 
vol.  i.  p.  541,  and  Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i. 

p.  60.) 

2 Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  pp.  20,  21. 

8 Ibid.  p.  62.  The  Christian  Fathers  are 
noted  for  their  frauds.  Their  writings  are  full 
of  falsehoods  and  deceit. 


TIIE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


275 


shall  receive  a bright  and  massive  crown  when  this  frail  and  short  life  is  ended, 
though  they  don't  stand  to  examine  the  grounds  on  which  their  faith  is  built,  nor 
defer  their  conversion  till  they  have  a fair  opportunity  and  capacity  to  apply 
themselves  to  rational  and  learned  studies.  And  since  our  adversaries  are  con- 
tinually making  such  a stir  about  our  taking  things  on  trust,  I answer,  that  we, 
who  see  plainly  and  have  found  the  vast  advantage  that  the  common  people  do 
manifestly  and  frequently  reap  thereby  (who  make  up  by  far  the  greater  num- 
ber), I say,  we  (the  Christian  clergy),  who  are  so  well  advised  of  these  things, 
do  professedly  teach  men  to  believe  without  examination. 5,1 

Origen  flourished  and  wrote  a.  d.  225-235,  which  shows  that  at 
that  early  day  there  was  no  rational  evidence  for  Christianity,  but 
it  was  professedly  taught,  and  men  were  supposed  to  believe  “ these 
things  ” {i.e.  the  Christian  legends)  without  severe  examination. 

The  primitive  Christians  were  perpetually  reproached  for  their 
gross  credulity,  by  all  their  enemies.  Celsus,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  declares  thac  they  cared  neither  to  receive  nor  give  any  reason 
for  their  faith,  and  that  it  was  a usual  saying  with  them  : “ Do  not 
examine,  but  believe  only,  and  thy  faith  will  save  thee and  Julian 
affirms  that,  “ the  sum  of  all  their  wisdom  was  comprised  in  the 
single  precept,  ‘ believe?  ” 

Arnobius,  speaking  of  this,  says  : 

“ The  Gentiles  make  it  their  constant  business  to  laugh  at  our  faith,  and  to 
lash  our  credulity  with  their  facetious  jokes.” 

The  Christian  Fathers  defended  themselves  against  these 
charges  by  declaring  that  they  did  nothing  more  than  the  heathens 
themselves  had  always  done ; and  reminds  them  that  they  too  had 
found  the  same  method  useful  with  the  uneducated  or  common 
people,  who  were  not  at  leisure  to  examine  things,  and  whom  they 
taught  therefore,  to  believe  without  reason.3 

This  “ believing  without  reason ” is  illustrated  in  the  following 
words  of  Tertullian,  a Christian  Father  of  the  second  century,  who 
reasons  on  the  evidence  of  Christianity  as  follows : 

“I  find  no  other  means  to  prove  myself  to  be  impudent  with  success,  and 
happily  a fool,  than  by  my  contempt  of  shame;  as,  for  instance — I maintain 
that  the  son  of  God  was  born : why  am  I not  ashamed  of  maintaining  such  a 
thing?  Why!  but  because  it  is  a shameful  thing.  I maintain  that  the  son  of 
God  died:  well,  that  is  wholly  credible  because  it  is  monstrously  absurd.  I 
maintain  that  after  having  been  buried,  he  rose  again : and  that  I take  to  be  ab- 
solutely true,  because  it  was  manifestly  impossible.”3 

According  to  the  very  books  which  record  the  miracles  of  Jesus, 
he  never  claimed  to  perform  such  deeds,  and  Paul  declares  that  the 
great  reason  why  Israel  did  not  believe  Jesus  to  be  the  Messiah  was 


1 Contra  Celsus,  bk.  1,  ch.  ix.  x. 

2 See  Middleton’s  Works,  pp.  62,  63,  64. 


3 On  The  Flesh  of  Christ,  ch.  v. 


276 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


that  “ the  Jews  required  a sign.”1  He  meant : “ Signs  and  wonders 
are  the  only  proofs  they  will  admit  that  any  one  is  sent  by  God  and 
is  preaching  the  truth.  If  they  cannot  have  this  palpable,  external 
proof,  they  withhold  their  faith.” 

A writer  of  the  second  century  (John,  in  ch.  iv.  18)  makes  Jesus 
aim  at  his  fellow-countrymen  and  contemporaries,  the  reproach  : 
“ Unless  you  see  signs  and  wonders,  you  do  not  believe.”  In  con- 
nection with  Paul’s  declaration,  given  above,  these  words  might  be 
paraphrased:  “The  reason  why  the  Jews  never  believed  in  Jesus 
was  that  they  never  saw  him  do  signs  and  wonders.” 

Listen  to  the  reply  he  (Jesus)  made  when  told  that  if  he  wanted 
people  to  believe  in  him  he  must  first  prove  his  claim  by  a miracle : 
“ A wicked  and  adulterous  generation  asks  for  a sign , and  no  sign 
shall  be  given  it  except  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonas.”2  Of 
course,  this  answer  did  not  in  the  least  degree  satisfy  the  question- 
ers ; so  they  presently  came  to  him  again  with  a more  direct  re- 
quest : “If  the  kingdom  of  God  is,  as  you  say,  close  at  hand,  show 
us  at  least  some  one  of  the  signs  in  heaven  which  are  to  precede  the 
Messianic  age.”  What  could  appear  more  reasonable  than  such  a 
request  ? Every  one  knew  that  the  end  of  the  present  age  was  to 
be  heralded  by  fearful  signs  in  heaven.  The  light  of  the  sun  was 
to  be  put  out,  the  moon  turned  to  blood,  the  stars  robbed  of  their 
brightness,  and  many  other  fearful  signs  were  to  be  shown  !3  If  any 
one  of  these  could  be  produced,  they  would  be  content ; but  if  not, 
they  must  decline  to  surrender  themselves  to  an  idle  joy  which 
must  end  in  a bitter  disappointment ; and  surely  Jesus  himself 
could  hardly  expect  them  to  believe  in  him  on  his  bare  word. 

Historians  have  recorded  miracles  said  to  have  been  performed 
by  other  persons,  but  not  a word  is  said  by  them  about  the  miracles 
claimed  to  have  been  performed  by  Jesus. 

Justus  of  Tiberias,  who  was  born  about  five  years  after  the  time 
assigned  for  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  wrote  a Jewish  History . 
How,  if  the  miracles  attributed  to  Christ  Jesus,  and  his  death  and 
resurrection,  had  taken  place  in  the  manner  described  by  the  Gos- 
pel narrators,  he  could  not  have  failed  to  allude  to  them.  But 
Pliotius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  tells  us  that  it  contained  “ no 
mention  of  the  coming  of  Christ , nor  of  the  events  concerning  him , 
nor  of  the  prodigies  he  wrought .”  As  Theodore  Parker  has  re- 
marked : “ The  miracle  is  of  a most  fluctuating  character.  The 
miracle-worker  of  to-day  is  a matter-of-fact  jnggler  to-morrow. 


1 1.  Corinthians,  i.  22,  23. 

3 Matt.  xii.  29. 

■ See,  for  example,  Joel,  ii.  10,  31  ; iii.  15  ; 


Matt.  xxiv.  29,  30  ; Acts,  ii.  19,  20  ; Revela 
tions,  vi.  12,  13  ; xvi.  18,  et  seq. 


THE  MIRACLES  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


277 


Science  each  year  adds  new  wonders  to  our  store.  The  master  of 
a locomotive  steam-engine  would  have  been  thought  greater  than 
Jupiter  Tonans,  or  the  Elohim,  thirty  centuries  ago.” 

In  the  words  of  Dr.  Oort : “ Our  increased  knowledge  of  nature 
has  gradually  undermined  the  belief  in  the  possibility  of  miracles, 
and  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  in  the  mind  of  every  man,  of 
any  culture,  all  accounts  of  miracles  will  be  banished  together  to 
their  proper  region — that  of  legend” 

What  had  been  said  to  have  been  done  in  India  was  said  by  the 
“ half  Jew  ” 1 writers  of  the  Gospels  to  have  been  done  in  Palestine. 
The  change  of  names  and  places,  with  the  mixing  up  of  various 
sketches  of  Egyptian , Phenician , Greek  and  Roman  mythology, 
was  all  that  was  necessary.  They  had  an  abundance  of  material, 
and  with  it  they  built.  A long-continued  habit  of  imposing  upon 
others  would  in  time  subdue  the  minds  of  the  impostors  themselves, 
and  cause  them  to  become  at  length  the  dupes  of  their  own  decep- 
tion. 


1 The  writers  of  the  Gospels  were  “ I know  not  what  sort  of  half  Jews,  not  even  agreeing 
with  themselves.”  (Bishop  Faustns.) 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


CHRIST  CRISHNA  AND  CHRIST  JESUS  COMPARED. 


Believing  and  affirming,  that  the  mythological  portion  of  the 
history  of  Jesus  of  Hazareth,  contained  in  the  books  forming  the 
Canon  of  the  Hew  Testament,  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  a copy 
of  the  mythological  histories  of  the  Hindoo  Saviour  Crishna , and 
the  Buddhist  Saviour  Buddha ,x  with  a mixture  of  mythology  bor- 
rowed from  the  Persians  and  other  nations,  we  shall  in  this  and  the 
chapter  following,  compare  the  histories  of  these  Christs , side  by 
side  with  that  of  Christ  Jesus,  the  Christian  Saviour. 

In  comparing  the  history  of  Crishna  with  that  of  Jesus,  we  have 
the  following  remarkable  parallels : 


1.  “ Crishna  was  born  of  a chaste 
virgin,  called  Devaki,  who  was  selected 
by  the  Lord  for  this  purpose  on  ac- 
count of  her  purity.”1 2 

2.  A chorus  of  Devatas  celebrated 

with  song  the  praise  of  Devaki,  ex- 
claiming : “In  the  delivery  of  this 

favored  woman  all  nature  shall  have 
cause  to  exult.”4 

3.  The  birth  of  Crishna  was  an- 
nounced in  the  heavens  by  his  star ,6 


1.  Jesus  was  born  of  a chaste  virgin, 
called  Mary,  who  was  selected  by  the 
Lord  for  this  purpose,  on  account  of 
her  purity.3 

2.  The  angel  of  the  Lord  saluted 

Mary,  and  said:  “Hail  Mary!  the 

Lord  is  with  you,  you  are  blessed  above 
all  women,  . . . for  thou  hast  found 
favor  with  the  Lord.”5 

3.  The  birth  of  Jesus  was  an- 
nounced in  the  heavens  by  his  star f 


1  It  is  also  very  evident  that  the  history  of 
Crishna— or  that  part  of  it  at  least  which  has  a 
religious  aspect— is  taken  from  that  of  Buddha. 
Crishna,  in  the  ancient  epic  poems,  is  simply  a 
great  hero,  and  it  is  not  until  about  the  fourth 
century  b.  c.,  that  he  is  deiced  and  declared  to 

be  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  or  Vishnu  him- 

self in  human  form.  (See  Monier  Williams’ 
Hinduism,  pp.  102,  103.) 

“ If  it  be  urged  that  the  attribution  to 

Crishna  of  qualities  or  powers  belonging  to  the 
other  deities  is  a mere  device  by  which  his  de- 
votees sought  to  supersede  the  more  ancient 

gods,  the  answer  must  be  that  nothing  is  done  in 
his  case  which  has  not  been  done  in  the  case  of 
almost  every  other  member  of  the  great  company 
of  the  gods,  and  that  the  systematic  adoption 


of  this  method  is  itself  conclusive  proof  of  the 
looseness  and  flexibility  of  the  materials  of 
which  the  cumbrous  mythology  of  the  Hindu 
epic  poems  is  composed.”  (Cox  : Aryan  My- 
thology, vol.  ii.  p.  130.)  These  words  apply 
very  forcibly  to  the  history  of  Christ  Jesus. 
He  being  attributed  with  qualities  and  powers 
belonging  to  the  deities  of  the  heathen  is  a 
mere  device  by  which  his  devotees  sought  to 
supersede  the  more  ancient  gods. 

2 See  ch.  xii. 

3 See  The  Gospel  of  Mary,  Apoc.,  ch.  vii. 

4 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  329. 

6 Mary,  Apoc.,  vii.  Luke,  i.  28-80. 

6 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  pp.  317  and  33d. 

* Matt.  ii.  2. 


[278] 


CRISIINA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


279 


4.  On  the  morn  of  Crishna’s  birth, 
“ the  quarters  of  the  horizon  were  ir- 
radiate with  joy,  as  if  moonlight  was 
diffused  over  the  whole  earth ‘ ‘ the 
spirits  and  nymphs  of  heaven  danced 
and  sang,”  and  “the  clouds  emitted 
low  pleasing  sounds.”1 2 

5.  Crishna,  though  royally  descend- 
ed, was  actually  born  in  a state  the 
most  abject  and  humiliating,  having 
been  brought  into  the  world  in  a cave.3 

6.  ‘ * The  moment  Crishna  was  born, 
the  whole  cave  was  splendidly  illumi- 
nated, and  the  countenances  of  his 
father  and  his  mother  emitted  rays  of 
glory.”6 

7.  ‘ ‘ Soon  after  Crishna’s  mother 
was  delivered  of  him,  and  while  she 
was  weeping  over  him  and  lamenting 
his  unhappy  destiny,  the  compassionate 
infant  assumed  the  power  of  speech, 
and  soothed  and  comforted  his  afflicted 
parent,”7 

8.  The  divine  child — Crishna — was 
recognized,  and  adored  by  cowherds, 
who  prostrated  themselves  before  the 
heaven-born  child.9 

9.  Crishna  was  received  with  divine 
honors,  and  presented  with  gifts  of 
sandal-wood  and  perfumes.11 

10.  “ Soon  after  the  birth  of  Crish- 
na, the  holy  Indian  prophet  Nared, 
hearing  of  the  fame  of  the  infant 
Crishna,  pays  him  a visit  at  Gokul,  ex- 
amines the  stars,  and  declares  him  to 
be  of  celestial  descent.”13 

11.  Crishna  was  born  at  a time  when 
Nanda— his  foster-father — was  away 
from  home,  having  come  to  the  city  to 
pay  his  tax  or  yearly  tribute,  to  the 
king. 15 


4.  When  Jesus  was  born,  the  angels 
of  heaven  sang  with  joy,  and  from  the 
clouds  there  came  pleasing  sounds.*  r 


5.  “The  birth  of  Jesus,  the  King 
of  Israel,  took  place  under  circumstan- 
ces of  extreme  indigence;  and  the  place 
of  his  nativity,  according  to  the  united 
voice  of  the  ancients,  and  of  oriental 
travelers,  was  in  a cave.”4 * 

6.  The  moment  Jesus  was  born, 
“there  was  a great  light  in  the  cave, 
so  that  the  eyes  of  Joseph  and  the  mid- 
wife could  not  bear  it.6” 

7.  “ Jesus  spake  even  when  he  was 
in  his  cradle,  and  said  to  his  mother: 
‘Mary,  I am  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God, 
that  Word  which  thou  didst  bring  forth 
according  to  the  declaration  of  the 
Angel  Gabriel  unto  thee,  and  my  Father 
hath  sent  me  for  the  salvation  of  the 
world.’  ”8 

8.  The  divine  child — Jesus — was 
recognized,  and  adored  by  shepherds, 
who  prostrated  themselves  before  the 
heaven-born  child. 10 

9.  Jesus  was  received  with  divine 
honors,  and  presented  with  gifts  of 
frankincense  and  myrrh. 12 

10.  “ Now  when  Jesus  was  born  in 
Bethlehem  of  Judea,  behold,  there  came 
wise  men  from  the  East,  saying  : 
Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the 
Jews,  for  we  have  seen  his  star  in  the 
East  and  have  come  to  worship  him.”14 

11.  Jesus  was  born  at  a time  when 
Joseph — his  foster-father — was  away 
from  home,  having  come  to  the  city  to 
pay  his  tax  or  tribute  to  the  governor. 16 


1 Vishnu  Purana,  p.  502. 

2 Luke,  ii.  13. 

8  See  ch.  xvi. 

4 Hist.  Hindostan,  vo).  ii.  p.  311.  See  also, 

■chap.  xvi. 

6 See  ch.  xvi. 

6 Protevangelion,  Apoc.,  chs.  xii.  and  xiii. 

7 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  311. 

* Infancy,  Apoc.,  ch.  i.  2,  3. 


9  See  ch.  xv. 

10  Luke,  ii.  8-10. 

11  See  Oriental  Religions,  p.  500,  and  Inman’a 
Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  353. 

72  Matt.  ii.  2. 

13  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  317. 

14  Matt.,  ii.  1,  2. 

18  Vishnu  Purana,  bk.  v.  ch.  iii. 

16  Luke,  ii.  1-17. 


280 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


12.  Crishna,  although  horn  in  a state 
the  most  abject  and  humiliating,  was 
of  royal  descent. 1 

13.  Crishna’s  father  was  warned  by 
u “heavenly  voice,”  to  “fly  with  the 
child  to  Gacool,  across  the  river  Jum- 
na,” as  the  reigning  monarch  sought 
his  life.3 

14.  The  ruler  of  the  country  in 
which  Crishna  was  born,  having  been 
informed  of  the  birth  of  the  divine 
child,  sought  to  destroy  him.  For  this 
purpose,  he  ordered  ‘ ‘ the  massacre  in 
all  his  states,  of  all  the  children  of  the 
male  sex,  born  during  the  night  of  the 
birth  of  Crishna.”6 

15.  * ‘ Mathura  (pronounced  Mattra), 
was  the  city  in  which  Crishna  was 
born,  where  his  most  extraordinary 
miracles  were  performed,  and  which 
continues  at  this  day  the  place  where 
his  name  and  Avatar  are  held  in  the 
most  sacred  veneration  of  any  province 
in  Hindostan.”7 

16.  Crishna  was  preceded  by  Rama , 
who  was  born  a short  time  before  him, 
and  whose  life  was  sought  by  Kansa, 
the  ruling  monarch,  at  the  time  he  at- 
tempted to  destroy  the  infant  Crishna.9 

17.  Crishna,  being  brought  up  among 
shepherds,  wanted  the  advantage  of  a 
preceptor  to  teach  him  the  sciences. 
Afterwards,  when  he  went  to  Mathura, 
a tutor,  profoundly  learned,  was  ob- 
tained for  him  ; but,  in  a very  short 
time,  he  became  such  a scholar  as 
mtterly  to  astonish  and  perplex  his 
master  with  a variety  of  the  most  in- 
tricate questions  in  Sanscrit  science.11 


1 Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  259.  Hist. 
Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  310. 

2 See  the  Genealogies  in  Matt,  and  Luke. 

3 See  ch.  xviii. 

4 Matt.  ii.  13. 

6 See  ch.  xviii. 

8 Matt.  ii.  16. 

7 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  317.  Asiatic 
Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  259. 

8 Introduc.  to  Infancy,  Apoc.  Higgins  : An- 

acalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  130.  Savary  : Travels  in 


12.  Jesus,  although  bom  in  a state 
the  most  abject  and  humiliating,  was 
of  royal  descent.2 

13.  Jesus’  father  was  warned  “in 
a dream  ” to  “ take  the  young  child 
and  his  mother,  and  flee  into  Egypt,” 
as  the  reigning  monarch1  sought  his 
life.4 * 

14.  The  ruler  of  the  country  in 
which  Jesus  was  born,  having  been 
informed  of  the  birth  of  the  divine 
child,  sought  to  destroy  him.  For  this 
purpose,  he  ordered  “all  the  children 
that  were  in  Bethlehem,  and  in  all  the 
coasts  thereof,”  to  be  slain.6 

15.  Matarea,  near  Hermopolis,  in 
Egypt,  is  said  to  have  been  the  place 
where  Jesus  resided  during  his  absence 
from  the  land  of  Judea.  At  this  place 
he  is  reported  to  have  wrought  many 
miracles.8 


16.  Jesus  was  preceded  by  John 
the  “divine  herald,”  who  was  born  a 
short  time  before  him,  and  whose  life 
was  sought  by  Herod,  the  ruling  mon- 
arch, at  the  time  he  attempted  to 
destroy  the  infant  Jesus.10 

17.  Jesus  was  sent  to  Zaccheus  the 
schoolmaster,  who  wrote  out  an  alpha- 
bet for  him,  and  bade  him  say  Aleph. 
“Then  the  Lord  Jesus  said  to  him. 
Tell  me  first  the  meaning  of  the  letter 
Aleph,  and  then  I will  pronounce  Beth, 
and  when  the  master  threatened  to 
whip  him,  the  Lord  Jesus  explained 
to  him  the  meaning  of  the  letters  Aleph 
and  Beth ; also  which  where  the 
straight  figures  of  the  letters,  which 
the  oblique,  and  what  letters  had 


Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  126,  in  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii, 
p.  318. 

9  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  316. 

10  “ Elizabeth,  hearing  that  her  son  John 
was  about  to  be  searched  for  (by  Herod),  took 
him  and  went  up  into  the  mountains,  and  looked 
around  for  a place  to  hide  him.  . . . But 
Herod  made  search  after  John,  and  sent  servants 
to  Zacharias,”  &c.  (Protevangelion,  Apoc. 
ch.  xvi.) 

11  Hist.  Hindostan.  vol.  ii.  p.  321. 


CRISHNA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


281 


18.  “At  a certain  time,  Crishna, 
taking  a walk  with  the  other  cow- 
herds, they  chose  him  their  King,  and 
every  one  had  his  place  assigned  him 
under  the  new  King.”1 2 3 

19.  Some  of  Crishna’s  play-fellows 
were  stung  by  a serpent,  and  he,  filled 
with  compassion  at  their  untimely  fate, 
* * and  casting  upon  them  an  eye  of 
divine  mercy,  they  immediately  rose,” 
and  were  restored.4 

20.  Crishna’s  companions,  with 
some  cal  ves,  were  stolen,  and  hid  in  a 
cave,  whereupon  Crishna,  “by  his 
power,  created  other  calves  and  boys, 
in  all  things,  perfect  resemblances  of 
the  others.  ”6 

21.  “ One  of  the  first  miracles  per- 
formed by  Crishna,  when  mature,  was 
the  curing  of  a leper.  ”8 

22.  A poor  cripple,  or  lame  woman, 
came,  with  “ a vessel  filled  with  spices, 
sweet-scented  oils,  sandal-wood,  saffron, 
civet,  and  other  perfumes,  and  made  a 
certain  sign  on  his  (Crishna’s)  forehead, 
casting  the  rest  upon  his  head .”10 

23.  Crishna  was  crucified,  and  he 
is  represented  with  arms  extended, 
hanging  on  a cross. 12 

24.  At  the  time  of  the  death  of 
Crishna,  there  came  calamities  and  bad 
omens  of  every  kind.  A black  circle 
surrounded  the  moon,  and  the  sun  was 
darkened  at  noon-day  ; the  sky  rained 
fire  and  ashes ; flames  burned  dusky 
and  livid;  demons  committed  depreda- 


double  figures;  which  had  points,  and 
which  had  none  ; why  one  letter  went 
before  another;  and  many  other  things 
he  began  to  tell  him  and  explain,  of 
which  the  master  himself  had  never 
heard,  nor  read  in  any  book.”1 

18.  “In  the  month  Adar,  Jesus 

gathered  together  the  boys,  and  ranked 
them  as  though  he  had  been  a King. 
. . . And  if  any  one  happened  to 

pass  by,  they  took  him  by  force,  and 
said,  Come  hither,  and  worship  the 
King.  ”3 

19.  When  Jesus  was  at  play,  a boy 
was  stung  by  a serpent,  “and  he  (Jesus) 
touched  the  boy  with  his  hand,”  and 
he  was  restored  to  his  former  health.5 


20.  Jesus’  companions,  who  had  hid 
themselves  in  a furnace,  were  turned  in- 
to kids,  whereupon  Jesus  said:  “ Come 
hither,  0 boys,  that  we  may  go  and  play ; 
and  immediately  the  kids  were  changed 
into  the  shape  of  boys.  ”7 

21.  One  of  the  first  miracles  per- 
formed by  Jesus,  when  mature,  was 
the  curing  of  a leper.9 

22.  “Now,  when  Jesus  was  in 
Bethany,  in  the  house  of  Simon  the 
leper,  there  came  unto  him  a woman 
having  an  alabaster  box  of  very  preci- 
ous ointment,  and  poured  it  on  his  head, 
as  he  sat  at  meat.”11 

23.  Jesus  was  crucified,  and  he  is 
represented  with  arms  extended,  hang- 
ing on  a cross. 

24.  At  the  time  of  the  death  of 
Jesus,  there  came  calamities  of  many 
kinds.  The  veil  of  the  temple  was 
rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the  bot- 
tom, the  sun  was  darkened  from  the 
sixth  to  the  ninth  hour,  and  the  graves 
were  opened,  and  many  bodies  of  the 


1 Infancy,  Apoc.,  ch.  xx.  1-8. 

3 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  321. 

3 Infancy,  Apoc.,  ch.  xviii.  1-3. 

4 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  343. 

* Infancy,  Apoc.,  ch.  xviii. 

6  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  340.  &.ryan 

Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  136. 


7 Infancy,  Apoc.,  ch.  xvii. 

8 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  319,  and  ch. 
xxvii.  this  work. 

• Matthew,  viii.  2. 

10  Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  320. 

11  Matt.  xxvi.  6 7. 

13  See  ch.  xx. 


282 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


tions  on  earth  ; at  sunrise  and  sunset, 
thousands  of  figures  were  seen  skir- 
mishing in  the  air;  spirits  were  to  he 
seen  on  all  sides. 1 

25.  Crishna  was  pierced  with  an 
arrow.3 

26.  Crishna  said  to  the  hunter  who 
shot  him:  “Go,  hunter,  through  my 
favor,  to  heaven,  the  abode  of  the 
gods.  ”5 

27.  Crishna  descended  into  hell.7 

28.  Crishna,  after  being  put  to 
death,  rose  again  from  the  dead.9 

29.  Crishna  ascended  bodily  into 
heaven,  and  many  persons  witnessed 
his  ascent. 11 

80.  Crishna  is  to  come  again  on 
earth  in  the  latter  days.  He  will  appear 
among  mortals  as  an  armed  warrior, 
riding  a white  horse.  At  his  approach 
the  sun  and  moon  will  be  darkened, 
the  earth  will  tremble,  and  the  stars 
fall  from  the  firmament. 13 

31.  Crishna  is  to  be  judge  of  the 
dead  at  the  last  day. 15 

32.  Crishna  is  the  creator  of  all 
things  visible  and  invisible;  “all  this 
universe  came  into  being  through  him, 
the  eternal  maker.”17 

33.  Crishna  is  Alpha  and  Omega, 
“the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the 
end  of  all  things.”19 

34.  Crishna,  when  on  earth,  was  in 
constant  strife  against  the  evil  spirit.21 
He  surmounts  extraordinary  dangers, 
strews  his  way  with  miracles,  raising 
the  dead,  healing  the  sick,  restoring  the 
maimed,  the  deaf  and  the  blind,  every- 


saints  which  slept  ai  ase  and  came  out 
of  their  graves.2 


25.  Jesus  was  pierced  with  a spear 

26.  Jesus  said  to  one  of  the  male- 
factors who  was  crucified  with  him  : 
“ Verily  I say  unto  thee,  this  day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  paradise.”6 

27.  Jesus  descended  into  hell.8 

28.  Jesus,  after  being  put  to  death, 
rose  again  from  the  dead. 10 

29.  Jesus  ascended  bodily  into 
heaven,  and  many  persons  witnessed 
his  ascent.12 

30.  Jesus  is  to  come  again  on  earth 
in  the  latter  days.  He  will  appear 
among  mortals  as  an  armed  warrior, 
riding  a white  horse.  At  his  approach, 
the  sun  and  moon  will  be  darkened, 
the  earth  will  tremble,  and  the  stars 
fall  from  the  firmament. 14 

31.  Jesus  is  to  be  judge  of  the  dead 
at  the  last  day. 16 

32.  Jesus  is  the  creator  of  all  things 
visible  and  invisible ; “ all  this  universe 
came  into  being  through  him,  the 
eternal  maker.”18 

33.  Jesus  is  Alpha  and  Omega,  the 
beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end  of 
all  things.20 

34.  Jesus,  when  on  earth,  was  in 
constant  strife  against  the  evil  spirit.22 
He  surmounts  extraordinary  dangers, 
strews  his  way  with  miracles,  raising 
the  dead,  healing  the  sick,  restoring 
the  maimed,  the  deaf  and  the  blind, . 


1 Frog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  71. 

2 Matt.  xxii.  Luke,  xxviii. 

3 See  ch.  xx. 

4 John,  xix.  34. 

6 See  Vishnu  Purana,  p.  612. 

6 Luke,  xxiii.  43. 

7 See  ch.  xxii. 

3 See  Ibid. 

9  See  ch.  xxiii. 

10  Matt,  xxviii. 

11  See  ch.  xxiii. 

12  See  Acts,  i.  9-11. 

13  See  ch.  xxiv. 

14  See  passages  quoted  in  ch.  xxiv. 

16  See  Oriental  Religions,  p.  504. 

18  Matt.  xxiv.  31.  Rom.  xiv.  10. 

17  See  ch.  xxvi. 


18  John,  i.  3.  I.  Cor.  viii.  6.  Eph.  iii.  9. 

19  See  Geeta,  lec.  x.  p.  85. 

20  Rev.  i.  8,  11 ; xxii.  13  ; xxi.  6. 

21  He  is  described  as  a superhuman  organ 
of  light,  to  whom  the  superhuman  organ  of 
darkness,  the  evil  serpent,  was  opposed.  He 
is  represented  “ bruising  the  head  of  the  ser- 
pent,” and  standing  upon  him.  (See  illustra- 
tions in  vol.  i.  Asiatic  Researches ; vol.  ii. 
Higgins’  Anacalypsis  ; Calmet’s  Fragments, 
and  other  works  illustrating  Hindoo  Mythology.) 

22  Jesus,  “ the  Sun  of  Righteousness,”  is 
also  described  as  a superhuman  organ  of  light, 
opposed  by  Satan,  “the  old  serpent.”  He  is 
claimed  to  have  been  the  seed  of  the  woman 
who  should  “ bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent.” 
(Genesis,  iii.  15.) 


CRISHNA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED, 


283 


where  supporting  the  weak  against  the 
strong,  the  oppressed  against  the  pow- 
erful. The  people  crowded  his  way, 
and  adored  him  as  a God. 1 * 

35.  Crishna  had  a beloved  disciple 
— Arjuna.3 4 * 

36.  Crishna  was  transfigured  before 
his  disciple  Arjuna.  “All  in  an  instant, 
with  a thousand  suns,  blazing  with 
dazzling  luster,  so  beheld  he  the  glories 
of  the  universe  collected  in  the  one 
person  of  the  God  of  Gods.”6 

Arjuna  bows  his  head  at  this  vision, 
and  folding  his  hands  in  reverence, 
says : 

“Now  that  I see  thee  as  thou  really 
art,  I thrill  with  terror  ! Mercy  ! Lord 
of  Lords,  once  more  display  to  me  thy 
human  form,  thou  habitation  of  the 
universe.”6 

37.  Crishna  was  “the  meekest  and 
best  tempered  of  beings.”  “He  preach- 
ed very  nobly  indeed,  and  sublimely.” 
“He  was  pure  and  chaste  in  reality,”8 
and,  as  a lesson  of  humility,  “ he  even 
condescended  to  wash  the  feet  of  the 
Brahmins.”9 

38.  “Crishna  is  the  very  Supreme 
Brahma,  though  it  be  a mystery  how 
the  Supreme  should  assume  the  form 
of  a man.”11 

39.  Crishna  is  the  second  person  in 
the  Hindoo  Trinity. 13 


everywhere  supporting  the  weak  against 
the  strong,  the  oppressed  against  the 
powerful.  The  people  crowded  his 
way  and  adored  him  as  a God} 

35.  Jesus  had  a beloved  disciple 
— John.* 

36.  And  after  six  days,  Jesus  taketh 
Peter,  James,  and  John  his  brother,  and 
bringetli  them  up  into  a high  mountain 
apart,  and  was  transfigured  before 
them.  And  his  face  did  shine  as  the 
sun,  and  his  raiment  was  white  as  the 
light.  . . While  he  yet  spake, 

behold,  a bright  cloud  overshadowed 
them,  and  behold,  a voice  out  of  the 
cloud,  which  said : &c.”  “And  when 
the  disciples  heard  it,  they  fell  on  their 
faces,  and  were  sore  afraid.”7 


37.  Jesus  was  the  meekest  and  best 
tempered  of  beings.  He  preached  very 
nobly  indeed,  and  sublimely.  He  was 
pure  and  chaste,  and  he  even  conde- 
scended to  wash  the  feet  of  his  disciples, 
towhom  he  taught  a lesson  of  humility. 10 

38.  Jesus  is  the  very  Supreme  Je- 
hovah, though  it  be  a mystery  how  the 
Supreme  should  assume  the  form  of  a 
man,  for  “Great  is  the  mystery  of 
Godliness.”12 

39.  Jesus  is  the  second  person  in 
the  Christian  Trinity. 14 


1 See  ch.  xxvii. 

3 According  to  the  New  Testament. 

8 See  Bhagavat  Geeta. 

4 John,  xiii.  23. 

* Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  215. 

• Ibid.  p.  216.  7 Matt.  xrii.  1-6. 

6 “ He  was  pure  and  chaste  in  reality ,”  al- 
though represented  as  sporting  amorously, 
when  a youth,  with  cowherdesses.  According 
to  the  pure  Vaishnava  faith,  however,  Crishna’s 
love  for  the  Gopis,  and  especially  for  his  favorite 
Radha,  is  to  be  explained  allegorically,  as 
symbolizing  the  longing  of  the  human  soul  for 
the  Supreme.  (Prof.  Monier  Williams : Hin- 
duism, p.  144.)  Just  as  the  amorous  “ Song  of 

Solomon  ” is  said  to  be  allegorical.,  and  to 
mean  “Christ’s  love  for  his  church.” 

8 See  Indian  Antiquities,  iii.  46,  and  Asiatic 

Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  273. 

10  John,  xiii. 

Vishnu  Purana,  p.  492,  note  3. 

i*  I.  Timothy,  iii.  16. 

i*  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva.  Crishna  is 

Vishnu  in  human  form.  “ A more  personal, 


and,  so  to  speak,  human  god  than  Siva  was 
needed  for  the  mass  of  the  people— a god  who 
could  satisfy  the  yearnings  of  the  human 
heart  for  religion  of  faith  (bhakti) — a god 
who  could  sympathize  with,  and  condescend 
to  human  wants  and  necessities.  Such  a god 
was  found  in  the  second  member  of  the  Tri- 
mutri.  It  was  as  Vishnu  that  the  Supreme  Being 
was  supposed  to  exhibit  his  sympathy  with 
human  trials,  and  his  love  for  the  human  race. 

“If  Siva  is  the  great  god  of  the  Hindu 
Pantheon,  to  whom  adoration  is  due  from  all 
indiscriminately,  Vishnu  is  certainly  its  most 
popular  deity.  He  is  the  god  selected  by  far 
the  greater  number  of  individuals  as  their 
Saviour,  protector  and  friend,  who  rescues 
them  from  the  power  of  evil,  interests  him- 
self in  their  welfare,  and  finally  admits  them 
to  his  heaven.  But  it  is  not  so  much  Vishnu 
in  his  own  person  as  Vishnu  in  his  incarnations, 
that  effects  all  this  for  his  votaries.”  (Prof. 
Monier  Williams  : Hinduism,  p.  100.) 

n Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  Jesus  is 
the  Son  in  human  form. 


284 


BIBLE  MYTH j 


40.  Crishna  said : “ Let  him  if  seek- 
ing God  by  deep  abstraction,  abandon 
his  possessions  and  his  hopes,  betake 
himse'f  to  some  secluded  spot,  and  fix 
his  heart  and  thoughts  on  God  alone. 1 

41.  Crishna  said:  “Whate’er  thou 
dost  perform,  whate’er  thou  eatest, 
whate’er  thou  givest  to  the  poor, 
whate’er  thou  olferest  in  sacrifice, 
whate’er  thou  doest  as  an  act  of  holy 
presence,  do  all  as  if  to  me,  O Arjuna. 
I am  the  great  Sage,  without  begin- 
ning ; I am  the  Ruler  and  the  All- 
sustainer.”3 

43.  Crishna  said  : “I  am  the  cause 
of  the  whole  universe ; through  me  it  is 
created  and  dissolved ; on  me  all  things 
within  it  hang  and  suspend,  like  pearls 
upon  a string.”5 

43.  Crishna  said:  “I  am  the  light 
in  the  Sun  and  Moon,  far,  far  beyond 
the  darkness.  I am  the  brilliancy  in 
flame,  the  radiance  in  all  that’s  radiant, 
and  the  light  of  lights.”7 

44.  Crishna  said:  “ I am  the  sustain- 
er  of  the  world,  its  friend  and  Lord.  I 
am  its  way  and  refuge.”9 

45.  Crishna  said  : “I  am  the  Good- 
ness of  the  good;  1 am  Beginning, 
Middle,  End,  Eternal  Time,  the  Birth, 
the  Death  of  all.”11 

46.  Crishna  said  : “Then  be  not 
sorrowful,  from  all  thy  sins  I will 
deliver  thee.  Think  thou  on  me,  have 
faith  in  me,  adore  and  worship  me, 
and  join  thyself  in  meditation  to  me ; 
thus  shalt  thou  come  to  me,  O Arjuna  ; 
thus  shalt  thou  rise  to  my  supreme 
abode,  where  neither  sun  nor  moon 
hath  need  to  shine,  for  know  that  all 
the  lustre  they  possess  is  mine.”13 


40.  Jesus  said:  “But  thou,  when 
thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and 
when  then  hast  shut  thy  door,  pray  to 
thy  Father,  which  is  in  secret.”2 

41.  Jesus  said:  “ Whether  therefore 
ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do, 
do  all  to  the  glory  of  God  ”4  who  is  the 
great  Sage,  without  beginning ; the 
Ruler  and  the  All-sustainer. 


43.  “Of  him,  and  through  him,  and 
unto  him,  are  all  things.”  “All  things 
were  made  by  him  ; and  without  him 
was  not  anything  made  that  was  made.  ”6 

43.  “Then  spoke  Jesus  again  unto 

them,  saying  : I am  the  light  of  the 

world;  he  that  followeth  me  shall  not 
walk  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the 
light  of  life.”8 

44.  “Jesus  said  unto  them,  I am 
the  way,  tlje^  truth,  and  the  life.  No 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by 
me.”10 

45.  “I  am  the  first  and  the  last; 
and  have  the  keys  of  hell  and  of 
death.”12 

46.  Jesus  said:  “Be  of  good  cheer; 
thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee.”14  “My 
son,  give  me  thine  heart.”15  “ The 
city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of 
the  moon,  to  shine  in  it ; for  the  glory 
of  God  did  lighten  it.”16 


Many  other  remarkable  passages  might  be  adduced  from  the 
Bhagavad-gita,  the  following  of  which  may  be  noted  :17 


1 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  211. 

2 Matt.  vi.  6. 

* Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  212. 

* I.  Cor.  x.  31. 

5 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  213. 

* John,  i.  3. 

7 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  213. 

8 John,  viii.  12. 

9 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  213. 


John,  xiv.  6. 

“ Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  213. 
is  Rev.  i.  17,  18. 
is  Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  214. 
n Matt.  ix.  2. 

1°  Prov.  xxiii.  26. 
i«  Rev.  xxi.  23. 

17  Quoted  from  Williams’  Hinduism  pp. 
217-219. 


CRISIINA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


285 


“He  who  has  brought  his  members  under  subjection,  but  sits  with  foolish 
minds  thinking  in  his  heart  of  sensual  things,  is  called  a hypocrite.”  (Compare 
Matt.  v.  28.) 

“Many  are  my  births  that  are  past ; many  are  thine  too,  O Arjuna.  I know 
them  all,  but  thou  knowest  them  not.”  (Comp.  John,  viii.  14.) 

“For  the  establishment  of  righteousness  am  I born  from  time  to  time.” 
(Comp.  John,  xviii.  37 ; I.  John,  iii.  3.) 

“I  am  dearer  to  the  wise  than  all  possessions,  and  he  is  dearer  to  me.” 
(Comp.  Luke,  xiv.  33  ; John,  xiv.  21.) 

“The  ignorant,  the  unbeliever,  and  he  of  a doubting  mind  perish  utterly.” 
(Comp.  Mark,  xvi.  16.) 

“Deluded  men  despise  me  when  I take  human  form.”  (Comp.  John,  i.  10.) 

Crishna  had  the  titles  of  “ Saviour,”  “ Redeemer,”  “ Preserver,” 
“ Comforter,”  “ Mediator,”  &c.  He  was  called  “ The  Resurrec- 
tion and  the  Life,”  “ The  Lord  of  Lords,”  “ The  Great  God,”  “ The 
Holy  One,”  “ The  Good  Shepherd,”  &c.  All  of  which  are  titles 
applied  to  Christ  Jesus. 

Justice,  humanity,  good  faith,  compassion,  disinterestedness,  in 
fact,  all  the  virtues,  are  said1  to  have  been  taught  by  Crishna,  both 
by  precept  and  example. 

The  Christian  missionary  Georgius,  who  found  the  worship  of 
the  crucified  God  in  India,  consoles  himself  by  saying : “ That  which 
P.  Cassianus  Maceratentis  had  told  me  before,  I find  to  have  been 
observed  more  fully  in  French  by  the  living  De  Guignes,  a most 
learned  man  ; i.  e .,  that  Crishna  is  the  very  name  corrupted  of 
Christ  the  Saviour.”2  Many  others  have  since  made  a similar  state- 
ment, but  unfortunately  for  them,  the  name  Crishna  has  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  66  Christ  the  Saviour.”  It  is  a purely  Sanscrit 
word,  and  means  “ the  dark  god  ” or  “ the  black  godP%  The  word 
Christ  (which  is  not  a name,  but  a title),  as  we  have  already  seen,  is 
a Greek  word,  and  means  “ the  Anointed,”  or  “ the  Messiah.”  The 
fact  is,  the  history  of  Christ  Crishna  is  older  than  that  of  Christ 
Jesus. 

Statues  of  Crishna  are  to  be  found  in  the  very  oldest  cave  tem- 
ples throughout  India,  and  it  has  been  satisfactorily  proved,  on  the 
authority  of  a passage  of  Arrian , that  the  worship  of  Crishna  was 
practiced  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  at  what  still  remains 
one  of  the  most  famous  temples  of  India,  the  temple  of  Mathura, 
on  the  Jumna  river,4  which  shows  that  he  was  considered  a god  at 


1 It  is  said  in  the  Hindoo  sacred  books  that 
Crishr.a  was  a religious  teacher,  but,  as  we  have 
previously  remarked,  this  is  a later  addition 
to  his  legendary  history.  In  the  ancient  epic 
poems  he  is  simply  a great  hero  and  warrior. 
The  portion  pertaining  to  his  religious  career, 
is  evidently  a copy  of  the  history  of  Buddha. 

2 “ Est  Crishna  (quod  ut  mihi  pridem  indi- 


caverat  P.  Cassianus  Maceratentis,  sic  nunc 
uberius  in  Galliis  observatum  intelligo  avivo 
litteratissimo  De  Guignes)  nomen  ipsum  cor- 
ruptum  Christ!  Servatoris.” 

3 See  Williams’  Hinduism,  and  Maurice : 
Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  269. 

4 See  Celtic  Druids,  pp.  256,  257. 


286 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


that  time.1  We  have  already  seen  that,  according  to  Prof.  Monier 
W illiams,  he  was  deified  about  the  fourth  century  b.  c. 

Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy  says  : 

“ If  we  may  believe  so  good  an  authority  as  Edward  Moor  (author  of  Moor's 
“ Hindu  Pantheon,”  and  “Oriental  Fragments  ”),  both  the  name  of  Crishna,  and 
the  general  outline  of  his  history,  were  long  anterior  to  the  birth  of  our  Saviour, 
as  very  certain  things,  and  probably  extended  to  the  time  of  Homer,  nearly  nine 
hundred  years  before  Christ,  or  more  than  a hundred  years  before  Isaiah  lived 
and  prophesied.”2 * 

In  the  Sanscrit  Dictionary,  compiled  more  than  two  thousand 
years  ago,  we  have  the  whole  story  of  Crishna,  the  incarnate  deity, 
born  of  a virgin,  and  miraculously  escaping  in  his  infancy  from 
Kansa,  the  reigning  monarch  of  the  country. 8 

The  Rev.  J.  B.  S.  Carwithen,  known  as  one  of  the  “ Brampton 
Lecturers,”  says : 

‘ ‘ Both  the  name  of  Crishna  and  the  general  outline  of  his  story  are  long  an- 
terior to  the  birth  of  our  Saviour ; and  this  we  know,  not  on  the  'presumed  anti- 
quity of  the  Hindoo  records  alone.  Both  Arrian  and  Strabo  assert  that  the  god 
Crishna  was  anciently  worshiped  at  Mathura,  on  the  river  Jumna,  where  he  is 
worshiped  at  this  day.  But  the  emblems  and  attributes  essential  to  this  deity  are 
also  transplanted  into  the  mythology  of  the  West.”4 

On  the  walls  of  the  most  ancient  Hindoo  temples,  are  sculptured 
representations  of  the  flight  of  Yasudeva  and  the  infant  Saviour 
Crishna,  from  King  Kansa,  who  sought  to  destroy  him.  The  story 
of  the  slaughtered  infants  is  also  the  subject  of  an  immense  sculp- 
ture in  the  cave  temple  of  Elephanta.  A person  with  a drawn 
sword  is  represented  surrounded  by  slaughtered  infant  boys,  while 
men  and  women  are  supplicating  for  their  children.  The  date  of 
this  sculpture  is  lost  in  the  most  remote  antiquity.5 

Tli e fictt  roofoi  this  cavern-temple,  and  that  of  Ellora,  and  every 
other  circumstance  connected  with  them,  prove  that  their  origin 
must  be  referred  to  a very  remote  epoch.  The  ancient  temples  can 
easily  be  distinguished  from  the  more  modern  ones — such  as  those 
of  Solsette — by  the  shape  of  the  roof.  The  ancient  are  flat,  while 
the  more  modern  are  arched.6 * 


1 “ Alexander  the  Great  made  his  expedition 
to  the  banks  of  the  Indus  about  327  b.  c.,  and 
to  this  invasion  is  due  the  first  trustworthy 
information  obtained  by  Europeans  concern- 
ing the  north-westerly  portion  of  India  and  the 

region  of  the  five  rivers,  down  which  the 

Grecian  troops  were  conducted  in  ships  by 

Nearchus.  Megasthenes,  who  was  the  embas- 

sador of  Seleukos  Nika  tor  (Alexander’s  succes- 

sor, and  ruler  over  the  whole  region  between 

the  Euphrates  and  Indus,  b.  c.  312),  at  the  court 

of  Canura-gupa  (Sandrokottus),  in  Pataliputra 


(Patna),  during  a long  sojourn  in  that  city  col- 
lected further  information,  of  which  Strabo, 
Pliny,  Arrian , and  others  availed  themselves.” 
(Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  4.) 

2 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  151.  See  also, 
Asiatic  Researches,  i.  273. 

8 See  Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  pp.  259-273, 
4 Quoted  in  Monumental  Christianity,  pp. 
151,  152. 

6 See  chapter  xviii. 

* See  Prichard’s  Egyptian  Mythology,  p.  112. 


CRISHNA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


287 


The  Bhagavad gita,  which  contains  so  maty  sentiments  akin 
to  Christianity,  and  which  was  not  written  unth  about  the  first  or 
second  century,1  has  led  many  Christian  scholars  to  believe,  and  at- 
tempt to  prove,  that  they  have  been  borrowed  from  the  JSTew  Tes- 
tament, but  unfortunately  for  them,  their  premises  are  untenable. 
Prof.  Monier  'Williams,  the  accepted  authority  on  Hindooism,  and  a 
thorough  Christian,  writing  for  the  “ Society  for  Promoting  Chris- 
tian Knowledge,”  knowing  that  he  could  not  very  well  overlook 
this  subject  in  speaking  of  the  Bhagmad-gita , says  : 

“ To  any  one  who  has  followed  me  in  tracing  the  outline  of  this  remarkable 
philosophical  dialogue,  and  has  noted  the  numerous  parallels  it  offers  to  passages 
in  our  Sacred  Scriptures,  it  may  seem  strange  that  I hesitate  to  concur  to  any 
theory  which  explains  these  coincidences  by  supposing  that  the  author  had  ac- 
cess to  the  New  Testament,  or  that  he  derived  some  of  his  ideas  from  the  first 
propagaters  of  Christianity.  Surely  it  will  be  conceded  that  the  probability  of 
contact  and  interaction  between  Gentile  systems  and  the  Christian  religion  of  the 
first  two  centuries  of  our  era  must  have  been  greater  in  Italy  than  in  India.  Yet, 
if  we  take  the  writings  and  sayings  of  those  great  Roman  philosophers,  Seneca', 
Epictetus,  and  Marcus  Aurelius,  we  shall  find  them  full  of  resemblances  to  pass- 
ages in  our  Scriptures,  while  their  appears  to  be  no  ground  whatever  for  sup- 
posing that  these  eminent  Pagan  writers  and  thinkers  derived  any  of  their  ideas 
from  either  Jewish  or  Christian  sources.  In  fact,  the  Rev.  F.  W.  Farrar,  in  his 
interesting  and  valuable  work  4 Seekers  after  God,  ’ has  clearly  shown  that  4 to 
say  that  Pagan  morality  kindled  its  faded  taper  at  the  Gospel  light,  whether 
furtively  or  unconsciously,  that  it  dissembled  the  obligation  and  made  a boast  of 
the  splendor,  as  if  it  were  originally  her  own,  is  to  make  an  assertion  wholly 
untenable.’  He  points  out  that  the  attempts  of  the  Christian  Fathers  to  make  out 
Pythagoras  a debtor  to  Hebraic  wisdom,  Plato  an  ‘Atticizing  Moses,’  Aristote  a 
picker-up  of  ethics  from  a Jew,  Seneca  a correspondent  of  St.  Paul,  were  due  4 in 
some  cases  to  ignorance,  in  some  to  a want  of  perfect  honesty  in  controversial 
dealing.’2 

“His  arguments  would  be  even  more  conclusive  if  applied  to  the  Bhagavad-gita,  the 
author  of  which  was  probably  contemporaneous  with  Seneca.3  It  must,  indeed, 
be  admitted  that  the  flames  of  true  light  which  emerge  from  the  mists  of  pan- 
theism in  the  writings  of  Indian  philosophers,  must  spring  from  the  same  source 
of  light  as  the  Gospel  itself  ; but  it  may  reasonably  be  questioned  whether  there 
could  have  been  any  actual  contact  of  the  Hindoo  systems  with  Christianity  with- 


1 In  speaking  of  the  antiquity  of  the 
Bhagavad-gita,  Prof.  Monier  Williams  says : 
“ The  author  was  probably  a Brahman  and 
nominally  a Vishnava,  but  really  a philosopher 
whose  mind  was  cast  in  a broad  and  compre- 
hensive mould.  He  is  supposed  to  have  lived 
in  India  during  the  first  and  second  century 
of  our  era.  Some  consider  that  he  lived  as  late 
as  the  third  century,  and  some  place  him  even 
later,  but  with  these  T cannot  agree''  (Indian 
Wisdom,  p.  137.) 

2 In  order  that  the  resemblances  to  Christian 

Scripture  in  the  writings  of  Roman  philosophers 

may  be  compared,  Prof,  Williams  refers  the 


reader  to  “ Seekers  after  God,”  by  the  Rev. 
F.  W.  Farrar,  and  Dr.  Ramage’s  “ Beautiful 
Thoughts.”  The  same  sentiments  are  to  be 
found  in  Manu , which,  says  Prof.  Williams, 
“few  will  place  later  than  the  fifth  century 
b.c.”  The  Mahablirata,  written  many  centuries 
b.  c.,  contains  numerous  parallels  to  New  Tes- 
tament sayings.  (See  our  chapter  on  “ Pagan- 

ism in  Christianity.”) 

3  Seneca,  the  celebrated  Roman  philosopher, 
was  born  at  Corduba,  in  Spain,  a few  years 
b.c.  When  a child,  he  was  brought  by  his  father 
to  Rome,  where  he  was  initiated  in  the  study 
of  eloquence. 


288 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


out  a more  satisfactory  result  in  tlie  modification  of  pantheistic  and  anti-Chris- 
tian ideas.”1 

Again  he  says : 

“ It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  although  the  nations  of  Europe  have  changed 
their  religions  during  the  past  eighteen  centuries,  the  Hindu  has  not  done  so,  ex- 
cept very  partially.  Islam  converted  a certain  number  by  force  of  arms  in  the 
eighth  and  following  centuries,  and  Christian  truth  is  at  last  slowly  creeping 
onwards  and  winning  its  way  by  its  own  inherent  energy  in  the  nineteenth ; but 
the  religious  creeds,  rites,  customs,  and  habits  of  thought  of  the  Hindus  generally,  have 
altered  little  since  the  days  of  Manu,  five  hundred  years  b.  c.”2 

These  words  are  conclusive ; comments,  therefore,  are  unneces- 
sary. 

Geo.  W.  Cox,  in  his  “ Aryan  Mythology,”  speaking  on  this  sub- 
ject says : 

“ It  is  true  that  these  myths  have  been  crystallized  around  the  name  of  Crishna 
in  ages  subsequent  to  the  period  during  which  the  earliest  vedic  literature  came 
into  existence;  but  the  myths  themselves  are  found  in  this  older  literature  associated 
with  other  gods,  and  not  always  only  in  germ.  There  is  no  more  room  for  infer- 
ring foreign  influence  in  the  growth  of  any  of  these  my  ths  than,  as  Bunsen  rightly 
insists,  there  is  room  for  tracing  Christian  influence  in  the  earlier  epical  literature  of 
the  Teutonic  tribes.  Practically  the  myths  of  Crishna  seems  to  have  been  fully 
developed  in  the  days  of  Megasthenes  (fourth  century  b.  c.)  who  identifies  him 
with  the  Greek  Hercules.”3 

It  should  be  remembered,  in  connection  with  this,  that  Dr. 
Parkhurst  and  others  have  considered  Hercules  a type  of  Christ 
Jesus. 

In  the  ancient  epics  Crishna  is  made  to  say : 

“lam  Vishnu,  Brahma,  Indra,  and  the  source  as  well  as  the  destruction  of 
things,  the  creator  and  the  annihilator  of  the  whole  aggregate  of  existences. 
While  all  men  live  in  unrighteousness,  I,  the  unfailing,  build  up  the  bulwark  of 
righteousness,  as  the  ages  pass  away.”4 

These  words  are  almost  identical  with  what  we  find  in  the 
Bhagavad-gita.  In  the  Maha-bharata , Vishnu  is  associated  or 
identified  with  Crishna,  just  as  he  is  in  the  Bhagavad-gita  and 
Yishnu  Pur  ana , showing,  in  the  words  of  Prof.  Williams,  that : the 
Puranas , although  of  a comparatively  modern  date,  are  neverthe- 
less composed  of  matter  to  be  found  in  the  two  great  epic  poems 
the  Ramayana  and  the  Maha-bharata .5 


1 Indian  Wisdom,  pp.  153,  154.  Similar  8 Williams’  Hinduism,  pp.  119-110.  It  was 

sentiments  are  expressed  in  his  Hinduism,  pp.  from  these  sources  that  the  doctrine  of  incar- 
213-220.  nation  was  first  evolved  by  the  Brahman. 

2 Indian  Wisdom,  p.  iv.  They  were  written  many  centuries  b.  c.  (See 

8 Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  pp.  137, 138.  Ibid.) 

8 Ibid.  p.  131. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


CHRIST  BUDDHA  AND  CHRIST  JESUS  COMPARED. 


“ The  more  I learn  to  know  Buddha  the  more  I admire  him,  and  the  sooner 
all  mankind  shall  have  been  made  acquainted  with  his  doctrines  the  better  it  will 
be,  for  he  is  certainly  one  of  the  heroes  of  humanity.”  Fausboll. 


The  mythological  portions  of  the  histories  of  Buddha  and  Jesus 
are,  without  doubt,  nearer  in  resemblance  than  that  of  any  two  char- 
acters of  antiquity.  The  cause  of  this  we  shall  speak  of  in  our 
chapter  on  “ Why  Christianity  Prospered,”  and  shall  content  our- 
selves for  the  present  by  comparing  the  following  analogies  : 


1.  Buddha  was  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary, 1 who  conceived  him  without  car- 
nal intercourse.2 

2.  The  incarnation  of  Buddha  is 
recorded  to  have  been  brought  about 
by  the  descent  of  the  divine  power 
called  the  “Holy  Ghost,”  upon  the 
Virgin  Maya.4 

3.  When  Buddha  descended  from 


1.  Jesus  was  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  who  conceived  him  without  car- 
nal intercourse.3 

2.  The  incarnation  of  Jesus  is  re- 
corded to  have  been  brought  about  by 
the  descent  of  the  divine  power  called 
the  “Holy  Ghost,”  upon  the  Virgin 
Mary.3 

3.  When  Jesus  descended  from  his 


1 Maya,  and  Mary,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
are  one  and  the  same  name. 

3 See  chap.  xii.  Buddha  is  considered  to  be 
an  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  although  he  preached 
against  the  doctrines  of  the  Brahmans.  The 
adoption  of  Buddha  as  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu 
was  really  owning  to  the  desire  of  the  Brahmans 
to  effect  a compromise  with  Buddhism.  (See 
Williams’  Hinduism,  pp.  82  and  108.) 

“Buddha  was  brought  forth  not  from  the 
matrix,  but  from  the  right  side,  of  a virgin.” 
(De  Guignes : Hist,  des  Huns,  tom.  i.  p.  224.) 

“ Some  of  the  (Christian)  heretics  main- 
tained that  Christ  was  born  from  the  side  of 
his  mother.”  (Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  157.) 

“ In  the  eyes  of  the  Buddhists,  this  personage 
is  sometimes  a man  and  sometimes  a god,  or 
rather  both  one  and  the  other,  a divine  incar- 
nation, a man-god  ; who  came  into  the  world 
to  enlighten  men,  to  redeem  them,  and  to  indi- 
cate to  them  the  way  of  safety.  This  idea  of 
redemption  by  a divine  incarnation  is  so  gen- 

19 


eral  and  popular  among  the  Buddhists,  that 
during  our  travels  in  Upper  Asia,  we  every- 
where found  it  expressed  in  a neat  formula. 
If  we  addressed  to  a Mongol  or  Thibetan  the 
question,  ‘ Who  is  Buddha  ?’  he  would  imme- 
diately reply,  ‘ The  Saviour  of  Men.’  ” (M. 

L’Abbe  Hue  : Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  326.) 

“ The  miraculous  birth  of  Buddha,  his  life 
and  instructions,  contain  a great  number  of  the 
moral  and  dogmatic  truths  professed  in  Chris- 
tianity.” (Ibid.  p.  327.) 

“ He  in  mercy  left  paradise,  and  came  down 
to  earth  because  he  was  filled  with  compassion 
for  the  sins  and  misery  of  mankind.  He 
sought  to  lead  them  into  better  paths,  and  took 
their  sufferings  upon  himself,  that  he  might 
expiate  their  crimes,  and  mitigate  the  punish- 
ment they  must  otherwise  inevitably  undergo.” 
(L.  Maria  Child.) 

3 Matt.  ch.  i. 

4 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  10, 25  anx. 
44.  Also,  ch.  xiii.  this  work. 


289 


290 


BIBLE  MYTHS, 


the  regions  of  the  souls, 1 and  entered 
the  body  of  the  Virgin  Maya,  her  womb 
assumed  the  appearance  of  clear  trans- 
parent crystal,  in  which  Buddha  ap- 
peared, beautiful  as  a flower.2 

4.  The  birth  of  Buddha  was  an- 
nounced in  the  heavens  by  an  asterim 
which  was  seen  rising  on  the  horizon. 
It  is  called  the  “Messianic  Star.”4 

5.  “The  son  of  the  Virgin  Maya, 
on  whom,  according  to  the  tradition, 
the  * Holy  Ghost  ’ had  descended,  was 
said  to  have  been  born  on  Christmas 
day.  ”6 

G.  Demonstrations  of  celestial  de- 
light were  manifest  at  the  birth  of  Bud* 
dha.  The  Devas 8 in  heaven  and  earth 
sang  praises  to  the  “Blessed  One,” 
and  said : “ To  day,  Bodhisatwa  is  born 
on  earth,  to  give  joy  and  peace  to  men 
and  Devas,  to  shed  light  in  the  dark 
places,  and  to  give  sight  to  the  blind.”9 

7.  “Buddha  was  visited  by  wise 
men  who  recognized  in  this  marvelous 
infant  all  the  characters  of  the  divinity, 
apd  he  had  scarcely  seen  the  day  before 
he  was  hailed  God  of  Gods.”11 

8.  The  infant  Buddha  was  presented 
with  “ costly  jewels  and  precious  sub- 
stances.”13 

9.  When  Buddha  was  an  infant, 
just  born,  he  spoke  to  his  mother,  and 
said : “lam  the  greatest  among  men.”15 


heavenly  seat,  and  entered  the  body  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  her  womb  assumed 
the  appearance  of  clear  transparent 
crystal,  in  which  Jesus  appeared  beau- 
tiful as  a flower.3 

4.  The  birth  of  Jesus  was  announced 
in  the  heavens  by  “his  star,”  which  was 
seen  rising  on  the  horizon.5  It  might 
properly  be  called  the  “Messianic 
Star.  ” 

5.  The  Son  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  on 
whom,  according  to  the  tradition,  the 
‘ Holy  Ghost  ’ had  descended,  was  said 
to  have  been  born  on  Christmas  day.7 

6.  Demonstrations  of  celestial  de- 
light were  manifest  at  the  birth  of  Jesus. 
The  angels  in  heaven  and  earth  sang 
praises  to  the  “Blessed  One,”  saying  : 
“ Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on 
earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men.”10 


7.  Jesus  was  visited  by  wise  men 
who  recognized  in  this  marvelous  in- 
fant all  the  characters  of  the  divinity, 
and  he  had  scarcely  seen  the  day  before 
he  was  hailed  God  of  Gods. 12 

8.  The  infant  Jesus  was  presented 
with  gifts  of  gold,  frankincense,  and 
myrrh. 14 

9.  When  Jesus  was  an  infant  in  his 
cradle,  he  spoke  to  his  mother,  and 
said  : “lam  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God.”16 


1 “As  a spirit  in  the  fourth  heaven  he 
resolves  to  give  up  all  that  glory  in  order  to 
be  bom  in  the  world  lor  the  purpose  of  res- 
cuing all  men  from  their  misery  and  every 
future  consequence  of  it : he  vows  to  deliver 
all  men  who  are  left  as  it  were  without  a Sa- 
viour." (Bunsen  : The  Augel-Messiah,  p.  20.) 

2 See  King’s  Gnostics,  p.  168,  and  Hardy’s 

Manual  of  Buddhism,  p.  144. 

8  See  chap.  xii.  note  2,  page  117. 

“On  a painted  glass  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 

tury, found  in  the  church  of  Jouy,  a little 

village  in  France,  the  Virgin  is  represented 

standing,  her  hands  clasped  in  prayer,  and  the 

naked  body  of  the  child  in  the  same  attitude 

appears  upon  her  stomach,  apparently  sup- 

posed to  be  seen  through  the  garments  and 

body  of  the  mother.  M.  Drydon  saw  at  Lyons 

a Salutation  painted  on  shutters,  in  which  the 

two  infants  (Jesus  and  John)  likewise  depicted 

on  their  mothers’  stomachs,  were  also  salut- 

ing each  other.  This  precisely  corresponds  to 


Buddhist  accounts  of  the  Boddhisattvas  ante- 
natal proceedings.”  (Viscount  Amberly : 
Analysis  of  Relig.  Belief,  p.  224,  note.) 

4 See  chap.  xiii. 

« Matt.  ii.  1,  2. 

* Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  x. 

7 We  show,  in  our  chapter  on  “ The 
Birth-Day  of  Christ  Jesus,”  that  this  was  not 
the  case.  This  day  was  adopted  by  his  fol- 
lowers long  after  his  death. 

8 “Devas,”  i.  e.,  angels. 

9 See  chap.  xiv. 

io  Luke,  ii.  13,  14. 

n See  chap.  xv. 

12  Matt.  ii.  1-11. 

13  See  chap.  xi. 

14  Matt.  ii.  11. 

16  See  Hardy’s  Manual  of  Buddhism,  pp.  145, 
146. 

18  Gospel  of  Infancy,  Apoc.,  i.  3.  No  sooner 
was  Apollo  born  than  he  spoke  to  his  virgin- 
mother,  declaring  that  he  should  teach  to  men 


BUDDHA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


291 


10.  Buddha  was  a “ dangerous 
child.”  His  life  was  threatened  by 
King  Bimbasara,  who  was  advised  to 
destroy  the  child,  as  he  was  liable  to 
overthrow  him. 1 

11.  When  sent  to  school,  the  young 
Buddha  surprised  his  masters.  With- 
out having  ever  studied,  he  completely 
worsted  all  his  competitors,  not  only  in 
writing,  but  in  arithmetic,  mathema- 
tics, metaphysics,  astrology,  geome- 
try, &c.4 

12.  “When  twelve  years  old  the 
child  Buddha  is  presented  in  the  tem- 
ple. He  explains  and  asks  learned 
questions ; he  excels  all  those  who  enter 
into  competition  with  him.”6 


13.  Buddha  entered  a temple,  on 
which  occasion  forthwith  all  the  statues 
rose  and  threw  themselves  at  his  feet, 
in  act  of  worship.8 

14.  “ The  ancestry  of  Gotama  Bud- 
dha is  traced  from  his  father,  Sodhd- 
dana,  through  various  individuals  and 
races,  all  of  royal  dignity,  to  Malia 
Sammata,  the  first  monarch  of  the 
world.  Several  of  the  names  and  some 
of  the  events  are  met  with  in  the  Pur- 
anas  of  the  Brahmans,  but  it  is  not 
possible  to  reconcile  one  order  of  state- 
ment with  the  other ; and  it  would 
appear  that  the  Buddhist  historians 


10.  Jesus  was  a “dangerous  child.” 
His  life  was  threatened  by  King  Her- 
od,2 who  attempted  to  destroy  the 
child,  as  he  was  liable  to  overthrow 
him.3 

11.  When  sent  to  school,  Jesus  sur- 
prised his  master  Zaccheus,  who,  turn- 
ing to  Joseph,  said : ‘ * Thou  hast  brought 
a boy  to  me  to  be  taught,  who  is  more 
learned  than  any  master.”5 

12.  “And  when  he  was  twelve  years 
old,  they  brought  him  to  (the  temple  at) 
Jerusalem  ....  While  in  the  temple 
among  the  doctors  and  elders,  and 
learned  men  of  Israel,  he  proposed 
several  questions  of  learning,  and  also 
gave  them  answers.”7 

13.  “And  as  Jesus  was  going  in  by 
the  ensigns,  who  carried  the  standards, 
the  tops  of  them  bowed  down  and  wor- 
shiped Jesus.”9 

14.  The  ancestry  of  Jesus  is  traced 
from  his  father,  Joseph,  through  vari- 
ous individuals,  nearly  all  of  whom 
were  of  royal  dignity,  to  Adam,  the 
first  monarch  of  the  world.  Several  of 
the  names,  and  some  of  the  events,  are 
met  with  in  the  sacred  Scriptures  of 
the  Hebrews,  but  it  is  not  possible  to 
reconcile  one  order  of  statement  with 
the  other;  and  it  would  appear  that 
the  Christian  historians  have  invented 


the  councils  of  his  heavenly  father  Zeus.  (See 
Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  22.)  Hermes 
spoke  to  his  mother  as  soon  as  he  was  born, 
and,  according  to  Jewish  tradition,  so  did 
Moses.  (See  Hardy’s  Manual  of  Buddhism,  p. 
145.) 

1 See  Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  103,  104. 

2 See  Matt.  ii.  1. 

3 That  is,  provided  he  was  the  expected 
Messiah,  who  was  to  be  a mighty  prince  and 
warrior,  and  who  was  to  rule  his  people  Israel. 

4 See  Hardy’s  Manual  of  Buddhism ; Bun- 
sen’s Angel-Messiah  ; Beal’s  Hist.  Buddha, 
and  other  works  on  Buddhism. 

This  was  a common  myth.  For  instance  : 
A Brahman  called  DaslithaTca , a '■'‘heaven  de- 
scended mortal ,”  after  his  birth,  without  any 
human  instruction  whatever , was  able  thor- 
oughly to  explain  the  four  Vedas,  the  collective 
body  of  the  sacred  writings  of  the  Hindoos, 
which  were  considered  as  directly  revealed  by 
Brabma.  (See  Beal’s  Hist.  Buddha,  p.  48.) 


Confucius,  the  miraculous-born  Chinese 
sage,  was  a wonderful  child.  At  the  age  of 
seven  he  went  to  a public  school,  the  superior 
of  which  was  a person  of  eminent  wisdom  and 
piety.  The  faculty  with  which  Confucius  im- 
bibed thelessonsof  his  master,  the  ascendency 
which  he  acquired  amongst  his  fellow  pupils, 
and  the  superiority  of  his  genius  and  capacity, 
raised  universal  admiration.  He  appeared  to 
acquire  knowledge  intuitively , and  his  mother 
found  it  superfluous  to  teach  him  what  “ heaven 
had  already  engraven  upon  his  heart.”  (See 
Thornton’s  Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  p.  153.) 

6 See  Infancy,  Apoc.,  xx.  11,  and  Luke,  ii. 
46,  47. 

8 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  37,  and 
Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  pp.  67-69. 

7 See  Infancy,  Apoc.,  xxi.  1,  2,  and  Luke,  ii. 
41-48. 

8 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  37,  and 
Beal : Hist.  Bud.  67-69. 

9 Nicodemus,  Apoc.,  ch.  i.  20. 


292 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


have  introduced  races,  and  invented 
names,  that  they  may  invest  their  ven- 
erated Sage  with  all  the  honors  of 
heraldry,  in  addition  to  the  attributes  of 
divinity.”1 

15.  When  Buddha  was  about  to  go 
forth  “ to  adopt  a religious  life,”  Mara3 
appeared  before  him,  to  tempt  him.4 * 

16.  Mara  said  unto  Buddha:  “Go 
not  forth  to  adopt  a religious  life,  and 
in  seven  days  thou  shalt  become  an 
emperor  of  the  world.”6 

17.  Buddha  would  not  heed  the 
words  of  the  Evil  One,  and  said  to  him : 
“ Get  thee  away  from  me.”8 

18.  After  Mara  had  left  Buddha, 

‘ ‘ the  skies  rained  flowers,  and  delici- 
ous odors  pervaded  the  air.”10 

19.  Buddha  fasted  for  a long 
period. 12 

20.  Buddha,  the  Saviour,  was  bap- 
tized, and  at  this  recorded  water- 
baptism  the  Spirit  of  God  was  present; 
that  is,  not  only  the  highest  God,  but 
also  the  “ Holy  Ghost,”  through  whom 
the  incarnation  of  Gautama  Bud- 
dha is  recorded  to  have  been  brought 
about  by  the  descent  of  that  Divine 
power  upon  the  Virgin  Maya. 14 

21.  “On  one  occasion  toward  the 
end  of  his  life  on  earth,  Gautama  Bud- 
dha is  reported  to  have  been  trans- 
figured. When  on  a mountain  in  Cey- 
lon, suddenly  a flame  of  light  de- 
scended upon  him  and  encircled  the 
crown  of  his  head  with  a circle  of 
light.  The  mount  is  called  Pandam, 
or  yellow-white  color.  It  is  said  that 
‘ the  glory  of  his  person  shone  forth 
with  double  power/  that  his  body  was 
‘glorious  as  a bright  golden  image,’ 
that  he  ‘ shone  as  the  brightness  of  the 
sun  and  moon,’  that  bystanders  ex- 
pressed their  opinion,  that  he  could 
not  be  ‘an  every-day  person,’  or  ‘a 


1 R.  Spence  Hardy,  in  Manual  of  Buddhism. 

2 See  chap.  xvii. 

3 “ Mara"  is  the  “Author  of  Evil,”  the 
“ King  of  Death,”  the  “ God  of  the  World  of 
Pleasure,”  &c.,  i.  e.,  the  Devil.  (See  Beal  : 
Hist.  Buddha,  p.  36.) 

4 See  ch.  xix. 

» Matt.  iv.  1-18. 

* See  ch.  xix. 


and  introduced  names,  that  they  may 
invest  their  venerated  Sage  with  all  the 
honors  of  heraldry,  in  addition  to  the 
attributes  of  divinity.2 

15.  When  Jesus  was  about  “ begin- 
ning to  preach,”  the  devil  appeared  be- 
fore him,  to  tempt  him.6 

16.  The  devil  said  to  Jesus:  If  thou 
wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me,  I will 
give  thee  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world.7 

17.  Jesus  would  not  heed  the  words 
of  the  Evil  One,  and  said  to  him:  “ Get 
thee  behind  me,  Satan.”9 

18.  After  the  devil  had  left  Jesus, 
“angels  came  and  ministered  unto 
him.”11 

19.  Jesus  fasted  forty  daj^s  and 
nights. 13 

20.  Jesus  was  baptized  by  John  in 
the  river  Jordan,  at  which  time  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  present;  that  is,  not 
only  the  highest  God,  but  also  the 
“Holy  Ghost,” through  whom  the  in- 
carnation of  Jesus  is  recorded  to  have 
been  brought  about,  by  the  descent  of 
that  Divine  power  upon  the  Virgin 
Mary.15 

21.  On  one  occasion  during  his 
career  on  earth,  Jesus  is  reported  to 
have  been  transfigured:  “Jesus  taketh 
Peter,  James,  and  John  his  brother, 
and  bringeth  them  up  into  a high 
mountain  apart.  And  was  transfigured 
before  them:  and  his  face  did  shine  as 
the  sun,  and  his  raiment  as  white  as 
the  light.”16 


t Matt.  iv.  8-19. 

8 See  ch.  xix. 

9 Luke,  iv.  8. 

10  See  ch.  xix. 

11  Matt.  iv.  11. 

12  See  ch.  xix. 
i*  Matt.  iv.  2. 

14  Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  45. 
i*  Matt.  iii.  13-17.  »•  Matt.  xvii.  1,  2. 


BUDDHA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


293 


mortal  man,’  and  that  his  body  was 
divided  into  three 1 parts,  from  each  of 
which  a ray  of  light  issued  forth.”2 

22.  “Buddha  performed  great  mir- 
acles for  the  good  of  mankind,  and  the 
legends  concerning  him  are  full  of  the 
greatest  prodigies  and  wonders.”3 

23.  By  prayers  in  the  name  of  Bud- 
dha, his  followers  expect  to  receive  the 
rewards  of  paradise.5 

24.  When  Buddha  died  and  was 
buried,  “ the  coverings  of  the  body  un- 
rolled themselves,  and  the  lid  of  his 
coffin  was  opened  by  supernatural 
powers.”6 

25.  Buddha  ascended  bodily  to  the 
celestial  regions,  when  his  mission  on 
earth  was  fulfilled.8 

26.  Buddha  is  to  come  upon  the 
earth  again  in  the  latter  days,  his  mis- 
sion being  to  restore  the  world  to  order 
and  happiness. 10 

27.  Buddha  is  to  be  judge  of  the 
dead. 12 

28.  Buddha  is  Alpha  and  Omega, 
without  beginning  or  end,  “the  Su- 
preme Being,  the  Eternal  One.”14 

29.  Buddha  is  represented  as  say- 
ing: “Let  all  the  sins  that  were  com- 
mitted in  this  world  fall  on  me,  that 
the  world  maybe  delivered.”17 

30.  Buddha  said : ‘ ‘ Hide  your  good 
deeds,  and  confess*  before  the  world 
the  sins  you  have  committed.”19 


1 This  has  evidently  an  allusion  to  the  Trin- 
ity. Buddha,  as  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu, 
would  be  one  god  and  yet  three,  three  gods 
and  yet  one.  (See  the  chapter  on  the  Trinity.) 

2 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  45,  and 
Beal  : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  177. 

Iamblichus,  the  great  Neo-Platonic  mystic , 
was  at  one  time  transfigured.  According  to 
the  report  of  his  servants,  while  in  prayer  to 
the  gods,  his  body  and  clothes  were  changed 
to  a beautiful  gold  color,  but  after  he  ceased 
from  prayer,  his  body  became  as  before.  He 
then  returned  to  the  society  of  his  followers. 
(Primitive  Culture,  i.  136,  137.) 

3 See  ch.  xxvii. 

4 See  that  recorded  in  Matt.  viii.  28-34. 

6 See  ch.  xxiii. 

• Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  49. 

7 See  Matt,  xxviii.  John,  xx. 

8 See  chap,  xxiii.  3 gee  Acts,  i.  9-12. 

10  See  ch.  xxiv.  h See  Ibid. 

12  See  ch.  xxv.  13  Matt,  xvi.27;  John,  v.  22. 


22.  Jesus  performed  great  miracles 
for  the  good  of  mankind,  and  the  le- 
gends concerning  him  are  full  of  the 
greatest  prodigies  and  wonders.4 

23.  By  prayers  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
his  followers  expect  to  receive  the  re- 
wards of  paradise. 

24.  When  Jesus  died  and  was 
buried,  the  coverings  of  his  body  were 
unrolled  from  off  him,  and  his  tomb 
was  opened  by  supernatural  powers.7 

25.  Jesus  ascended  bodily  to  the 
celestial  regions,  when  his  mission  on 
earth  was  fulfilled.9 

26.  Jesus  is  to  come  upon  the  earth 
again  in  the  latter  days,  his  mission  be- 
ing to  restore  the  world  to  order  and 
happiness.11 

27.  Jesus  is  to  be  the  judge  of  the 
dead. 13 

28.  Jesus  is  Alpha  and  Omega, 
without  beginning  or  end,15  the  Su- 
preme Being,  the  Eternal  One. 16 

29.  Jesus  is  represented  as  the  Sav- 
iour of  mankind,  and  all  sins  that  are 
committed  in  this  world  may  fall  on 
him,  that  the  world  may  be  delivered. 18 

30.  Jesus  taught  men  to  hide  their 
good  deeds,20  and  to  confess  before  the 
world  the  sins  they  had  committed.21 


*4  “Buddha,  the  Angel-Messiah,  was  re- 
garded as  the  divinely  chosen  and  incarnate 
messenger,  the  vicar  of  God,  and  God  himself 
on  earth.”  (Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p. 
33.  See  also,  our  chap,  xxvi.) 

16  Rev.  i.  8 ; xxii.  13. 

16  John,  i.  1.  Titus,  ii.  13.  Romans,  ix.  5. 
Acts,  vii.  59,  60. 

17  Muller  : Hist.  Sanscrit  Literature,  p.  80. 

18  This  is  according  to  Christian  dogma  : 

“ Jesus  paid  it  all, 

All  to  him  is  due, 

Nothing,  either  great  or  small, 
Remains  for  me  to  do,” 

19  Muller  : Science  of  Religion,  p.  28. 

ao  “ Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  alms 
before  men,  to  be  seen  of  them  : otherwise  ye 
have  no  reward  of  your  father  which  is  in 
heaven.”  (Matt.  vi.  1.) 

12  “ Confess  your  faults  one  to  another,  and 
pray  one  for  another,  that  ye  may  be  healed.” 
(James,  v.  16.) 


294 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


31.  “Buddha  was  described  as  a 
superhuman  organ  of  light,  to  whom 
a superhuman  organ  of  darkness,  Mara 
or  Naga,  the  Evil  Serpent,  was  op- 
posed.”1 

32.  Buddha  came,  not  to  destroy, 
but  to  fulfill,  the  law.  He  delighted  in 
“ representing  himself  as  a mere  link  in 
a long  chain  of  enlightened  teachers.”4 

33.  ‘ ‘ One  day  Ananda,  the  disciple 
of  Buddha,  after  a long  walk  in  the 
country,  meets  with  Matangi,  a woman 
of  the  low  caste  of  the  Kandalas,  near  a 
well,  and  asks  her  for  some  water.  She 
tells  him  what  she  is,  and  that  she 
must  not  come  near  him.  But  he  re- 
plies, ‘My  sister,  I ask  not  for  thy 
caste  or  thy  family,  I ask  only  for  a 
draught  of  water.’  She  afterwards  be- 
came a disciple  of  Buddha.”6 

34.  “According  to  Buddha,  the  mo- 
tive of  all  our  actions  should  be  pity  or 
love  for  our  neighbor.”8 

35.  During  the  early  part  of  his  ca- 
reer as  a teacher,  “Buddha  went  to 
the  city  of  Benares,  and  there  delivered 
a discourse,  by  which  Kondanya,  and 
afterwards  four  others,  were  induced 
to  become  his  disciples.  From  that 
period,  whenever  he  preached,  multi- 
tudes of  men  and  women  embraced  his 
doctrines.”10 

36.  Those  who  became  disciples  of 
Buddha  were  told  that  they  must  ‘ ‘ re- 
nounce the  world,”  give  up  all  their 
riches,  and  avow  poverty.13 

1 Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  x.  and  39. 

2 “ That  was  the  true  light,  which  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.” 
(John,  i.  9.) 

3 Matt.  iv.  1 ; Mark,  i.  13  ; Luke,  iv.  2. 

4 Muller  : Science  of  Religion,  p.  140. 

6 Matt.  v.  17. 

6 Muller  : Science  of  Religion,  p.  243.  See 
also,  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  47,  48,  and 
Amberly’s  Analysis,  p.  285. 

7 John,  iv.  1-11. 

Just  as  the  Samaritan  woman  wondered  that 
Jesus,  a Jew,  should  ask  drink  of  her , one  of 
a nation  with  whom  the  Jews  had  no  dealings, 

so  this  young  Matangi  warned  Ananda  of  her 
caste,  which  rendered  it  unlawful  for  her  to 

approach  a monk.  And  as  Jesus  continued, 
nevertheless,  to  converse  with  the  woman,  so 

Ananda  did  not  shrink  from  this  outcast  damsel. 

And  as  the  disciples  “ marvelled  ” that  Jesus 

should  have  conversed  Avith  this  member  of  a 

despised  race,  so  the  respectable  Brahmans  and 


31.  Jesus  was  described  as  a super- 
human organ  of  light — “the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  ”2  — opposed  by  ‘ ‘ the 
old  Serpent,”  the  Satan,  hinderer,  or 
adversary.3 

32.  Jesus  said:  “Think  not  that  I 
am  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the 
prophets:  I am  not  come  to  destroy, 
but  to  fulfill.”5 

33.  One  day  Jesus,  after  a long 
walk,  cometh  to  the  city  of  Samaria, 
and  being  wearied  with  his  journey, 
sat  on  a well.  While  there,  a woman 
of  Samaria  came  to  draw  water,  and 
Jesus  said  unto  her : ‘ ‘ give  me  to  drink.  ’’ 
“ Then  said  the  woman  unto  him:  How 
is  it  that  thou,  being  a Jew,  asketh  drink 
of  me,  which  am  a woman  of  Samaria? 
For  the  Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the 
Samaritans.”7 

34.  “ Love  your  enemies,  bless  them 
that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that 
hate  you.”9 

35.  During  the  early  part  of  his 
career  as  a teacher,  Jesus  went  to  the 
city  of  Capernaum,  and  there  delivered 
a discourse.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
four  fishermen  were  induced  to  become 
his  disciples. 1 1 From  that  period,  when- 
ever he  preached,  multitudes  of  men 
and  women  embraced  his  doctrines. 12 

36.  Those  who  became  disciples  of 
Jesus  were  told  that  they  must  renounce 
the  world,  give  up  all  their  riches,  and 
avow  poverty. 14 

householders  who  adhered  to  Brahmanism  were 
scandalized  to  learn  that  the  young  Matangi 
had  been  admitted  to  the  order  of  mendicants. 

® Muller  : Religion  of  Science,  p.  249. 

9 Matt.  v.  44. 

10  Hardy  : Eastern  Monachism,  p.  6. 

“ See  Matt.  iv.  13-25. 

12  “And  there  followed  him  great  multitudes 
of  people.”  (Matt.  iv.  25.) 

13  Hardy  : Eastern  Monachism,  pp.  6 and  62 
et  seq. 

While  at  Rajageiha  Buddha  called  together 
his  followers  and  addressed  them  at  some 
length  on  the  means  requisite  for  Buddhist 
salvation.  This  sermon  was  summed  up  in  the 
celebrated  verse  : 

“ To  cease  from  all  sin, 

To  get  virtue, 

To  cleanse  one’s  own  heart— 

This  is  the  religion  of  the  Buddhas.” 
—(Rhys  David’s  Buddha,  p.  62.) 

14  See  Matt.  viii.  19,  20 ; xvi.  25-28. 


BUDDHA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED 


295 


37.  It  is  recorded  in  the  “Sacred 
Canon  ” of  the  Buddhists  that  the  mul- 
titudes “ required  a sign”  from  Buddha 
“that  they  might  believe.”1 

38.  When  Buddha’s  time  on  earth 
was  about  coming  to  a close,  he,  “fore- 
seeing the  things  that  would  happen  in 
future  times,”  said  to  his  disciple  An- 
anda:  “ Ananda,  when  I am  gone,  you 
must  not  think  there  is  no  Buddha;  the 
discourses  I have  delivered,  and  the  pre- 
cepts I have  enjoined,  must  be  my  suc- 
cessors, or  representatives,  and  be  to  you 
as  Buddha.”3 

39.  In  the  Buddhist  Somadeva,  is  to 
be  found  the  following:  “To  give 
away  our  riches  is  considered  the  most 
difficult  virtue  in  the  world;  he  who 
gives  away  his  riches  is  like  a man  who 
gives  away  his  life : for  our  very  life 
seems  to  cling  to  our  riches.  But  Bud- 
dha, when  his  mind  was  moved  by 
pity,  gave  his  life  like  grass,  for  the  sake 
of  others;  why  should  we  think  of 
miserable  riches!  By  this  exalted  vir- 
tue, Buddha,  when  he  was  freed  from 
all  desires,  and  had  obtained  divine 
knowledge,  attained  unto  Buddhahood. 
Therefore  let  a wise  man,  after  he  has 
turned  away  his  desires  from  all  pleas- 
ures, do  good  to  all  beings,  even  unto 
sacrificing  his  own  life,  that  thus  he 
may  attain  to  true  knowledge.”6 

40.  Buddha’s  aim  was  to  establish 


37.  It  is  recorded  in  the  “Sacred 
Canon  ” of  the  Christians  that  the  mul- 
titudes required  a sign  from  Jesus  that 
they  might  believe.2 

38.  When  Jesus’  time  on  earth  was 
about  coming  to  a close,  he  told  of  the 
things  that  would  happen  in  future 
times,4  and  said  unto  his  disciples: 
“ Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations, 
teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I have  commanded  you; 
and,  lo,  I am  with  you  alway,  even  un- 
to the  end  of  the  world.”5 

39.  “And  behold,  one  came  and 
said  unto  him,  Good  Master,  what 
good  thing  shall  I do,  that  I may  have 
eternal  life?  . . . Jesus  said  unto  him, 
If  thou  wilt  be  perfect,  go  and  sell  that 
thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and 
thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven : and 
come  and  follow  me.”7  “Lay  not  up 
for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth, 
where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and 
where  thieves  break  through  and  steal : 
But  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures  in 
heaven,  where  neither  moth  nor  rust 
doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not 
break  through  nor  steal.”8 


40.  ‘ * From  that  time  Jesus  began 


1 Miiller  : Science  of  Religion,  p.  27. 

* Hardy  : Eastern  Monachism,  p.  230. 

“Gautama  Buddha  is  said  to  have  an- 
nounced to  his  disciples  that  the  time  of  his 
departure  had  come  : ‘ Arise,  let  us  go  hence, 
my  time  is  come.’  Turned  toward  the  East 
and  with  folded  arms  he  prayed  to  the  highest 
spirit  who  inhabits  the  region  of  purest  light, 
to  Maha-Brahma,  to  the  king  in  heaven,  to 
Devaraja,  who  from  his  throne  looked  down  on 
Gautama,  and  appeared  to  him  in  a self -chosen 
personality.”  (Bunsen  : The  Angel-Mess iah. 
Compare  with  Matt.  xxvi.  36-47.) 

2 “Then  certain  of  the  scribes  and  Phar- 

isees answered,  saying.  Master,  we  would  see 
a sign  from  thee.”  (Matt.  xii.  38.) 

4 See  Matt,  xxiv ; Mark,  viii.  31 ; Luke,  ix. 

18. 

5 Mark,  xxviii.  18-20. 

Buddha  at  one  time  said  to  his  disciples : 

“Go  ye  now,  and  preach  the  most  excellent 

law,  expounding  every  point  thereof,  and  un- 


folding it  ■with  care  and  attention  in  all  its 
bearings  and  particulars.  Explain  the  begin- 
ning, the  middle,  and  the  end  of  the  law,  to 
all  men  without  exception ; let  everything 
respecting  it  be  made  publicly  known  and 
brought  to  the  broad  daylight. ’ ’ (Rhys  David’s 
Buddhism,  p.  55,  56.) 

When  Buddha,  just  before  his  death,  took 
his  last  formal  farewell  of  his  assembled  fol- 
lowers, he  said  unto  them  : “ Oh  mendicants, 
thoroughly  learn,  and  practice,  and  perfect, 
and  spread  abroad  the  law  thought  out  and 
revealed  by  me,  in  order  that  this  religion  of 
mine  may  last  long,  and  be  perpetuated  for 
the  good  and  happiness  of  the  great  multi- 
tudes, out  of  pity  for  the  world,  to  the  advan- 
tage and  prosperity  of  gods  and  men.”  (Ibid, 
p.  172.) 

• Muller : Science  of  Religion,  p.  244. 

7 Matt.  xix.  16-21. 

s Matt.  vi.  19,  20. 


296 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


a “Religious  Kingdom,”  a “ Kingdom 
of  Heaven."1 

41.  Buddha  said:  “I  now  desire  to 
turn  the  wheel  of  the  excellent  law.3 
For  this  purpose  am  I going  to  the  city 
of  Benares,4 *  to  give  light  to  those  en- 
shrouded in  darkness,  and  to  open  the 
gate  of  Immortality  to  man.”6 

42.  Buddha  said:  “Though  the 
heavens  were  to  fall  to  earth,  and  the 
great  world  be  swallowed  up  and  pass 
away:  Though  Mount  Sumera  were  to 
crack  to  pieces,  and  the  great  ocean  be 
dried  up,  yet,  Ananda,  be  assured,  the 
words  of  Buddha  are  true.”7 

43.  Buddha  said:  “ There  is  no  pas- 
sion more  violent  than  voluptuous- 
ness. Happily  there  is  but  one  such 
passion.  If  there  were  two,  not  a man 
in  the  whole  universe  could  follow  the 
truth.”  “Beware  of  fixing  your  eyes 
upon  women.  If  you  find  yourself  in 
their  company,  let  it  be  as  though  you 
were  not  present.  If  you  speak  with 
them,  guard  well  your  hearts.”10 

44.  Buddha  said:  “A  wise  man 
should  avoid  married  life  as  if  it  were 


to  preach,  and  to  say,  Repent : for  the 
Kingdom  of  Hea/ven  is  at  hand.”2 

41.  Jesus,  after  his  temptation  by 
the  devil,  began  to  establish  the  domin- 
ion of  his  religion,  and  he  went  for 
this  purpose  to  the  city  of  Capernaum. 
“ The  people  which  sat  in  darkness  saw 
great  light,  and  to  them  which  sat  in 
the  region  and  shadow  of  death,  light 
is  sprung  up.”6 

42.  “ The  law  was  given  by  Moses, 
but  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus 
Christ.”8 

‘ ‘ Verily  I say  unto  you  . . . heaven 
and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words 
shall  not  pass  away.  ”9 

43.  Jesus  said:  “Ye  have  heard 
that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time. 
Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery:  But 
I say  unto  you,  that  whosoever  looketh 
on  a woman  to  lust  after  her,  hath  com- 
mitted adultery  with  her  already  in  his 
heart.”11 


44.  “It  is  good  for  a man  not  to 
touch  a woman,”  “but  if  they  cannot 


1 Beal : Hist.  Buddlia,  p.  x.  note. 

2- Matt.  iv.  17. 

3 i.  e.,  to  establish  the  dominion  of  relig- 
ion. (See  Beal : p.  244,  note.) 

4 The  Jerusalem,  the  Rome,  or  the  Mecca 
of  India. 

This  celebrated  city  of  Benares,  which  has 
a population  of  200.000,  out  of  which  at  least 
25,000  are  Brahmans,  was  probably  one  of  the 
first  to  acquire  a fame  for  sanctity,  and  it  has 
always  maintained  its  reputation  as  the  most 
6acred  spot  in  all  India.  Here,  in  this  fortress 
of  Hindooism,  Brahmanism  displays  itself  in  all 
its  plentitude  and  power.  Here  the  degrding 
effect  of  idolatry  is  visibly  demonstrated  as  it  is 
nowhere  else  except  in  the  extreme  south  of  In- 
dia. Here,  temples,  idols,  and  symbols,  sacred 

wells,  springs,  and  pools,  are  multiplied  beyond 
all  calculation.  Here  every  particle  of  ground  is 

believed  to  be  hallowed,  and  the  very  air  holy. 

The  number  of  temples  is  at  least  two  thou- 
sand, not  counting  innumerable  smaller  shrines. 
In  the  principal  temple  of  Siva,  called  Visves- 
vara,  are  collected  in  one  spot  several  thousand 

idols  and  symbols,  the  whole  number  scattered 

throughout  the  city,  being,  it  is  thought,  at 
jeast  half  a million. 

Benares,  indeed,  must  always  be  regarded 


as  the  Hindoo’s  Jerusalem.  The  desire  of  a 
pious  man’s  life  is  to  accomplish  at  least  one 
pilgrimage  to  what  he  regards  as  a portion  of 
heaven  let  down  upon  earth  ; and  if  he  can 
die  within  the  holy  circuit  of  the  Pancakosi 
stretching  with  a radius  of  ten  miles  around 
the  city-nay,  if  any  human  being  die  there, 
be  he  Asiatic  or  European— no  previously  incur- 
red guilt,  however  heinous,  can  prevent  his 
attainment  of  celestial  bliss. 

6 Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  245. 

« Matt.  iv.  13-17. 

7 Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  11. 

8 John,  i.  17. 

9 Luke,  xxi.  32,  33. 

10  ProgpRelig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  228. 

“ Matt.  v.  27,  28. 

On  one  occasion  Buddha  preached  a sermon 
on  the  five  senses  and  the  heart  (which  he 
regarded  as  a sixth  organ  of  sense),  which 
pertained  to  guarding  against  the  passion  of 
lust.  Rhys  Davids,  who,  in  speaking  of  this 
sermon,  says:  “One  may  pause  and  wonder 
at  finding  such  a sermon  preached  so  early  in 
the  history  of  the  world— more  than  400  years 
before  the  rise  of  Christianity— and  among  a 
people  who  have  long  been  thought  peculiarly 
idolatrous  and  sensual.”  (Buddhism,  p.  60.) 


BUDDHA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


297 


a burning  pit  of  live  coals.  One  who 
is  not  able  to  live  in  a state  of  celibacy 
should  not  commit  adultery.”1 

45.  ‘ ‘Buddhism  is  convinced  that  if 
a man  reaps  sorrow,  disappointment, 
pain,  he  himself,  and  no  other,  must  at 
some  time  have  sown  folly,  error,  sin  ; 
and  if  not  in  this  life  then  in  some 
former  birth.”3 

46.  Buddha  knew  the  thoughts  of 
others:  “By  directing  his  mind  to  the 
thoughts  of  others,  he  can  know  the 
thoughts  of  all  beings.”5 

47.  In  the  Somadeva  a story  is  re- 
lated of  a Buddhist  ascetic  whose  eye 
offended  him,  he  therefore  plucked  it 
out,  and  cast  it  away.1 7 

48.  When  Buddha  was  about  to  be- 
come an  ascetic,  and  when  riding  on 
the  horse  “Kantako,”  his  path  was 
strewn  with  flowers,  thrown  there  by 
Devas.9 


contain  let  them  marry,  for  it  is  better 
to  marry  than  to  burn. ” “To  avoid 
fornication,  let  every  man  have  his 
own  wife  and  let  every  woman  have 
her  own  husband.”2 

45.  “And  as  Jesus  passed  by,  he 
saw  a man  which  was  blind  from  his 
birth.  And  his  disciples  asked  him, 
saying,  Master,  who  did  sin,  this  man, 
or  his  parents,  that  he  was  born 
blind.”4 

46.  Jesus  knew  the  thoughts  of 
others.  By  directing  his  mind  to 
the  thoughts  of  others,  he  knew  the 
thoughts  of  all  beings.6 

47.  It  is  related  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment that  Jesus  said : “ If  thy  right  eye 
offend  thee,  pluck  it  out,  and  cast  it 
from  thee.”8 

48.  When  Jesus  was  entering  Jeru- 
salem, riding  on  an  ass,  his  path  was 
strewn  with  palm  branches,  thrown 
there  by  the  multitude. 10 


Never  were  devotees  of  any  creed  or  faith  as  fast  bound  in  its 
thraldom  as  are  the  disciples  of  Gautama  Buddha.  For  nearly  two 
thousand  four  hundred  years  it  has  been  the  established  religion  of 
Burmah,  Siam,  Laos,  Pega,  Cambodia,  Thibet,  Japan,  Tartary,  Cey- 
lon and  Loo-Choo,  and  many  neighboring  islands,  beside  about 
two-thirds  of  China  and  a large  portion  of  Siberia ; and  at  the  pres- 
ent day  no  inconsiderable  number  of  the  simple  peasantry  of 
Swedish  Lapland  are  found  among  its  firm  adherents.11 


1 Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism,  p.  138. 

2 I.  Corinth,  vii.  1-7. 

3 Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism,  p.  103. 

4 John,  ix.  1,  2. 

This  is  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  clearly 
taught.  If  this  man  was  born  blind,  as  pun- 
ishment for  some  sin  committed  by  him,  this 
sin  must  have  been  committed  in  some  former 
birth. 

6  Hardy  : Buddhist  Legends,  p.  181. 

6 See  the  story  of  his  conversation  with  the 
woman  of  Samaria.  (John,  iv.  1.)  And  with 
the  woman  who  was  cured  of  the  “bloody 
issue.”  (Matt.  ix.  20.) 

7 Muller : Science  of  Religion,  p.  245. 

8 Matt.  v.  29. 

9 Hardy  : Buddhist  Legends,  p.  134. 

Matt.  xxi.  1-9. 

Bacchus  rode  in  a triumphal  procession, 
on  approaching  the  city  of  Thebes.  “Pan- 
theus,  the  king,  who  had  no  respect  for  the 
new  worship  (instituted  by  Bacchus)  forbade 


its  rites  to  be  performed.  But  when  it  was 
known  that  Bacchus  was  advancing,  men  and 
women,  but  chiefly  the  latter,  young  and  old, 
poured  forth  to  meet  him  and  to  join  his  tri- 
umphal march.  ...  It  was  in  vain  Pan- 
theus  remonstrated,  commanded  and  threat- 
ened. ‘ Go,’  said  he  to  his  attendants,  ‘ seize 
this  vagabond  leader  of  the  rout  and  bring 
him  to  me.  I will  soon  make  him  confess 
his  false  claim  of  heavenly  parentage  and  re- 
nounce his  counterfeit  worship.’  ” (Bulfinch  : 
Age  of  Fable,  p.  222.  Compare  with  Matt, 
xxvi.;  Luke,  xxii. ; John  xviii.) 

ii  “ There  are  few  names  among  the  men  of 
the  West,  that  stand  forth  as  saliently  as 
Gotama  Buddha,  in  the  annals  of  the  East. 
In  little  more  than  two  centuries  from  his  de- 
cease the  system  he  established  had  spread 
throughout  the  whole  of  India,  overcoming 
opposition  the  most  formidable,  and  binding 
together  the  most  discordant  elements  ; and 
at  the  present  moment  Buddhism  is  the  pre- 


298 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“Well  authenticated  records  establish  indisputably  the  facts, 
that  together  with  a noble  physique,  superior  mental  endowments, 
and  high  moral  excellence,  there  were  found  in  Buddha  a purity  of 
life,  sanctity  of  character,  and  simple  integrity  of  purpose,  that  com- 
mended themselves  to  all  brought  under  his  influence.  Even 
at  this  distant  day,  one  cannot  listen  with  tearless  eyes  to  the  touch- 
ing details  of  his  pure,  earnest  life,  and  patient  endurance  under 
contradiction,  often  fierce  persecution  for  those  he  sought  to 
benefit.  Altogether  he  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those  remarkable 
examples,  of  genius  and  virtue  occasionally  met  with,  unaccountably 
superior  to  the  age  and  nation  that  produced  them. 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  ever  arrogated  to  himself 
any  higher  authority  than  that  of  a teacher  of  religion,  but,  as  in 
modern  factions , there  were  readily  found  among  his  followers 
those  who  carried  his  peculiar  tenets  much  further  than  their 
founder.  These,  not  content  with  lauding  during  his  life-time  the 
noble  deeds  of  their  teacher,  exalted  him,  within  a quarter  of  a 
century  after  his  death,  to  a place  among  their  deities — worshiping 
as  a God  one  they  had  known  only  as  a simple-hearted,  earnest, 
truth-seeking  philanthropist.1 

This  worship  was  at  first  but  the  natural  upgusliing  of  the  ven- 
eration and  love  Gautama  had  inspired  during  his  noble  life,  and 
his  sorrowing  disciples,  mourning  over  the  desolation  his  death  had 
occasioned,  turned  for  consolation  to  the  theory  that  he  still  lived. 

Those  who  had  known  him  in  life  cherished  his  name  as  the 
very  synonym  of  all  that  was  generous  and  good,  and  it  required 
but  a step  to  exalt  him  to  divine  honors  ; and  so  it  was  that  Gauta- 
ma Buddha  became  a God,  and  continues  to  be  worshiped  as  such. 

For  more  than  forty  years  Gautama  thus  dwelt  among  his  fol- 
lowers, instructing  them  daily  in  the  sacred  law,  and  laying  down 


vailing  religion,  under  various  modifications, 
of  Tibet,  Nepal,  Siam,  Burma,  Japan,  and 
South  Ceylon  ; and  in  China  it  has  a position 
of  at  least  equal  prominence  with  its  two 
great  rivals,  Confucianism  and  Taouism.  A 
long  time  its  influence  extended  throughout 
nearly  three-fourths  of  Asia  ; from  the  steppes 
of  Tartary  to  the  palm  groves  of  Ceylon,  and 
from  the  vale  of  Cashmere  to  the  isles  of 
Japan.”  (R.  Spence  Hardy  : Buddhist  Leg. 
p.  xi.) 

1 ‘-Gautama  was  very  early  regarded  as 
omniscient,  and  absolutely  sinless.  His  per- 
fect wisdom  is  declared  by  the  ancient  epithet 
of  Samma-sambuddha,  ‘ the  Completely  En- 
lightened One found  at  the  commencement 


of  every  Pali  text ; and  at  the  present  day, 
in  Ceylon,  the  usual  way  in  which  Gautama 
is  styled  is  Sarwajnan-wahanse,  ‘ the  Venerable 
Omniscient  One.’  From  hjs  perfect  wisdom, 
according  to  Buddhist  belief,  his  sinlessness 
would  follow  as  a matter  of  course.  He  was 
the  first  and  the  greatest  of  the  Arahats.  As 
a consequence  of  this  doctrine  the  belief  soon 
sprang  up  that  he  could  not  have  been,  that 
he  was  not,  born  as  ordinary  men  are  ; that 
he  had  no  earthly  father ; that  he  descended 
of  his  own  accord  into  his  mother’s  womb 
from  his  throne  in  heaven  ; and  that  he  gave 
unmistakable  signs,  immediately  after  his  birth 
of  his  high  character  and  of  his  future  great, 
ness.”  (Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism,  p.  162.) 


BUDDHA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


299 


many  rules  for  their  guidance  when  he  should  be  no  longer  with 
them.1 

He  lived  in  a style  the  most  simple  and  unostentatious,  bore  un- 
complainingly the  weariness  aud  privations  incident  to  the  many 
long  journeys  made  for  the  propagation  of  the  new  faith  ; and  per 
formed  countless  deeds  of  love  and  mercy. 

When  the  time  came  for  him  to  be  perfected,  he  directed  his 
followers  no  longer  to  remain  together,  but  to  go  out  in  companies, 
and  proclaim  the  doctrines  he  had  taught  them,  found  schools  and 
monasteries,  build  temples,  and  perform  acts  of  charity,  that  they 
might  ‘ obtain  merit,’  and  gain  access  to  the  blessed  shade  of  Higban, 
which  he  told  them  he  was  about  to  enter,  and  where  they  believe 
he  has  now  reposed  more  than  two  thousand  years.” 

To  the  pious  Buddhist  it  seems  irreverent  to  speak  of  Gautama 
by  his  mere  ordinary  and  human  name,  and  he  makes  use  therefore, 
of  one  of  those  numerous  epithets  which  are  used  only  of  the  Bud- 
dha, “ the  Enlightened  One.”  Such  are  iSakya-sinha , “ the  Lion  of 
the  Tribe  of  Sakya  ;”  Sakya-muni , “ the  Sakya  Sage  ;”  Sugata , “ the 
Happy  One  ;”  Sattha,  “the  Teacher;”  “the  Conqueror;” 

Bhagavad , “ the  Blessed  One  ;”  Loka-natha , “ the  Lord  of  the 
World;”  Sarvctjna,  “ the  Omniscient  One;”  Dharma-raja,  u the 
King  of  Righteousness  ;”  he  is  also  called  “ the  Author  of  ILappi- 
ness,”  “ the  Possessor  of  All,”  “ the  Supreme  Being,”  “ the  Eternal 
One,”  “ the  Dispeller  of  Pain  and  Trouble,”  “the  Guardian  of  the 
Universe,”  “ the  Emblem  of  Mercy,”  “ the  Saviour  of  the  World,” 
“ the  Great  Physician,”  “ the  God  among  Gods,”  “ the  Anointed  ” 
or  “ the  Christ,”  “ the  Messiah,”  “ the  Only-Begotten,”  “ the 
Heaven-Descended  Mortal,”  “the  Way  of  Life,  and  of  Immortal- 
ity,” &c.a 

At  no  time  did  Buddha  receive  his  knowledge  from  a human 


1 Gautama  Buddha  left  behind  him  no  writ- 
ten works,  but  the  Buddhists  believe  that  he 
composed  works  which  his  immediate  disciples 
learned  by  heart  in  his  life-time,  and  which 
were  handed  down  by  memory  in  their  original 
state  until  they  were  committed  to  writing. 
This  is  not  impossible : it  is  known  that  the 
Vedas  were  handed  down  in  this  manner  for 
many  hundreds  of  years,  and  none  would  now 
dispute  the  enormous  powers  of  memory  to 
which  Indian  priests  and  monks  attained, 
when  written  books  were  not  invented,  or  only 
used  as  helps  to  memory.  Even  though  they 
are  well  acquainted  with  writing,  the  monks 
in  Ceylon  do  not  use  books  in  their  religious 
services,  but,  repeat,  for  instance,  the  whole 
of  the  Patimokkha  on  Uposatha  (Sabbath) 


days  by  heart.  (See  Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism, 
pp.  9,  10.) 

2 Compare  this  with  the  names,  titles,  and 
characters  given  to  Jesus.  He  is  called  the 
“ Deliverer,”  (Acts,  vii.  35) ; the  “ First  Be- 
gotten” (Rev.  i.  5);  “ God  blessed  forever” 
(Rom.  ix.  5);  the  “Holy  One”  (Luke,  iv.  34; 
Acts.  iii.  14);  the  “King  Everlasting”  (Luke, 
i.  33);  “King  of  Kings”  (Rev.  xvii.  14); 
“Lamb  of  God”  (John,  i.  29,36);  “Lord  of 
Glory”  (I.  Cor.  ii.  8);  “Lord  of  Lords”  (Rev. 
xvii.  14);  “Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah”  (Rev. 
v.  5);  “Maker  and  Preserver  of  all  things” 
(John,  i.  3,  10;  I.  Cor.  viii.  6;  Col.  i.  16); 
“ Prince  of  Peace  ” (Isai.  ix.  6;;  “ Redeemer,” 
“Saviour,”  “Mediator,”  “Word,”  &c.,  &c. 


300 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


source,  that  is,  from  flesh  and  blood.  His  source  was  the  power  of 
his  divine  wisdom,  the  spiritual  power  of  Maja,  which  he  already 
possessed  before  his  incarnation.  It  was  by  this  divine  power, 
which  is  also  called  the  “ Holy  Ghost,”  that  he  became  the  Saviour, 
the  Kung-teng,  the  Anointed  or  Messiah,  to  whom  prophecies  had 
pointed.  Buddha  was  regarded  as  the  supernatural  light  of  the 
world  ; and  this  world  to  which  he  came  was  his  own,  his  posses- 
sion, for  he  is  styled  : “ The  Lord  of  the  World.”1 2 

“ Gautama  Buddha  taught  that  all  men  are  brothers3  that 
charity  ought  to  be  extended  to  all,  even  to  enemies ; that  men 
ought  to  love  truth  and  hate  the  lie ; that  good  works  ought  not  be 
done  openly,  but  rather  in  secret ; that  the  dangers  of  riches  are  to 
be  avoided  ; that  man’s  highest  aim  ought  to  be  purity  in  thought, 
word  and  deed,  since  the  higher  beings  are  pure,  whose  nature  is 
akin  to  that  of  man.”3 

“ Sakya-Muni  healed  the  sick,  performed  miracles  and  taught 
his  doctrines  to  the  poor.  He  selected  his  first  disciples  among  lay- 
men, and  even  two  women,  the  mother  and  wife  of  his  first  convert, 
the  sick  Yasa,  became  his  followers.  He  subjected  himself  to  the 
religious  obligations  imposed  by  the  recognized  authorities,  avoided 
strife,  and  illustrated  his  doctrines  by  his  life.”4 * 

It  is  said  that  eighty  thousand  followers  of  Buddha  went  forth 
from  Hindostan,  as  missionaries  to  other  lands  ; and  the  traditions 
of  various  countries  are  full  of  legends  concerning  their  benevo- 
lence, holiness,  and  miraculous  power.  His  religion  has  never  been 
propagated  by  the  sword.  It  has  been  effected  entirely  by  the  in- 
fluence of  peaceable  and  persevering  devotees.6 *  The  era  of  the 
Siamese  is  the  death  of  Buddha.  In  Ceylon,  they  date  from  the  in- 
troduction of  his  religion  into  their  island.  It  is  supposed  to  be 
more  extensively  adopted  than  any  religion  that  ever  existed.  Its 
votaries  are  computed  at  four  hundred  millions ; more  than  one- 
third  of  the  whole  human  race.8 

There  is  much  contradiction  among  writers  concerning  the  date 


1 Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  41. 

2 “He  joined  to  his  gifts  as  a thinker  a pro- 

phetic ardor  and  missionary  zeal  which 
prompted  him  to  popularize  his  doctrine,  and 
to  preach  to  all  without  exception,  men  and 
women,  high  and  low,  ignorant  and  learned 
alike.”  (Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism,  p.  53.) 

* Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  45. 

* Ibid.  p.  46. 

* “ The  success  of  Buddhism  was  in  great 
part  due  to  the  reverence  the  Buddha  inspired 

by  his  own  personal  character.  He  practiced 

bouestly  what  he  • preached  enthusiastically. 


He  was  sincere,  energetic,  earnest,  self-sacri- 
ficing, and  devout.  Adherents  gathered  in 
thousands  around  the  person  of  the  consistent 
preacher,  and  the  Buddha  himself  became  the 
real  centre  of  Buddhism.”  (Williams’  Hindu- 
ism, p.  102.) 

• “It  maybe  said  to  be  the  prevailing  re- 
ligion of  the  world.  Its  adherents  are  estimat  3d 
at  four  hundred  millions , more  than  a third  of 
the  human  race.”  (Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art. 
“Buddhism.”  See  also,  Bunsen ’e  Angel-Mea- 
siah,  p.  251.) 


BUDDHA  AND  JESUS  COMPARED. 


301 


of  the  Buddhist  religion.  This  confusion  arises  from  the  fact  that 
there  are  several  Buddhas,1  objects  of  worship  ; because  the  word 
is  not  a name,  but  a title,  signifying  an  extraordinary  degree  of  holi- 
ness. Those  who  have  examined  the  subject  most  deeply  have 
generally  agreed  that  Buddha  Sakai,  from  whom  the  religion  takes 
its  name,  must  have  been  a real,  historical  personage,  who  appeared 
many  centuries  before  the  time  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Christ 
Jesus.2 *  There  are  many  things  to  confirm  this  supposition.  In 
some  portions  of  India,  his  religion  appears  to  have  flourished  for  a 
long  time  side  by  side  with  that  of  the  Brahmans.  This  is  shown  by 
the  existence  of  many  ancient  temples,  some  of  them  cut  in  subter- 
ranean rock,  with  an  immensity  of  labor,  which  it  must  have  re- 
quired a long  period  to  accomplish.  In  those  old  temples,  his  stat- 
ues represent  him  with  hair  knotted  all  over  his  head,  which  was  a 
very  ancient  custom  with  the  anchorites  of  Hindostan,  before  the 
practice  of  shaving  the  dead  was  introduced  among  their  devotees.* 
His  religion  is  also  mentioned  in  one  of  the  very  ancient  epic 
poems  of  India.  The  severity  of  the  persecution  indicates  that  their 
numbers  and  influence  had  became  formidable  to  the  Brahmans, 
who  had  everything  to  fear  from  a 6ect  which  abolished  hereditary 
priesthood,  and  allowed  the  holy  of  all  castes  to  become  teachers.4 

It  may  be  observed  that  in  speaking  of  the  pre-existence  of  Bud- 
dha in  heaven — his  birth  of  a virgin — the  songs  of  the  angels  at 
his  birth — his  recognition  as  a divine  child — his  disputation  with 
the  doctors — his  temptation  in  the  wilderness — his  transfiguration 
on  the  Mount — his  life  of  preaching  and  working  miracles — and 
finally,  his  ascension  into  heaven,  we  referred  to  Prof . Samuel  Beal’s 
“History  of  Buddha,”  as  one  of  our  authorities.  This  work  is 
simply  a translation  of  the  “ Fo-pen-hing ,”  made  by  Professor  Beal 
from  a Chinese  copy,  in  the  “ Indian  Office  Library.” 


1 It  should  be  understood  that  the  Buddha  of 
this  chapter,  and  in  fact,  the  Buddha  of  this 

work,  is  Gautama  Buddha,  the  Sakya  Prince. 
According  to  Buddhist  belief  there  have  been 

many  different  Buddhas  on  earth.  The  names 
of  twenty-four  of  the  Buddhas  who  appeared 
previous  to  Gautama  have  been  handed  down 
to  us.  The  Buddhavansa  or  “ History  of  the 
Buddhas,”  gives  the  lives  of  all  the  previous 
Buddhas  before  commencing  the  account  of 
Gautama  himself.  (See  Rhys  Davids’  Budd- 
hism, pp.  179, 189.) 

a ♦♦  1 he  date  usually  fixed  for  Buddha’s 
death  is  543  b.  o.  Whether  this  precise  year 
for  one  of  the  greatest  epochs  in  the  religious 
history  of  the  human  race  can  be  accepted  is 
doubtful,  bat  it  is  tolerably  certain  that  Budd- 


hism arose  in  Behar  and  Eastern  Hindustan 
about  five  centuries  b.  c.;  and  that  it  spread 
with  great  rapidity,  not  by  force  of  arms , or 
coercion  of  any  kind,  like  Muhammedanism,  but 
by  the  sheer  persuasiveness  of  its  doctrines.” 
(Monier  Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  72.) 

8 “ Of  the  high  antiquity  of  Buddhism  there 
is  much  collateral  as  well  as  direct  evidence- 
evidence  that  neither  internecine  nor  foreign 
strife,  not  even  religious  persecution,  has  been 
able  to  destroy.  . . . Witness  the  gigantic 
images  in  the  caves  of  Elephants,  near  Bombay 
and  those  of  Lingi  Sara,  in  the  interior  of 
Java,  all  of  which  are  known  to  have  been  in 
existence  at  least  four  centuries  prior  to  our 
Lord’s  advent.”  (The  Mammoth  Religion.) 

4 Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  259. 


302 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Now,  in  regard  to  the  antiquity  of  this  work,  we  will  quote  the 
words  of  the  translator  in  speaking  on  this  subject. 

First,  he  says : 

We  Jcnow  that  the  Fo-pen-hing  was  translated  into  Chinese  from  Sanscrit  (the 
ancient  language  of  Hindoslan)  so  early  as  the  eleventh  year  of  the  reign  of 
Wing-ping  (Ming-ti),  of  the  Han  dynasty,  i.  e.,  69  or  70  a.  d.  We  mag,  there - 
fore,  safely  suppose  that  the  original  work  was  in  circulation  in  India  for  some  time 
previous  to  this  date”1 

Again,  lie  says : 

“ There  can  he  no  doubt  that  the  present  work  (f.  e.  the  Fo-pen-hing,  or  Hist, 
of  Buddha)  contains  as  a woof  (so  to  speak)  some  of  the  earliest  verses  (Gathas) 
in  which  the  History  of  Buddha  was  sung,  long  before  the  work  itself  was  penned. 

These  Gathas  were  evidcntljr  composed  in  different  Prakrit  forms  (during  a 
period  of  disintegration)  before  the  more  modern  type  of  Sanscrit  was  fixed  by  the 
rules  of  Panini,  and  the  popular  epics  of  the  Mahabharata  and  the  Ramayana. 

Again,  in  speaking  of  the  points  of  resemblance  in  the  history 
of  Buddha  and  Jesus,  he  says : 

“These  points  of  agreement  with  the  Gospel  narrative  naturally  arouse 
curiosity  and  require  explanation.  If  we  could  prove  that  they  (the  legends 
related  of  Buddha)  were  unknown  in  the  East  for  some  centuries  after  Christ, 
the  explanation  would  be  easy.  But  all  the  evidence  we  have  goes  to  prove  the 
Contrary. 

It  would  be  a natural  inference  that  many  of  the  events  in  the  legend  of 
Buddha  were  borrowed  from  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  if  we  were  quite  certain 
that  these  Apocryphal  Gospels  had  not  borrowed  from  it.  How  then  may  we 
explain  the  matter  ? It  would  be  better  at  once  to  say  that  in  our  present  state 
of  knowledge  there  is  no  complete  explanation  to  offer.”3 

There  certainly  is  no  “ complete  explanation  ” to  be  offered  by 
one  who  attempts  to  uphold  the  historical  accuracy  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  “ Devil 55  and  “ Type  ” theories  having  vanished, 
like  all  theories  built  on  sand,  nothing  now  remains  for  the  honest 
man  to  do  but  acknowledge  the  truth,  which  is,  that  the  history  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  related  in  the  boohs  of  the  New  Testament, 
is  simply  a copy  of  that  of  Buddha , -with  a mixture  of  mythology 
borrowed  from  other  nations.  Ernest  de  Bunsen  almost  acknowl- 
edges this  when  he  says : 

“With  the  remarkable  exception  of  the  death  of  Jesus  on  the  cross,  and  of 
the  doctrine  of  atonement  by  vicarious  suffering,  which  is  absolutely  excluded 
by  Buddhism,  the  most  ancient  of  the  Buddhistic  records  known  to  us  contain 
statements  about  the  life  and  the  doctrines  of  Gautama  Buddha  which  cor- 
respond in  a remarkable  manner,  and  impossibly  by  mere  chance,  with  the  tra- 
ditions recorded  in  the  Gospels  about  the  life  and  doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  still  more  strange  that  these  Buddhistic  legends  about  Gautama  as  the  Angel- 
Messiah  refer  to  a doctrine  which  we  find  only  in  the  Epistles  of  Paul  and  in  the 


1 Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  p.  vi. 


9 Ibid.  pp.  x.  and  xi. 


8 Ibid.  pp.  viii.,  lx.  and  note. 


BUDDHA  AND  JESUS  COUFABED. 


303 

fourth  Gospel.  This  can  be  explained  by  the  assumption  of  a common  source 
of  revelation  ; but  then  the  serious  question  must  be  considered,  why  the 
doctrine  of  the  Angel-Messiah,  supposing  it  to  have  been  revealed,  and  which  we 
find  in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  is  not  contained  in  any  of  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament  which  can  possibly  have  been  written  before  the  Babylonian 
Captivity,  nor  in  the  first  three  Gospels.  Can  the  systematic  keeping-back  of 
essential  truth  be  attributed  to  'God  or  to  man  t ”l 2 

Beside  the  wore  referred  to  above  as  being  translated  by  Prof. 
Beal,  there  is  another  copy  originally  composed  in  verse.  This 
was  translated  by  the  learned  Ponceau,  who  gives  it  an  antiquity  of 
two  thousand  years,  “ although  the  original  treatise  must  be  attrib- 
uted to  an  earlier  date.”8 

In  regard  to  the  teachings  of  Buddha,  which  correspond  so  strik- 
ingly with  those  of  Jesus,  Prof.  Khys  Davids,  says : 

“With  regard  to  Gautama’s  teaching  we  have  more  reliable  authority  than 
we  have  with  regard  to  his  life.  It  is  true  that  none  of  the  books  of  the  Three 
Pitakaa  can  at  present  be  satisfactorily  traced  back  before  the  Council  of  Asoka, 
held  at  Patna,  about  250  b.  c.,  that  is  to  say,  at  least  one  hundred  and  thirty 
years  after  the  death  of  the  teacher ; but  they  undoubtedly  contain  a great 
deal  of  much  older  matter.”3 * * * * 

Prof.  Max  Muller  says  : 

“ Between  the  language  of  Buddha  and  his  disciples,  and  the  language 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  there  are  strange  coincidences.  Even  some  of  the 
Buddhist  legends  and  parables  sound  as  if  taken  from  the  New  Testament ; 
though  we  know  that  many  of  them  existed  before  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
Bra”* 

Just  as  many  of  the  my  tbs  related  of  the  Hindoo  Saviour 
Crisbna  were  previously  current  regarding  some  of  the  Yedic  gods, 
so  likewise,  many  of  the  myths  previously  current  regarding  the 
god  Sumana , worshiped  both  on  Adam’s  peak,  and  at  the  cave  of 
Dambulla,  were  added  to  the  Buddha  myth?  Much  of  the  legend 
which  was  transferred  to  the  Buddha,  had  previously  existed,  and 
had  clustered  around  the  idea  of  a Chahrawarti?  Thus  we  see 
that  the  legend  of  Christ  Buddha,  as  with  the  legend  of  Christ 
Jesus,  existed  before  his  time? 


1 Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  50. 

2 Quoted  by  Prof.  Beal : Hist.  Buddha,  p. 
viii. 

* Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism,  p.  86. 

* Science  of  Religion,  p.  243. 

* Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism. 

o Ibid.  p.  184. 

“ It  is  surprising,”  says  Rhys  Davids,  “ that, 
like  Romans  worshiping  Augustas,  or  Greeks 
adding  the  glow  of  the  sun-myth  to  the  glory 

at  Alexander,  the  Indians  should  have  formed 


an  ideal  of  their  Chakravarti,  and  transferred  to 
this  new  ideal  many  of  the  dimly  sacred  and 
half  understood  traits  of  the  Vedic  heroes  ? Is 
it  surprising  that  the  Buddhists  should  have 
found  it  edifying  to  recognize  in  their  hero  the 
Chakravarti  of  Righteousness,  and  that  the 
story  of  the  Buddha  should  be  tinged  with  the 
coloring  of  these  Chakravarti  myths  f”  (Jbul. 
Buddhism,  p.  220.) 

7 In  Chapter  xxxix.,  we  shall  explain  the 
origin  of  these  myths. 


304 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


We  have  established  the  fact  then — and  no  man  can  produce 
better  authorities — that  Buddha  and  Buddhism,  which  correspond 
in  such  a remarkable  manner  with  Jesus  and  Christianity,  were 
long  anterior  to  the  Christian  era.  Now,  as  Ernest  de  Bunsen  says, 
this  remarkable  similarity  in  the  histories  of  the  founders  and  their 
religion,  could  not  possibly  happen  by  chance. 

Whenever  two  religious  or  legendary  histories  of  mythological 
personages  resemble  each  other  so  completely  as  do  the  histories 
and  teachings  of  Buddha  and  Jesus,  the  older  must  be  the  parent, 
and  the  younger  the  child.  We  must  therefore  conclude  that, 
since  the  history  of  Buddha  and  Buddhism  is- very  much  older  than 
that  of  Jesus  and  Christianity,  the  Christians  are  incontestably 
either  sectarians  or  plagiarists  of  the  religion  of  the  Buddhists . 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


THE  EUCHARIST  OR  LORD’S  SUPPER. 

We  are  informed  by  the  Matthew  narrator  that  when  Jesus  was 
eating  bis  last  supper  with  the  disciples, 

“ He  took  bread  and  blessed  it,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  and 
said,  Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body.  And  he  took  the  cup,  and  gave  thanks,  and 
gave  it  to  them,  saying,  drink  ye  all  of  it,  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins.”1 

According  to  Christian  belief,  Jesus  instituted  this  “ Sacra- 
ment ”2 3 — as  it  is  called — and  it  was  observed  by  the  primitive 
Christians,  as  he  had  enjoined  them ; but  we  shall  find  that  this 
breaking  of  bread,  and  drinking  of  wine, — supposed  to  be  the  body 
and  blood  of  a god 3 — is  simply  another  piece  of  Paganism  imbibed 
by  the  Christians. 

The  Eucharist  was  instituted  many  hundreds  of  years  before 
the  time  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus.  Cicero,  the  great- 
est orator  of  Rome,  and  one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  her  states- 
men, born  in  the  year  106  b.  c.,  mentions  it  in  his  works,  and 
wonders  at  the  strangeness  of  the  rite.  “ How  can  a man  be  so  stu- 
pid,’’ says  he,  “ as  to  imagine  that  which  he  eats  to  be  a God 
There  had  been  an  esoteric  meaning  attached  to  it  from  the  first 
establishment  of  the  mysteries  among  the  Pagans,  and  the  Euchar- 
istia  is  one  of  the  oldest  rites  of  antiquity. 

The  adherents  of  the  Grand  Lama  in  Thibet  and  Tartary  offer 
to  their  god  a sacrament  of  bread  and  wine .4 


1 Matt.  xxvi.  26.  See  also,  Mark,  xiv.  22. 

3 At  the  heading  of  the  chapters  named  in 
the  above  note  may  be  seen  the  words  : “ Jesus 
keepeth  the  Passover(and)  instituteth  the  Lord’s 
Supper.” 

3 According  to  the  Roman  Christians,  the 
Eucharist  is  the  natural  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  Jesus  vere  et  realiter,  but  the  Protestant 

sophistically  explains  away  these  two  plain 
words  verily  and  indeed , and  by  the  grossest 
abuse  of  language,  makes  them  to  mean  spirit, 
ually  by  grace  and  efficacy.  “ In  the  sacrament 
20 


of  the  altar,”  says  the  Protestant  divine,  “is 
the  natural  body  and  blood  of  Christ  verh  et 
realiter , verily  and  indeed,  if  you  take  these 
terms  for  spiritually  by  grace  and  efficacy;  but 
if  you  mean  really  and  indeed,  so  that  thereby 
you  would  include  a lively  and  movable  body 
under  the  form  of  bread  and  wine,  then  in 
that  sense  it  is  not  Christ’s  body  in  the  sacra- 
ment really  and  indeed.” 

* See  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  203, 
and  Anacalypsis,  i.  232. 


305 


306 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


P.  Andrada  La  Crozius,  a French  missionary,  and  one  of  the 
first  Christians  who  went  to  Nepaul  and  Thibet,  says  in  his  “His- 
tory of  India 

“ Their  Grand  Lama  celebrates  a species  of  sacrifice  with  bread  and  wine , in 
which,  after  taking  a small  quantity  himself,  he  distributes  the  rest  among  the 
Lamas  present  at  this  ceremony.”1 

In  certain  rites  both  in  the  Indian  and  the  Parsee  religions,  the 
devotees  drink  the  juice  of  the  Soma,  or  Haoma  plant.  They  con- 
sider it  a god  as  well  as  a plant,  just  as  the  wine  of  the  Christian 
sacrament  is  considered  both  the  juice  of  the  grape,  and  the  blood 
of  the  Redeemer.2  Says  Mr.  Baring-Gould  ; 

“Among  the  ancient  Hindoos,  Soma  was  a chief  deity;  he  is  called  ‘the 
Giver  of  Life  and  of  health,’  the  ‘ Protector,’  he  who  is  ‘ the  Guide  to  Immortality.’ 
He  became  incarnate  among  men,  was  taken  by  them  and  slain,  and  brayed  in 
a mortar.  But  he  rose  in  flame  to  heaven,  to  be  the  ‘ Benefactor  of  the  World,’ 
and  the  ‘ Mediator  between  God  and  Man.  ’ Through  communion  with  him  in  his 
sacrifice,  man,  (who  partook  of  this  god),  has  an  assurance  of  immortality,  for  by 
that  sacrament  he  obtains  union  with  his  divinity.”3 * 

The  ancient  Egyptians — as  we  have  seen — annually  celebrated 
the  Resurrection  of  their  God  and  Saviour  Osiris , at  which  time 
they  commemorated  his  death  by  the  Eucharist , eating  the  sacred 
cake,  or  wafer,  after  it  had  been  consecrated  by  the  priest , and  be- 
come veritable  flesh  of  his  flesh?  The  bread,  after  sacerdotal  rites, 
became  mystically  the  body  of  Osiris , and,  in  such  a manner,  they 
ate  their  god?  Bread  and  wine  were  brought  to  the  temples  by  the 
worshipers,  as  offerings.6 

The  Therapeutes  or  Essenes , whom  we  believe  to  be  of  Bud- 
dhist origin,  and  who  lived  in  large  numbers  in  Egypt,  also  had  the 
ceremony  of  the  sacrament  among  them.7  Most  of  them,  however, 
being  temperate,  substituted  water  for  wine,  while  others  drank  a 
mixture  of  water  and  wine. 

Pythagoras,  the  celebrated  Grecian  philosopher,  wdio  was  born 
about  the  year  570  b.  c.,  performed  this  ceremony  of  th z sacrament? 
He  is  supposed  to  have  visited  Egypt,  and  there  availed  himself  of 
all  such  mysterious  lore  as  the  priests  could  be  induced  to  impart. 
He  and  his  followers  practiced  asceticism,  and  peculiarities  of  diet 
and  clothing,  similar  to  the  Essenes,  which  has  led  some  scholars  to 


1 “ Leur  grand  Lama  celebre  une  espece  de 
sacrifice  avec  du  pain  et  du  vin  dont  il  prend  une 
petite  quantite,  et  distribue  le  reste  aux  Lamas 
presens  a cette  ceremonie.”  (Quoted  in  Anac- 
alypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  118.) 

2 Viscount  Amberiy’s  Analysis,  p.  46. 

3 Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i. 

p.  401. 


4  See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  163. 

6  See  Ibid.  p.  417. 

6 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  179. 

7 See  Bunsen’s  Keys  of  St.  Peter,  p.  199  ; 
Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  60,  and  Lillie’s  Budd- 
hism, p.  136. 

8 Sec  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  60. 


THE  EUCHARIST  OR  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


307 


believe  that  he  instituted  the  order,  but  this  is  evidently  not  the 
case. 

The  Kenite  “ King  of  Righteousness,”  Melchizedek , “ a priest 
of  the  Most  High  God,”  brought  out  bread  and  wine  as  a sign  or 
symbol  of  worship  ; as  the  mystic  elements  of  Divine  presence . In 
the  visible  symbol  of  bread  and  wine  they  worshiped  the  invisible 
presence  of  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth . 1 

To  account  for  this,  Christian  divines  have  been  much  puzzled. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Milner  says,  in  speaking  of  this  passage : 

“ It  was  in  offering  up  a sacrifice  of  bread  and  wine,  instead  of  slaughtered 
animals,  that  Melchizedek’s  sacrifice  differed  from  the  generality  of  those  in  the 
old  law,  and  that  he  prefigured  the  sacrifice  which  Christ  was  to  institute  in  the 
new  law  from  the  same  elements.  No  other  sense  than  this  can  be  elicited  from 
the  Scripture  as  to  this  matter  ; and  accordingly  the  holy  fathers  unanimously 
adhere  to  this  meaning.”2 

This  style  of  reasoning  is  in  accord  with  the  type  theory  concern- 
ing the  Yirgm-born,  Crucified  and  Resurrected  Saviours,  but  it  is 
not  altogether  satisfactory.  If  it  had  been  said  that  the  religion  of 
Melchizedek,  and  the  religion  of  the  Persians,  were  the  same , there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  explaining  the  passage. 

Hot  only  were  bread  and  wine  brought  forth  by  Melchizedek 
when  he  blessed  Abraham,  but  it  was  offered  to  God  and  eaten  be- 
fore him  by  Jethro  and  the  elders  of  Israel,  and  some,  at  least,  of 
the  mourning  Israelites  broke  bread  and  drank  “ the  cup  of  conso- 
lation,” in  remembrance  of  the  departed,  “ to  comfort  them  for  the 
dead.”3 

It  is  in  the  ancient  religion  of  Persia — the  religion  of  Mithra, 
the  Mediator,  the  Redeemer  and  Saviour — that  we  find  the  nearest 
resemblance  to  the  sacrament  of  the  Christians,  and  from  which  it 
was  evidently  borrowed.  Those  who  were  initiated  into  the  mys- 
teries of  Mithra,  or  became  members , took  the  sacrament  of  bread 
and  wine.4 

M.  Renan,  speaking  of  Mithraicism , says : 

“ It  bad  its  mysterious  meetings:  its  chapels,  which  bore  a strong  resemblance 
to  little  churches.  It  forged  a very  lasting  bond  of  brotherhood  between  its 
initiates : it  had  a Eucharist,  a Supper  so  like  the  Christian  Mysteries,  that  good 
Justin  Martyr,  the  Apologist,  can  find  only  one  explanation  of  the  apparent 
identity,  namely,  that  Satan,  in  order  to  deceive  the  human  race,  determined  to 
imitate  the  Christian  ceremonies,  and  so  stole  them.”  5 


1 See  Bunsen’s  Keys  of  St.  Peter,  p.  55,  and  3 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  227. 

Genesis,  xiv.  18, 19.  4 See  King’s  Gnostics  and  their  Remains, 

2 St.  Jerome  says  : “ Melchizedek  in  typo  p.  xxv.,  and  Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  pp. 

Christi  panem  et  vinum  obtulit : et  mysterium  58,  59. 

Christianum  in  Salvatoris  sanguine  et  corpore  5 Renan’s  Hibbert  Lectures,  p,  35. 

dedicavit.” 


308 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  words  of  St.  Justin,  wherein  lie  alludes  to  this  ceremony, 
are  as  follows : 

“The  apostles,  in  the  commentaries  written  by  themselves,  which  we  call 
Gospels,  have  delivered  down  to  us  how  that  Jesus  thus  commanded  them  : He 
having  taken  bread,  after  he  had  given  thanks, 1 said.  Do  this  in  commemoration 
of  me;  this  is  my  body.  And  having  taken  a cup,  and  returned  thanks,  he  said: 
This  is  my  blood,  and  delivered  it  to  them  alone.  Which  thing  indeed  the  evil 
spirits  have  taught  to  be  done  out  of  mimicry  in  the  Mysteries  and  Initiatory 
rites  of  Mithra. 

For  you  either  know,  or  can  know,  that  bread  and  a cup  of  water  (or  wine) 
are  given  out,  with  certain  incantations,  in  the  consecration  of  the  person  who 
is  being  initiated  in  the  Mysteries  of  Mithra.” 1  2 

This  food  they  called  the  Eucharist,  of  which  no  one  was  allowed 
to  partake  but  the  persons  who  believed  that  the  things  they  taught 
were  true,  and  who  had  been  washed  with  the  washing  that  is  for 
the  remission  of  sin.3  Tertullian,  who  flourished  from  193  to  220  a.  d., 
also  speaks  of  the  Mithraic  devotees  celebrating  the  Eucharist.4 

The  Eucharist  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour,  as  the  Magi  called 
Mithra,  the  second  person  in  their  Trinity,  or  their  Eucharistic  sac- 
rifice, was  always  made  exactly  and  in  every  respect  the  same  as 
that  of  the  orthodox  Christians,  for  both  sometimes  used  water  in- 
stead of  wine,  or  a mixture  of  the  two.5 

The  Christian  Fathers  often  liken  their  rites  to  those  of  the 
Tlierapeuts  (Essenes)  and  worshipers  of  Mithra.  Here  is  Justin 
Martyr’s  account  of  Christian  initiation  : 

“But  we,  after  we  have  thus  washed  him  who  has  been -convinced  and 
assented  to  our  teachings,  bring  him  to  the  place  where  those  who  are  called 
brethren  are  assembled,  in  order  that  we  may  offer  hearty  prayers  in  common  for 
ourselves  and  the  illuminated  person.  Having  ended  our  prayers,  we  salute  one 
another  with  a kiss.  There  is  then  brought  to  the  president  of  the  brethren 
bread  and  a cup  of  wine  mixed  with  water.  When  the  president  has  given  thanks, 
and  all  the  people  have  expressed  their  assent,  those  that  are  called  by  us 
deacons  give  to  each  of  those  present  to  partake  of  the  bread  and  wine  mixed 
with  water.”6 


1 In  the  words  of  Mr.  King:  “ This  expres- 
sion shows  that  the  notion  of  blessing  or  con- 
secrating the  elements  was  as  yet  unknown  to 
the  Christians.” 

2 Apol.  1.  ch.  lxvi. 

s Ibid. 

4 De  Praescriptione  Haereticorum,  ch.  xl. 

Tertullian  explains  this  conformity  between 
Christianity  and  Paganism,  by  asserting  that 
the  devil  copied  the  Christian  mysteries. 

6 De  Tinctione,  de  oblatione  pauis,  et  de 
imagine  resurrectionis,  videatur  doctiss,  de  la 
Cerda  ad  ea  Tertulliani  loca  ubi  de  liisoerebus 
agitur.  Gentiles  citra  Christum,  talia  celd- 
bradant  Mithriaca  quae  videbautur  cum  doc- 
triua  eucharistce  et  resurrectionis  et  aiiis  ritibus 


Christianis  convenire,  quae  fecerunt  ex  indus- 
tria  ad  imitationem  Christianismi  : unde 

Tertulliani  et  Patres  aiunt  eos  talia  fecisse, 
duce  diabolo,  quo  vult  esse  simia  Christi,  <fcc. 
Volunt  itaque  eos  res  suas  ita  comparaese,  ut 
Mithrce  mysteria  essent  eucharisiice  C/iristiance 
imago.  Sic  Just.  Martyr  (p.  98),  et  Tertullianus 
et  Chrysostomus.  In  suis  etiam  sacris  habe- 
bant  Mitkriaci  lavacra  (quasi  regenerationis)  in 
quibus  tingit  et  ipse  (sc.  sacerdos)  quosdam 
utique  credentes  et  fideles  suos,  et  expiatoria 
delictorum  de  lavacro  repromittit  et  sic  adhuc 
initiat  Mithrse.”  (Hyde  : De  lielig.  Vet.  Per- 
sian, p.  113.) 

6 Justin  : 1st  Apol.,  ch.  lvi. 


THE  EUCHARIST  OR  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


309 


In  the  service  of  Edward  the  Sixth  of  England,  water  is  directed 
to  be  mixed  with  the  wine.1  This  is  a union  of  the  two ; not  a 
half  measure,  but  a double  one.  If  it  be  correct  to  take  it  with 
wine,  then  they  were  right ; if  with  water,  they  still  were  right ; as 
they  took  both,  they  could  not  be  wrong. 

The  bread , used  in  these  Pagan  Mysteries,  was  carried  in  baskets , 
which  practice  was  also  adopted  by  the  Christians.  St.  Jerome, 
speaking  of  it,  says : 

“ Nothing  can  be  richer  than  one  who  carries  the  body  of  Christ  (viz. : the 
bread)  in  a basket  made  of  twigs.”2 

The  Persian  Magi  introduced  the  worship  of  Mithra  into  Pome, 
and  his  mysteries  were  solemnized  in  a cave.  In  the  process  of 
initiation  there,  candidates  were  also  administered  the  sacrament  of 
bread  and  wine , and  were  marked  on  the  forehead  with  the  sign  of 
the  cross.3 

The  ancient  Greeks  also  had  their  “ Mysteries ,”  wherein  they 
celebrated  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Supper.  The  Pev.  Pobert 
Taylor,  speaking  of  this,  says : 

“ The  Eleusinian  Mysteries,  or,  Sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  was  the  most 
august  of  all  the  Pagan  ceremonies  celebrated,  more  especially  by  the  Athenians, 
every  fifth  year,4 *  in  honor  of  Ceres,  the  goddess  of  corn,  who,  in  allegorical 
language,  had  given  us  her  flesh  to  eat;  as  Bacchus,  the  god  of  wine,  in  like  sense, 
had  given  us  his  blood  to  drink.  . . . 

‘ ‘ From  these  ceremonies  is  derived  the  very  name  attached  to  our  Christian 
sacrament  of  the  Lord’s  Supper, — ‘ those  holy  Mysteries;  ’ — and  not  one  or  two, 
but  absolutely  all  and  every  one  of  the  observances  used  in  our  Christian 
solemnity.  Very  many  of  our  forms  of  expression  in  that  solemnity  are 
precisely  the  same  as  those  that  appertained  to  the  Pagan  rite.  ”6 

Prodicus  (a  Greek  sophist  of  the  5th  century  b.  c.)  says  that,  the 
ancients  worshiped  bread  as  Demeter  ( Ceres ) and  wine  as  Dionysos 
( Bacchus ) ;6  therefore,  when  they  ate  the  bread,  and  drank  the  wine, 
after  it  had  been  consecrated,  they  were  doing  as  the  Pomanists 
claim  to  do  at  the  present  day,  i.  e.,  eating  the  flesh  and  drinking 
the  blood  of  their  god.1 

Mosheim,  the  celebrated  ecclesiastical  historian,  acknowledges 
that : 


1 Dr.  Grabes’  Notes  on  Irenaeus,  lib.  v.  c.  2, 
in  Anac.,  vol.  i.  p.  60. 

2 Quoted  in  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  370. 

3 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  369. 

“ The  Divine  Presence  called  his  angel  of 
mercy  and  said  unto  him  : ‘ Go  through  the 
midst  of  the  city,  through  the  midst  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  set  the  mark  of  Tau  (T,  the  headless 

cross)  upon  the  foreheads  of  the  men  that 

sigh  and  that  cry  for  all  the  abominations 
that  are  done  in  the  midst  thereof.’  ” (Bunsen  : 


The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  305. 

4  They  were  celebrated  every  fifth  year  at 
Eleusis,  a town  of  Attica,  from  whence  their 
name. 

6 Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  212. 

6 Muller:  Origin  of  Religion,  p.  181. 

7 “ In  the  Bacchic  Mysteries  a consecrated 
cup  (of  wine)  was  handed  around  after  supper, 
called  the  cup  of  the  Agathodaemon.”  (Cousin: 
Lee.  on  Modn.  Phil.  Quoted  in  Isis  Unveiled, 
ii.  513.  See  also,  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  p.  217.) 


310 


BIBLE  MYTH8. 


“ The  profound  respect  that  was  paid  to  the  Greek  and  Roman  Mysteries,  and 
the  extraordinary  sanctity  that  was  attributed  to  them,  induced  the  Christians  of 
the  second  century,  to  give  tlieir  religion  a mystic  air,  in  order  to  put  it  upon  an 
equal  footing  in  point  of  dignity,  with  that  of  the  Pagans.  For  this  purpose 
they  gave  the  name  of  Mysteries  to  the  institutions  of  the  Gospels,  and  decorated 
particularly  the  ‘ Holy  Sacrament  ’ with  that  title  ; they  used  the  very  terms 
employed  in  the  Heathen  Mysteries,  and  adopted  some  of  the  rites  and  ceremonies 
of  which  those  renowned  mysteries  consisted.  This  imitation  began  in  the 
eastern  provinces  ; but,  after  the  time  of  Adrian,  who  first  introduced  the 
mysteries  among  the  Latins,  it  was  followed  by  the  Christians  who  dwelt  in  the 
western  part  of  the  empire.  A great  part,  therefore,  of  the  service  of  the  Church 
in  this — the  second — century,  had  a certain  air  of  the  Heathen  Mysteries,  and 
resembled  them  considerably  in  many  particulars.”1 


Eleusinian  Mysteries  and  Christian  Sacraments  Compared. 


1.  “ But  as  the  benefit  of  Initiation 
was  great,  such  as  were  convicted  of 
witchcraft,  murder,  even  though  unin- 
tentional, or  any  other  heinous  crimes, 
were  debarred  from  those  mysteries.”2 


1.  “For  as  the  benefit  is  great,  if, 
with  a true  penitent  heart  and  lively 
faith,  we  receive  that  holy  sacrament, 
&c.,  if  any  be  an  open  and  notorious 
evil-liver,  or  hath  done  wrong  to  his 
neighbor,  &c.,  tha1  he  presume  not  to 
come  to  the  Lord’s  table.”3 


2.  “At  their  entrance,  purifying 
themselves,  by  washing  their  hands  in 
holy  water,  they  were  at  the  same  time 
admonished  to  present  themselves  with 
pure  minds,  without  which  the  external 
cleanness  of  the  body  would  by  no 
means  be  accepted.”4 

3.  “ The  priests  who  officiated  in 
these  sacred  solemnities,  were  called 
Hierophants,  or  ‘ revealers  of  holy 
things.  ’ ”6 

4.  The  Pagan  Priest  dismissed  their 
congregation  with  these  words : 

“ The  Lord  be  with  you.’n 


2.  See  the  fonts  of  holy  water  at  the 
entrance  of  every  Catholic  chapel  in 
Christendom  for  the  same  purpose. 

“ Let  us  draw  near  with  a true 
heart  in  full  assurance  of  faith,  having 
our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  con- 
science, and  our  bodies  washed  with 
pure  water.”5 

3.  The  priests  who  officiate  at  these 
Christian  solemnities  are  supposed  to 
be  ‘revealers  of  holy  things.’ 

4.  The  Christian  priests  dismiss 
their  congregation  with  these  words : 

“ The  Lord  be  with  you.” 


These  Eleusinian  Mysteries  were  accompanied  with  various  rites, 
expressive  of  the  purity  and  self-denial  of  the  worshiper,  and  were 
therefore  considered  to  be  an  expiation  of  past  sins,  and  to  place 
the  initiated  under  the  special  protection  of  the  awful  and  potent 
goddess  who  presided  over  them.8 

These  mysteries  were,  as  we  have  said,  also  celebrated  in  honor 
of  Bacchus  as  well  as  Ceres.  A consecrated  cup  of  wine  was 
handed  around  after  supper,  called  the  “ Cup  of  the  Agathodae- 


1 Eccl.  Hist.  cent.  ii.  pt.  2,  sec.  v. 

2 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  282. 

3 Episcopal  Communion  Service. 

4 Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  282. 


• Hebrews,  x.  22. 

6 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  213. 

7 See  Ibid. 

8 Kenrick's  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  471. 


THE  EUCHARIST  OR  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


311 


mon  ” — the  Good  Divinity.1 2  Throughout  the  whole  ceremony,  the 
name  of  the  Lord  was  many  times  repeated,  and  his  brightness  or 
glory  not  only  exhibited  to  the  eye  by  the  rays  which  surrounded 
his  name  (or  his  monogram,  i.  h.  s.),  but  was  made  the  peculiar 
theme  or  subject  of  their  triumphant  exultation.3 

The  mystical  wine  and  bread  were  used  during  the  Mysteries  of 
Adonis , the  Lord  and  Saviour.3  In  fact,  the  communion  of  bread 
and  wine  was  used  in  the  worship  of  nearly  every  important  deity.4 * 

The  rites  of  Bacchus  were  celebrated  in  the  British  Islands  in 
heathen  times,6  and  so  were  those  of  Mithra , which  were  spread 
over  Gaul  and  Great  Britain.6  We  therefore  find  that  the  ancient 
Druids  offered  the  sacrament  of  bread  and  wine,  during  which 
ceremony  they  were  dressed  in  white  robes,7  just  as  the  Egyptian 
priests  of  Isis  were  in  the  habit  of  dressing,  and  as  the  priests  of 
many  Christian  sects  dress  at  the  present  day. 

Among  some  negro  tribes  in  Africa  there  is  a belief  that  “ on 
eating  and  drinking  consecrated  food  they  eat  and  drink  the  god 
himself.”8 

The  ancient  Mexicans  celebrated  the  mysterious  sacrament  of 
the  Eucharist,  called  the  “ most  holy  supper,”  during  which  they 
ate  the  flesh  of  their  god.  The  bread  used  at  their  Eucharist  was 
made  of  corn  meal,  which  they  mixed  with  blood,  instead  of  wine. 
This  was  consecrated  by  the  priest,  and  given  to  the  people,  who 
ate  it  with  humility  and  penitence,  as  the  flesh  of  their  god.* 

Lord  Kingsborough,  in  his  “ Mexican  Antiquities ,”  speaks  of  the 
ancient  Mexicans  as  performing  this  sacrament ; when  they  made 
a cake,  which  they  called  Tzoalia.  The  high  priest  blessed  it  in 
his  manner,  after  which  he  broke  it  into  pieces,  and  put  it  into  cer- 
tain very  clean  vessels.  He  then  took  a thorn  of  maguery , which 
resembles  a thick  needle,  with  which  he  took  up  with  the  utmost 
reverence  single  morsels,  which  he  put  into  the  mouth  of  each  in - 
dividual , after  the  manner  of  a communion .10 

The  writer  of  the  “Explanation  of  Plates  of  the  Codex  Vatir 
canus ,” — which  are  copies  of  Mexican  hieroglyphics — says  : 

“lam  disposed  to  believe  that  these  poor  people  have  had  the  knowledge  of 
our  mode  of  communion,  or  of  the  annunciation  of  the  gospel ; or  perhaps  the 


1 See  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  p.  217,  and  Isis 
Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  513. 

2 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  214. 

8 See  Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  139. 

4 See  Ibid.  p.  513. 

6  See  Myths  of  the  British  Druids,  p.  89. 

9 See  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Eelig.  Belief,  p. 


7 See  Myths  of  the  British  Druids,  p.  280, 
and  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  376. 

8 Herbert  Spencer  : Principles  of  Sociol- 
ogy, vol.  i.  p.  299. 

9 See  Monumental  Christianity,  pp.  390  and 

393. 

10  Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  220. 


312 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


devil,  most  envious  of  the  honor  of  God,  may  have  led  them  into  this  supersti- 
tion, in  order  that  by  this  ceremony  he  might  be  adored  and  served  as  Christ  our 
Lord.”1 

The  Rev.  Father  Acosta  says ; 

“ That  which  is  most  admirable  in  the  hatred  and  presumption  of  Satan  is, 
that  he  hath  not  only  counterfeited  in  idolatry  and  sacrifice,  but  also  in  certain 
ceremonies,  our  Sacraments,  which  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  hath  instituted  and  the 
holy  Church  doth  use,  having  especially  pretended  to  imitate  in  some  sort  the 
Sacrament  of  the  Communion,  which  is  the  most  high  and  divine  of  all  others.” 

He  then  relates  how  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians , in  certain 
ceremonies,  ate  the  flesh  of  their  god,  and  called  certain  morsels  of 
paste,  “ the  flesh  and  bones  of  Vitzilijouzlti .” 

“ Aiter  putting  themselves  in  order  about  these  morsels  and  pieces  of  paste, 
they  used  certain  ceremonies  with  singing,  by  means  whereof  they  (the  pieces  of 

paste)  were  blessed  and  consecrated  for  the  flesh  and  bones  of  this  idol.”2 * * * * 

• 

These  facts  show  that  the  Eucharist  is  another  piece  of  Pagan- 
ism adopted  by  the  Christians.  The  story  of  Jesns  and  his  disciples 
being  at  supper,  where  the  Master  did  break  bread,  may  be  true,  but 
the  statement  that  he  said,  “ Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me,” — 
“this  is  my  body,”  and  “this  is  my  blood,”  was  undoubtedly  in- 
vented to  give  authority  to  the  mystic  ceremony,  which  had  been 
borrowed  from  Paganism. 

Why  should  they  do  this  in  remembrance  of  Jesus?  Provided 
he  took  this  supper  with  his  disciples — which  the  John  narrator 
denies8 — he  did  not  do  anything  on  that  occasion  new  or  unusual 
among  Jews.  To  pronounce  the  benediction,  break  the  bread,  and 
distribute  pieces  thereof  to  the  persons  at  table,  was,  and  is  now,  a 
common  usage  of  the  Hebrews.  Jesus  could  not  have  commanded 
born  Jews  to  do  in  remembrance  of  him  what  they  already  prac- 
ticed, and  what  every  religious  Jew  does  to  this  day.  The  whole 
story  is  evidently  a myth,  as  a perusal  of  it  with  the  eye  of  a critic 
clearly  demonstrates. 

The  Mark  narrator  informs  us  that  Jesus  sent  two  of  his  dis- 
ciples to  the  city,  and  told  them  this  : 

“Go  ye  into  the  city,  and  there  shall  meet  you  a man  bearing  a pitcher  of 
water;  follow  him.  And  wheresoever  he  shall  go  in,  say  ye  to  the  goodman  of 
the  house,  The  Master  saith,  Where  is  the  guest-chamber,  where  I shall  eat  the 


1 Quoted  in  Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p. 
221. 

2 Acosta  : Hist.  Indies,  vol.  ii.  chs.  xiii.  and 

xiv. 

8 According  to  the  “ John  ” narrator,  Jesus 

ate  no  Paschal  meal,  but  was  captured  the 

evening  before  Passover,  and  was  crucified 


before  the  feast  opened.  According  to  the 
Synoptics,  Jesus  partook  of  the  Paschal  sup- 
per, was  captured  the  first  night  of  the  feast, 
and  executed  on  the  first  day  thereof,  which 
was  on  a Friday.  If  the  John  narrator’s 
account  is  true,  that  of  the  Synoptics  is  not,  or 
vice  versa. 


THE  EUCHARIST  OR  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


313 


passover  with  my  disciples  ? And  he  will  show  you  a large  upper  room  fur- 
nished and  prepared : there  make  ready  for  us.  And  his  disciples  went  forth, 
and  came  into  the  city,  and  found  as  he  had  said  Unto  them : and  they  made 
ready  the  passover.”1 

The  story  of  the  passover  or  the  last  supper,  seems  to  be  intro- 
duced in  this  unusual  manner  to  make  it  manifest  that  a divine 
power  is  interested  in,  and- conducting  the  whole  affair,  parallels  of 
which  we  find  in  the  story  of  Elieser  and  Rebecca,  where  Rebecca 
is  to  identify  herself  in  a manner  pre-arranged  by  Elieser  with 
God  ;3  and  also  in  the  story  of  Elijah  and  the  widow  of  Zarephath, 
where  by  God’s  directions  a journey  is  made,  and  the  widow  is 
found.3 

It  suggests  itself  to  our  mind  that  that  this  style  of  connecting 
a supernatural  interest  with  human  affairs  was  not  entirely  original 
with  tte  Mark  narrator.  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  a man  in  Jerusalem  should  have  had  an  unoccupied  and 
•properly  furnished  room  just  at  that  time,  when  two  millions  of 
pilgrims  sojourned  in  and  around  the  city.  The  man,  it  appears, 
was  not  distinguished  either  for  wealth  or  piety,  for  his  name  is 
not  mentioned ; he  was  not  present  at  the  supper,  and  no  further 
reference  is  made  to  him.  It  appears  rather  that  the  Mark  nar- 
rator imagined  an  ordinary  man  who  had  a furnished  room  to  let 
for  such  purposes,  and  would  imply  that  Jesus  knew  it  pro- 
phetically. He  had  only  to  pass  in  his  mind  from  Elijah  to  his 
disciple  Elisha,  for  whom  the  great  woman  of  Shunem  had  so 
richly  furnished  an  upper  chamber,  to  find  a like  instance.4  Why 
should  not  somebody  have  furnished  also  an  upper  chamber  for  the 
Messiah  f 

The  Matthew  narrator’s  account  is  free  from  these  embellish- 
ments, and  simply  runs  thus  : Jesus  said  to  some  of  his  disciples — 

the  number  is  not  given — 

“Go  into  the  city  to  such  a man,  and  say  unto  him,  The  Master  saith,  My 
time  is  at  hand;  I will  keep  the  passover  at  thy  house  with  my  disciples.  And 
the  disciples  did  as  Jesus  had  appointed  them;  and  they  made  ready  the  pass- 
over.”5 

In  this  account,  no  pitcher,  no  water,  no  prophecy  is  men- 
tioned.® 

It  was  many  centuries  before  the  genuine  heathen  doctrine  of 
Transubstantiation — a change  of  the  elements  of  the  Eucharist  into 


1 Mark,  xiv.  13-16. 

3 Gen.  xxiv. 

• I.  Kings,  xvii.  8. 

4 II.  Kings,  iv.  8. 


4 For  further  observations  on  this  subject, 

see  Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise’s  “Martyrdom  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,”  a valuable  little  work,  published 
at  the  office  of  the  American  Israelite,  Cincin- 


314 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ  J esus — became  a tenet  of  the 
Christian  faith.  This  greatest  of  mysteries  was  developed  gradu- 
ally. As  early  as  the  second  century,  however,  the  seeds  we^e 
planted,  when  we  find  Ignatius,  Justin  Martyr,  and  Irenseus  ad- 
vancing the  opinion,  that  the  mere  bread  and  wine  became,  in  the 
Eucharist,  something  higher — the  earthly,  something  heavenly — 
without,  however,  ceasing  to  be  bread  and  wine.  Though  these 
views  were  opposed  by  some  eminent  individual  Christian  teachers, 
yet  both  among  the  people  and  in  the  ritual  of  the  Church,  the 
miraculous  or  supernatural  view  of  the  Lord’s  Supper  gained 
ground.  After  the  third  century  the  office  of  presenting  the  bread 
and  wine  came  to  be  confined  to  the  ministers  or  priests.  This 
practice  arose  from,  and  in  turn  strengthened,  the  notion  which  was 
gaining  ground,  that  in  this  act  of  presentation  by  the  priest,  a sac- 
rifice, similar  to  that  once  offered  up  in  the  death  of  Christ  Jesus, 
though  bloodless,  was  ever  anew  presented  to  God.  This  still 
deepened  the  feeling  of  mysterious  significance  and  importance 
with  which  the  rite  of  the  Lord’s  Supper  was  viewed,  and  led  to 
that  gradually  increasing  splendor  of  celebration  which  took  the 
form  of  the  Mass.  As  in  Christ  Jesus  two  distinct  natures,  the 
divine  and  the  human,  were  wonderfully  combined,  so  in  the 
Eucharist  there  was  a corresponding  union  of  the  earthly  and  the 
heavenly. 

For  a long  time  there  was  no  formal  declaration  of  the  mind  of 
the  Church  on  the  real  presence  of  Christ  Jesus  in  the  Eucharist. 
At  length  a discussion  on  the  point  was  raised,  and  the  most  dis- 
tinguished men  of  the  time  took  part  in  it.  One  party  maintained 
that  “ the  bread  and  wine  are,  in  the  act  of  consecration,  trans- 
formed by  the  omnipotence  of  God  into  the  very  body  of  Christ 
which  was  once  born  of  Mary,  nailed  to  the  cross,  and  raised  from 
the  dead.”  According  to  this  conception,  nothing  remains  of  the 
bread  and  wine  but  the  outward  form,  the  taste  and  the  smell ; 
while  the  other  party  would  only  allow  that  there  is  some  change  in 
the  bread  and  Wine  themselves,  but  granted  that  an  actual  transfor- 
mation of  their  power  and  efficacy  takes  place. 

The  greater  accordance  of  the  first  view  with  the  credulity  of 
the  age,  its  love  for  the  wonderful  and  magical,  the  interest  of  the 
priesthood  to  add  lustre,  in  accordance  with  the  heathens,  to  a rite 
which  enhanced  their  own  office,  resulted  in  the  doctrine  of  Tran- 
substantiation  being  declared  an  article  of  faith  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

Transubstantiation,  the  invisible  change  of  the  bread  and  wine 


THE  EUCHARIST  OR  LORD’S  SUPPER. 


315 


into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  is  a tenet  that  may  defy  the 
powers  of  argument  and  pleasantry ; but  instead  of  consulting  the 
evidence  of  their  senses,  of  their  sight,  their  feeling,  and  their  taste, 
the  first  Protestants  were  entangled  in  their  own  scruples,  and  awed 
by  the  reputed  words  of  Jesus  in  the  institution  of  the  sacrament. 
Luther  maintained  a corporeal , and  Calvin  a real  presence  of  Christ 
in  the  Eucharist ; and  the  opinion  of  Zuinglius,  that  it  is  no  more 
than  a spiritual  communion,  a simple  memorial,  has  slowly  prevailed 
in  the  reformed  churches.1 

Under  Edward  YI.  the  reformation  was  more  bold  and  perfect, 
but  in  the  fundamental  articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  a strong 
and  explicit  declaration  against  the  real  presence  was  obliterated  in 
the  original  copy,  to  please  the  people,  or  the  Lutherans,  or  Queen 
Elizabeth.  At  the  present  day,  the  Greek  and  Roman  Catholics 
alone  hold  to  the  original  doctrine  of  the  real  presence. 

Of  all  the  religious  observances  among  heathens,  Jews,  or  Turks, 
none  has  been  the  cause  of  more  hatred,  persecution,  outrage,  and 
bloodshed,  than  the  Eucharist.  Christians  persecuted  one  anothei 
like  relentless  foes,  and  thousands  of  Jews  were  slaughtered  on  ac 
count  of  the  Eucharist  and  the  Host. 


1 See  Gibbon’s  Rome.  vol.  v.  pp.  399,  400. 
Calvin,  after  quoting  Matt.  xxvi.  26,  27,  says: 
1 There  is  no  doubt  that  as  soon  as  these 
words  are  added  to  the  bread  and  the  wine,  the 
bread  and  the  wine  become  the  true  body  and 
the  true  blood  of  Christ,  so  that  the  substance 
of  bread  and  wine  is  transmuted  into  the  true 
body  and  blood  of  Christ.  He  who  denies 
this  calls  the  omnipotence  of  Christ  in  question, 


and  charges  Christ  himself  with  foolishness.” 
(Calvin’s  Tracts,  p.  214.  Translated  by  Henry 
Beveridge,  Edinburgh,  1851.)  In  other  parts 
of  his  writings,  Calvin  seems  to  contradict 
this  statement,  and  speaks  of  the  bread  and 
wine  in  the  Eucharist  as  being  symbolical. 
Gibbon  evidently  refers  to  the  passage  quoted 
above. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


BAPTISM. 

Baptism,  or  purification  from  sin  by  water,  is  supposed  by  many 
to  be  an  exclusive  Christian  ceremony.  The  idea  is  that  circum- 
cision was  given  up,  but  baptism  took  its  place  as  a compulsory  form 
indispensable  to  salvation,  and  was  declared  to  have  been  instituted 
by  Jesus  himself  or  by  his  predecessor  John.1  That  Jesus  was 
baptized  by  John  may  be  true,  or  it  may  not,  but  that  he  never 
directly  enjoined  his  followers  to  call  the  heathen  to  a share  in  the 
privileges  of  the  Golden  Age  is  gospel  doctrine;2  and  this  say- 
ing: 

“ Go  out  into  all  the  world  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  And  who- 
ever believes  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved,  but  whoever  believes  not  shall  be 
damned,” 

must  therefore  be  of  comparatively  late  origin,  dating  from  a period 
at  which  the  mission  to  the  heathen  was  not  only  fully  recog- 
nized, but  even  declared  to  have  originated  with  the  followers  of 
Jesus.3  When  the  early  Christians  received  members  among  them 
they  were  not  initiated  by  baptism,  but  with  prayer  and  laying  on  of 
hands.  This,  says  Eusebius , was  the  “ aneient  custom ,”  which  was 
followed  until  the  time  of  Stephen.  During  his  bishopric  contro- 
versies arose  as  to  whether  members  should  be  received  “ after  the 
ancient  Christian  custom  ” or  by  baptism,4 *  after  the  heathen  cus- 
tom. Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy,  who  has  made  ancient  religions  a special 
study,  and  who,  being  a thorough  Christian  writer,  endeavors  to  get 
over  the  difficulty  by  saying  that : 

“ John  the  Baptist  simply  adopted  and  practiced  the  universal  custom  of  sacred 
bathing  for  the  remission  of  sins.  Christ  sanctioned  it;  the  church  inherited  it 
from  his  example.”6 * 


1 The  Rev.  Dr.  Geikie  makes  the  assertion  i.  p.  394.) 

that : “ With  the  call  to  repent,  John  united  a 3 See  Galatians,  ii.  7-9.  Acts,  x.  and  xi. 

significant  rite  for  all  who  were  willing  to  own  8 See  The  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  pp.  658 

their  sins,  and  promise  amendment  of  life.  It  and  472. 

was  the  new  and  striking  requirement  of  bap-  4 See  Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  7,  ch.  ii. 

tism,  which  John  had  been  sent  by  divine  ap-  8 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  385. 

pointment  to  introduce.”  (Life  of  Christ,  vol. 

316 


BAPTISM. 


317 


When  we  say  that  baptism  is  a heathen  rite  adopted  by  the 
Christians,  we  come  near  the  truth.  Mr.  Lundy  is  a strong  advo- 
cate of  the  type  theory — of  which  we  shall  speak  anon — therefore 
the  above  mode  of  reasoning  is  not  to  be  wondered  at. 

The  facts  in  the  case  are  that  baptism  by  immersion,  or  sprink- 
ling in  infancy,  for  the  remission  of  sin , was  a common  rite,  to  be 
found  in  countries  the  most  widely  separated  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  the  most  unconnected  in  religious  genealogy.1 

If  we  turn  to  India  we  shall  find  that  in  the  vast  domain  of  the 
Buddhist  faith  the  birth  of  children  is  regularly  the  occasion  of  a 
ceremony,  at  which  the  priest  is  present.  In  Mongolia  and  Thibet 
this  ceremony  assumes  the  special  form  of  baptism.  Candles 
burn  and  incense  is  offered  on  the  domestic  altar,  the  priest  reads 
the  prescribed  prayers,  dips  the  child  three  times  in  water , and  im- 
poses on  it  a name .2 

Brahmanism , from  the  very  earliest  times,  had  its  initiatory 
rites,  similar  to  what  we  shall  find  among  the  ancient  Persians, 
Egyptians,  Greeks  and  Romans.  Mr.  Mackenzie,  in  his  “ Royal 
Masonic  Cyclopaedia,”  ( sub  voce  “ Mysteries  of  Hindustan,”)  gives 
a capital  digest  of  these  mysteries  from  the  “ Indische  Alterthum- 
Skunde  ” of  Lassen.  After  an  invocation  to  the  sun,  an  oath  was 
demanded  of  the  aspirant,  to  the  effect  of  implicit  obedience  to 
superiors,  purity  of  body,  and  inviolable  secrecy.  Water  was  then 
sprinkled  over  him , suitable  addresses  were  made  to  him,  &c. 
This  was  supposed  to  constitute  the  regeneration  of  the  candidate, 
and  he  was  now  invested  with  the  white  robe  and  the  tiara.  A 
peculiar  cross  was  marked  on  his  forehead,  and  the  Tau  cross  on  his 
breast.  Finally,  he  was  given  the  sacred  word,  A.  U.  M.3 

The  Brahmans  had  also  a mode  of  baptism  similar  to  the  Chris- 
tian sect  of  Baptists,  the  ceremony  being  performed  in  a river. 


1 “ Among  all  nations,  and  from  the  very 
earliest  period,  water  has  been  used  as  a 
^species  of  religious  sacrament.  . . . Water 
was  the  agent  by  means  of  which  everything 
was  regenerated  or  born  again.  Hence,  in  all 
nations,  we  find  the  Dove,  or  Divine  Love, 
operating  by  means  of  its  agent,  water,  and  all 
nations  using  the  ceremony  of  plunging,  or, 
as  we  call  it,  baptizing,  for  the  remission  of 
sins,  to  introduce  the  candidate  to  a regen- 
eration, to  a new  birth  unto  righteousness.” 
(Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  529.; 

“ Baptism  is  a very  ancient  rite  pertaining 
to  heathen  religions,  whether  of  Asia,  Africa, 
Europe  or  America.”  (Bonwick  : Egyptian 
Belief,  p.  416.) 

“ Baptism,  or  purification  by  water,  was  a 


ceremony  common  to  all  religions  of  antiquity. 
It  consists  in  being  made  clean  from  some  sup- 
posed pollution  or  defilement.”  (Bell’s  Pan- 
theon, vol.  ii.  p.  201.) 

“L’nsage  de  ce  Bapteme  par  immersion,  qui 
subsista  dans  l’Occident  jusqu’  au  8e  circle,  se 
maintient  encore  dans  l’Eglise  Greque  : c’est 
celui  que  Jean  le  Precurseur  administra,  dans 
le  Jourdain,  a Jesus  Christ  meme.  II  fut  pra- 
tique chez  les  Juifs,  chez  les  Grecs,  et  chez 
presque  tous  les  peoples,  bien  des  siecles  avant 
l’existence  de  la  religion  Chretienne.”  (D’An- 
carville  : Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  292.) 

2 See  Amberly’s  Analysis,  p.  61.  Bunsen’s 
Angel-Messiah,  p.  42.  Higgins’  Anacalypsis, 
vol.  ii.  p.  69,  and  Lillie’s  Buddhism,  pp.  55  and 
134.  3 Lillie’s  Buddhism,  p.  134. 


318 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  officiating  Brahman  priest,  who  was  called  Gooroo,  or  Pastor,1 
rubbed  mud  on  the  candidate,  and  then  plunged  him  three  times 
into  the  water.  During  the  process  the  priest  said  : 

“ O Supreme  Lord,  this  man  is  impure,  like  the  mud  of  this  stream;  but  as 
water  cleanses  him  from  this  dirt,  do  thou  free  him  from  his  sin.”'2 

Rivers,  as  sources  of  fertility  and  purification,  were  at  an  early 
date  invested  with  a sacred  character.  Every  great  river  was  sup- 
posed to  be  permeated  with  the  divine  essence,  and  its  waters  held 
to  cleanse  from  all  moral  guilt  and  contamination.  And  as  the 
Ganges  was  the  most  majestic,  so  it  soon  became  the  holiest  and 
most  revered  of  all  rivers.  Ho  sin  too  heinous  to  be  removed,  no 
character  too  black  to  be  washed  clean  by  its  waters.  Hence  the 
countless  temples,  with  flights  of  steps,  lining  its  banks ; hence  the 
array  of  priests,  called  “ Sons  of  the  Ganges,”  sitting  on  the  edge 
of  its  streams,  ready  to  aid  the  ablutions  of  conscience-stricken 
bathers,  and  stamp  them  as  wThite-washed  when  they  emerge  from 
its  waters.  Hence  also  the  constant  traffic  carried  on  in  transport- 
ing Ganges  water  in  small  bottles  to  all  parts  of  the  country.3 

The  ceremony  of  baptism  was  a practice  of  the  followers  of 
Zoroaster , both  for  infants  and  adults. 

M.  Beausobre  tells  us  that : 

‘ ‘ The  ancient  Persians  carried  their  infants  to  the  temple  a few  days  after 
they  were  born,  and  presented  them  to  the  priest  before  the  sun,  and  before  the 
fire,  which  was  his  symbol.  Then  the  priest  took  the  child  and  baptized  it  for  the 
purification  of  the  soul.  Sometimes  he  plunged  it  into  a great  vase  full  of  water : 
it  was  in  the  same  ceremony  that  the  father  gave  a name  to  the  child.”4 

The  learned  Dr.  Hyde  also  tells  us  that  infants  were  brought 
to  the  temples  and  baptized  by  the  priests,  sometimes  by  sprinkling 
and  sometimes  by  immersion,  plunging  the  child  into  a large  vase 
filled  with  water.  This  was  to  them  a regeneration,  or  a purifica- 
tion of  their  souls.  A name  was  at  the  same  time  imposed  upon 
the  child,  as  indicated  by  the  parents. 5 


1 Life  and  Religion  of  the  Hindus,  p.  94. 

2 Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  125. 

“Every  orthodox  Hindu  is  perfectly  per- 
suaded that  the  dirtiest  water,  if  taken  from  a 
sacred  stream  and  applied  to  his  body,  either 
externally  or  internally,  will  purify  his  soul." 

(Prof.  Monier  Williams  : Hinduism,  p.  157.) 
The  Egyptians  bathed  in  the  water  of  the  Nile  ; 
the  Chaldeans  and  Persians  in  the  Euphrates, 
and  the  Hindus,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  Gan- 
ges, all  of  which  were  considered  as  “ sacred 
waters  ” by  the  different  nations.  The  Jews 
looked  upon  the  Jordan  in  the  same  manner. 

Herodotus,  speaking  of  the  Persians’  man- 


ners, says  : 

“ They  (the  Persians)  neither  make  water, 
nor  spit,  nor  wash  their  hands  in  a river,  nor 
defile  the  stream  with  urine,  nor  do  they  allow 
any  one  else  to  do  so,  but  they  pay  extreme 
veneration  to  all  rivers.”  (Hist.  lib.  i.  ch.  138.) 

3 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  176. 

4 Hist.  Manichee,  lib.  ix.  ch.  vi.  sect.  xvi.  in 
Anac.,  vol.  ii.  p.  65.  See  also,  Dupuis  : Orig. 
Relig.  Belief,  p.  249,  and  Baring-Gould  : Orig. 
Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i.  p.  392. 

6 “Pro  infantibus  non  utuntur  circumcis- 
ione,  sed  tantum  baptismo  seu  lotmne  ad 
animae  purificationem  intemam.  Infantem  ad 


BAPTISM. 


319 


The  rite  of  baptism  was  also  administered  to  adults  in  the 
Mithraic  mysteries  during  initiation.  The  foreheads  of  the  ini- 
tiated being  marked  at  the  same  time  with  the  “ sacred  sign”  which 
was  none  other  than  the  sign  of  the  cross.1  The  Christian 
Father  Tertullian,  who  believed  it  to  be  the  work  of  the  devil, 
says : 

“He  baptizes  his  believers  and  followers;  he  promises  the  remission  of  sins 
at  the  sacred  fount,  and  thus  initiates  them  into  the  religion  of  Mithra;  he  marks 
on  the  forehead  his  own  soldiers,”  &c.2 

“ He  marks  on  the  forehead,”  i.  e .,  he  marks  the  sign  of  the 
cross  on  their  foreheads,  just  as  priests  of  Christ  Jesus  do  at  the 
present  day  to  those  who  are  initiated  into  the  Christian  mysteries. 

Again,  he  says : 

“ The  nations  who  are  strangers  to  all  spiritual  powers  (the  heathens),  ascribe 
to  their  idols  (gods)  the  power  of  impregnating  the  waters  with  the  same  efficacy 
as  in  Christian  baptism.”  For,  “ in  certain  sacred  rites  of  theirs,  the  mode  of 
initiation  is  by  baptism,”  and  “whoever  had  defiled  himself  with  murder,  ex- 
piation was  sought  in  purifying  water.”3 

He  also  says  that : 

‘ ‘ The  devil  signed  his  soldiers  in  the  forehead,  in  imitation  of  the  Chris- 
tians.”4 

And  St.  Augustin  says  : 

“ The  cross  and  baptism  were  never  parted.”5 

The  ancient  Egyptians  performed  their  rite  of  baptism,  and 
those  who  were  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  Isis  were  baptized.6 

Apuleius  of  Madura,  in  Africa,  who  was  initiated  into  these 
mysteries,  shows  that  baptism  was  used;  that  the  ceremony  was 
performed  by  the  attending  priest,  and  that  purification  and  for- 
giveness of  sin  was  the  result.7 


eocerdotem  in  ecclesiam  adductum  sistunt 
coram  sole  et  igne,  qua  facta  ceremonia,  eun- 
dem  sanctiorem  existimant.  D.  Lord  dicit 
quod  aquam  ad  hoc  afEerunt  in  cortice  arboris 
Holm  : ea  autem  arbor  revera  est  Haum  Ma- 
gorum,  cujus  mentionem  alia  occasione  supra 
fecimns.  Alias,  aliquando  fit  immergendo  in 
magnum  yas  aquae,  ut  dicit  Tavernier.  Post 
talem  lotionem  seu  baptism um,  sacerdos  im- 
pouit  nomen  a parentibus  inditum.”  (Hyde 
de  Rel.  Vet.  Pers.,  p.  414.)  After  this  Hyde 
goes  on  to  say,  that  when  he  comes  to 
be  fifteen  years  of  age  he  is  confirmed  by 
receiving  the  girdle,  and  the  sudra  or  cas- 
sock. 


1 See  Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p. 
xxv.  Higgins  : Anac.,  vol.  i.  pp.  218  and  222. 
Dunlap  : Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  139.  King  : 
The  Gnostics  and  their  Remains,  p.  51. 

2 De  Praescrip.  ch.  xi. 

a Ibid. 

4 “ Mithra  signal  illic  in  frontibus  milites 
suos.” 

6'  “ Semper  enim  cruci  baptismus  jungitur.” 
(Aug,  Temp.  Ser.  ci.) 

8 See  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  69,  and  Monu- 
mental Christianity,  p.  385. 

7 “Sacerdos,  stipatumme  religiosa  cohorte. 


320 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  custom  of  baptism  in  Egypt  is  known  by  the  hieroglyphic 
term  of  “ water  of  purification.'* 1  ’ The  water  so  used  in  immer- 
sion absolutely  cleansed  the  soul,  and  the  person  was  said  to  be  re- 
generated.' 

They  also  believed  in  baptism  after  death , for  it  was  held 
that  the  dead  were  washed  from  their  sins  by  Osiris,  the  benefi- 
cent saviour,  in  the  land  of  shades,  and  the  departed  are  often 
represented  (on  the  sarcophagi)  kneeling  before  Osiris,  who  pours 
over  them  water  from  a pitcher.2 

The  ancient  Etruscans  performed  the  rite  of  baptism.  In 
Tab.  clxxii.  Gorius  gives  two  pictures  of  ancient  Etruscan 
baptism  by  water.  In  the  first,  the  youth  is  held  in  the  arms 
of  one  priest,  and  another  is  pouring  water  upon  his  head.  In 
the  second,  the  young  person  is  going  through  the  same  ceremony, 
kneeling  on  a kind  of  altar.  At  the  time  of  its  baptism  the  child 
was  named,  blessed  and  marked  on  the  forehead  with  the  sign  of 
the  cross .3 

Baptism,  or  the  application  of  water,  was  a rite  well  known 
to  the  Jews  before  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  was  practiced 
by  them  when  they  admitted  proselytes  to  their  religion  from 
heathenism.  When  children  were  baptized  they  received  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  were  anointed,  and  fed  with  milk  and  honey.4 
“ It  was  not  customary,  however,  among  them,  to  baptize  those 
who  were  converted  to  the  Jewish  religion,  until  after  the  Baby- 
lonish captivity .”6  This  clearly  shows  that  they  learned  the  rite 
from  their  heathen  oppressors. 

Baptism  was  practiced  by  the  ascetics  of  Buddhist  origin,  known 
as  the  Essenes.6  John  the  Baptist  was,  evidently,  nothing  more 
than  a member  of  this  order,  with  which  the  deserts  of  Syria  and 
the  Thebais  of  Egypt  abounded. 

The  idea  that  man  is  restrained  from  perfect  union  with  God 
by  his  imperfection,  uncleanness  and  sin,  was  implicitly  believed 
by  the  ancient  Greelcs  and  Bomans.  In  Thessaly  was  yearly 
celebrated  a great  festival  of  cleansing.  A work  bearing  the 
name  of  ‘ ‘ Museus  ” was  a complete  ritual  of  purifications.  The 
usual  mode  of  purification  was  dipping  in  water  (immersion),  or 

deducit  ad  proximas  balucas ; et  prius  sueto  p.  392. 

lavraco  tradition,  proefatus  deum  veniam,  3 See  Higgins  : Anac.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  67-69. 

purissimS  circumrorans  abluit.”  (Apuleius : * Barnes : Notes,  vol.  i.  p.  38.  Higgins: 

Milesi,  ii.  citat.  a Higgins  : Anac.,  vol.  ii.  p.  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  65. 

69.)  * Barnes  : Notes,  vol.  i.  p.  41. 

1 Bonwick : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  416.  Dun-  9 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  121, 

lap  : Mysteries  Adorn,  p.  139.  Gainsburgb’s  Essenes,  and  Higgins’  Anacalyp- 

3 Baring-Gould  : Grig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i.  sis,  vol.  ii.  pp.  66,  67. 


BAPTISM. 


321 


it  was  performed  by  aspersion.  These  sacraments  were  held  to  have 
virtue  independent  of  the  dispositions  of  the  candidates,  an  opin- 
ion which  called  forth  the  sneer  of  Diogenes,  the  Grecian  his- 
torian, when  he  saw  some  one  undergoing  baptism  by  aspersion. : 

“ Poor  wretch  1 do  you  not  see  that  since  these  sprinklings  cannot  repair  your 
grammatical  errors,  they  cannot  repair  either,  the  faults  of  your  life.”1 2 3 

And  the  belief  that  water  could  wash  out  the  stains  of  original 
sin,  led  the  poet  Ovid  (43  b.  c.)  to  say  : 

“ Ah,  easy  fools,  to  think  that  a whole  flood 
Of  water  e’er  can  purge  the  stain  of  blood.” 

These  ancient  Pagans  had  especial  gods  and  goddesses  who  pre- 
sided over  the  birth  of  children.  The  goddess  Nundima  took  her 
name  from  the  ninth  day,  on  which  all  male  children  were 
sprinkled  with  holy  water?  as  females  were  on  the  eighth,  at 
the  same  time  receiving  their  name,  of  which  addition  to  the  cere- 
monial of  Christian  baptism  we  find  no  mention  in  the  Christian 
Scriptures.  When  all  the  forms  of  the  Pagan  nundination  were 
duly  complied  with,  the  priest  gave  a certificate  to  the  parents  of 
the  regenerated  infant ; it  was,  therefore,  duly  recognized  as  a 
legitimate  member  of  the  family  and  of  society,  and  the  day  was 
spent  in  feasting  and  hilarity.8 

Adults  were  also  baptized ; and  those  who  were  initiated  in  the 
sacred  rites  of  the  Bacchic  mysteries  were  regenerated  and  ad- 
mitted by  baptism,  just  as  they  were  admitted  into  the  mysteries 
of  Mithra.4 *  Justin  Martyr,  like  his  brother  Tertullian,  claimed 
that  this  ablution  was  invented  by  demons,  in  imitation  of  the 
t/rue  baptism,  that  their  votaries  might  also  have  their  pretended 
purification  by  water.6 * 

Infant  Baptism  was  practiced  among  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  northern  Europe — the  Danes,  Swedes,  Norwegians  and  Icelanders 
— long  before  the  first  dawn  of  Christianity  had  reached  those 
parts.  Water  was  poured  on  the  head  of  the  new-born  child,  and 


1 Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i. 
p.  391. 

2 “ Holy  Water  ’’—water  wherein  the  person 
is  baptized,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  (Church  of 
England  Catechism.) 

3 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  pp.  333,  334,  and 
Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  ii.  p.  65. 

4 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  pp.  80  and  232,  and 

Baring-Gould’s  Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i.  p. 

391. 

“ De-la-vint,  que  pour  devenir  capable 

d’entendre  les  secrets  de  la  creation,  reveles 

21 


dans  ces  m§mes  mysteres,  il  fallut  se  faire 
regenerer  par  V initiation.  Cette  ceremonie, 

par  laquelle,  on  apprenoit  les  vrais  princi- 
pes  de  la  vie,  s’operoit  par  le  moyen  de 
I'eau  qui  voit  ete  celui  de  la  regeneration 
du  monde.  On  conduisoit  snr  les  bords 
de  l’llissus  le  candidat  qui  devoit  etre  initie  ; 
apres  1‘avoir  purifie  avec  le  sel  et  I’eau  de 
lar  mer,  on  repandoit  de  l’orge  sur  lui,  ou 
le  couronoit  de  fleurs,  et  VHydranos  ou  le 
Baptiseur  le  pongeoit  dans  le  fleure.”  (D’An- 
carville  : Res.,  vol.  i.  p.  292.  Anac.,  ii.  p.  65.) 

6 Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  232. 


322 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


a name  was  given  it  at  the  same  time.  Baptism  is  expressly 
mentioned  in  the  Ha/va-mal  and  Rigs-mal , and  alluded  to  in  other 
epic  poems.1 

The  ancient  Livonians  (inhabitants  of  the  three  modern  Baltic 
provinces  of  Courland,  Livonia,  and  Esthonia),  observed  the  same 
ceremony;  which  also  prevailed  among  the  ancient  Germans. 
This  is  expressly  stated  in  a letter  which  the  famous  Pope  Gregory 
III.  sent  to  their  apostle  Boniface,  directing  him  how  to  act  in  res- 
pect to  it.2 

The  same  ceremony  was  performed  by  the  ancient  Druids  of 
Britain.3 

Among  the  New  Zealanders  young  children  were  baptized. 
After  the  ceremony  of  baptism  had  taken  place,  prayers  were  of- 
fered to  make  the  child  sacred,  and  clean  from  all  impurities.4 

The  ancient  Mexicans  baptized  their  children  shortly  after 
birth.  After  the  relatives  had  assembled  in  the  court  of  the  parents’ 
house,  the  midwife  placed  the  child’s  head  to  the  east,  and  prayed 
for  a blessing  from  the  Saviour  Quetzacoatle,  and  the  goddess  of 
the  water.  The  breast  of  the  child  was  then  touched  with  the 
fingers  dipped  in  water,  and  the  following  prayer  said  : 

“ May  it  (the  water)  destroy  and  separate  from  thee  all  the  evil  that  was  be- 
ginning in  thee  before  the  beginning  of  the  world.” 

After  this  the  child’s  body  was  washed  with  water,  and  all 
things  that  might  injure  him  were  requested  to  depart  from  him, 
“ that  now  he  may  live  again  and  be  born  again.”5 

Mr.  Prescott  alludes  to  it  as  follows,  in  his  “ Conquest  of 
Mexico  :”8 

“The  lips  and  bosom  of  the  infant  were  sprinkled  with  water,  and  the 
Lord  was  implored  to  permit  the  holy  drops  to  wash  away  that  sin  that  was  given 
to  it  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  so  that  the  child  might  be  born  anew.” 
“ This  interesting  rite,  usually  solemnized  with  great  formality,  in  the  presence 
of  assembled  friends  and  relations,  is  detailed  with  minuteness  by  Sahagun  and 
by  Zuazo,  both  of  them  eyewitnesses.” 

Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy  says  : 

“ Now,  as  baptism  of  some  kind  has  been  the  universal  custom  of  all  religious 
nations  and  peoples  for  purification  and  regeneration,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  it  had  found  its  way  from  high  Asia,  the  centre  of  the  Old  World’s  religion 
and  civilization,  into  the  American  continent.  . . . 


1 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  pp.  306, 
313,  320,  366.  Baring-Gould’s  Orig.  Relig. 
Belief,  vol.  i.  pp.  392,  393,  and  Dupuis,  p.  242. 

2 Mallet : Northern  Antiquities,  p.  206. 

8 Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i. 

p.393.  Higgins:  Anac.,  vol.  ii.  p.  67,  and 

Davies  : Myths  of  the  British  Druids. 


4 Sir  George  Grey  : Polynesian  Mytho.,  p. 
32,  in  Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i. 
p.  392. 

6 See  Viscount  Amberly’s  Analysis  Relig 
Belief,  p.  69. 

« Vol.  i.  p.  64. 


BAPTISM. 


323 


“ American  priests  were  found  in  Mexico,  beyond  Darien,  baptizing  boys  and 
girls  a year  old  in  the  temples  at  the  cross,  pouring  the  water  upon  them  from  a 
small  pitcher. 5,1 

The  water  which  they  used  was  called  the  “ water  of  regen- 
eration.”1 2 * 

The  Rev.  Father  Acosta  alludes  to  this  baptism  by  saying : 

“ The  Indians  had  an  infinite  number  of  other  ceremonies  and  customs  which 
resembled  to  the  ancient  law  of  Moses,  and  some  to  those  which  the  Moores  use, 
and  some  approaching  near  to  the  Law  of  the  Gospel,  as  the  baths  or  Opacuna, 
as  they  called  them;  they  did  wash  themselves  in  water  to  cleanse  themselves 
from  sin.”2 

After  speaking  of  “ confession  which  the  Indians  used”  he 
says : 

“When  the  Inca  had  been  confessed,  he  made  a certain  bath  to  cleanse  him- 
self, in  a running  river,  saying  these  words : * 1 have  told  my  sins  to  the  Sun  (his 
god);  receive  them,  0 thou  River,  and  carry  them  to  the  Sea,  where  they  may  never 
appear  more.'  ”4 

He  tells  us  that  the  Mexicans  also  had  a baptism  for  infants, 
which  they  performed  with  great  ceremony.5 

Baptism  was  also  practiced  in  Yucatan.  They  administered  it 
to  children  three  years  old  ; and  called  it  regeneration.8 

The  ancient  Peruvians  also  baptized  their  children.7 

History,  then,  records  the  fact  that  all  the  principal  nations  of 
antiquity  administered  the  rite  of  baptism  to  their  children,  and  to 
adults  who  were  initiated  into  the  sacred  mysteries.  The  words 
“ regenerationem  et  impunitatem  perjuriorum  suorum  ” — used  by 
the  heathen  in  this  ceremony — prove  that  the  doctrines  as  well  as 
the  outward  forms  were  the  same.  The  giving  of  a name  to  the 
child,  the  marking  of  him  with  the  cross  as  a sign  of  his  being  a 
soldier  of  Christ,  followed  at  fifteen  years  of  age  by  his  admission 
into  the  mysteries  of  the  ceremony  of  confirmation , also  prove  that 
the  two  institutions  are  identical.  But  the  most  striking  feature 
of  all  is  the  regeneration — and  consequent  forgiveness  of  sins — 
the  being  “ loom  again.”  This  shows  that  the  Christian  baptism 
in  doctrine  as  well  as  in  outward  ceremony , was  precisely  that  of  the 
heathen.  We  have  seen  that  it  was  supposed  to  destroy  all  the 
evil  in  him,  and  all  things  that  might  injure  him  were  requested 
to  depart  from  him.  So  likewise  among  the  Christians  ; the  priest, 
looking  upon  the  child,  and  baptizing  him,  was  formerly  accus- 
tomed to  say  : 


1 Monumental  Christianity,  pp.  389,  390.  * Ibid.  p.  361. 

2 Kingsborongh  : Mex.  Antiq.,  vol.  vi.  p.  6 Ibid.  p.  369. 

114.  « Monumental  Christianity,  p.  390. 

* Hist.  Indies,  vol.  ii.  p.  369.  7 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  416. 


324 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ I command  thee,  unclean  spirit,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  thou  come  out  and  depart  from  this  infant,  whom  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  has  vouchsafed  to  call  to  this  holy  baptism,  to  be  made  mem- 
ber of  his  body  and  of  his  holy  congregation.  And  presume  not  hereafter  to 
exercise  any  tyranny  towards  this  infant,  whom  Christ  hath  bought  with  his 
precious  blood,  and  by  this  holy  baptism  called  to  be  of  his  flock.” 

The  ancients  also  baptized  with,  fire  as  well  as  water.  This  is 
what  is  alluded  to  many  times  in  the  gospels ; for  instance,  Matt, 
(iii.  11)  makes  John  say,  “I,  indeed,  baptize  you  with  water;  he 
shall  baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fiee.” 

The  baptism  by  fire  was  in  use  by  the  Romans ; it  was  per- 
formed by  jumping  three  times  through  the  flames  of  a sacred  fire. 
This  is  still  practiced  in  India.  Even  at  the  present  day,  in  some 
parts  of  Scotland,  it  is  a custom  at  the  baptism  of  children  to  swing 
them  in  their  clothes  over  a fire  three  times , saying,  “ Now,  fire, 
burn  this  child,  or  never P Here  is  evidently  a relic  of  the  heathen 
baptism  by  fire. 

Christian  baptism  was  not  originally  intended  to  be  adminis- 
tered to  unconscious  infants,  but  to  persons  in  full  possession  of  their 
faculties,  and  responsible  for  their  actions.  Moreover,  it  was  per- 
formed, as  is  well  known,  not  merely  by  sprinkling  the  forehead, 
but  by  causing  the  candidate  to  descend  naked  into  the  water,  the 
priest  joining  him  there,  and  pouring  the  water  over  his  head. 
The  catechumen  could  not  receive  baptism  until  after  he  under- 
stood something  of  the  nature  of  the  faith  he  was  embracing,  and 
was  prepared  to  assume  its  obligations.  A rite  more  totally  unfit- 
ted for  administration  to  infants  could  hardly  have  been  found. 
Yet  such  was  the  need  that  was  felt  for  a solemn  recognition  by 
religion  of  the  entrance  of  a child  into  the  world,  that  this  rite,  in 
course  of  time,  completely  lost  its  original  nature,  and,  as  with  the 
heathen,  infancy  took  the  place  of  maturity  : sprinkling  of  immer- 
sion. But  while  the  age  and  manner  of  baptism  were  altered,  the 
ritual  remained  under  the  influence  of  the  primitive  idea  with 
which  it  had  been  instituted.  The  obligations  were  no  longer 
confined  to  the  persons  baptized,  hence  they  must  be  undertaken 
for  them.  Thus  was  the  Christian  Church  landed  in  the  absurdity 
— unparalleled,  we  believe,  in  any  other  natal  ceremony — of  requir- 
ing the  most  solemn  promises  to  be  made,  not  by  those  who  were 
thereafter  to  fulfill  them,  but  by  others  i/n  their  name  / these  others 
having  no  power  to  enforce  their  fulfillment,  and  neither  those  actu- 
ally assuming  the  engagement,  nor  those  on  whose  behalf  it  was  as- 
sumed, being  morally  responsible  in  case  it  should  be  broken.  Yet 
this  strange  incongruity  was  forced  upon  the  church  by  an  imperious 


BAPTISM. 


325 


want  of  human  nature  itself,  and  the  insignificant  sects  who  have 
adopted  the  baptism  of  adults  only,  have  failed,  in  their  zeal  for 
historical  consistency,  to  recognize  a sentiment  whose  roots  lie  far 
deeper  than  the  chronological  foundation  of  Christian  rites,  and 
stretch  far  wider  than  the  geographical  boundaries  of  the  Christian 
faith. 

The  intention  of  all  these  forms  of  baptism  is  identical.  Water, 
as  the  natural  means  of  physical  cleansing,  is  the  universal  symbol 
of  spiritual  purification.  Hence  immersion,  or  washing,  or  sprink- 
ling, implies  the  deliverance  of  the  infant  from  the  stain  of  original 
sin.1  The  Pagan  and  Christian  rituals,  as  we  have  seen,  are  per- 
fectly clear  on  this  head.  In  both,  the  avowed  intention  is  to  wash 
away  the  sinful  nature  common  to  humanity  ; in  both,  the  infant  is 
declared  to  be  born  again  by  the  agency  of  water.  Among  the 
early  Christians,  as  with  the  Fagans,  the  sacrament  of  baptism  was 
supposed  to  contain  a full  and  absolute  expiation  of  sin ; and  the 
soul  was  instantly  restored  to  its  original  purity,  and  entitled  to  the 
promise  of  eternal  salvation.  Among  the  proselytes  of  Christi- 
anity, there  were  many  who  judged  it  imprudent  to  precipitate  a 
salutary  rite,  which  could  not  be  repeated  ; to  throw  away  an  in- 
estimable privilege,  which  could  never  be  recovered.  By  the  delay 
of  their  baptism,  they  could  venture  freely  to  indulge  their  pas- 
sions in  the  enjoyments  of  this  world,  while  they  still  retained  in 
their  own  hands  the  means  of  a sure  and  easy  absolution.  St.  Con- 
stantine was  one  of  these. 


1 That  man  is  born  in  original  sin  seems  to 
have  been  the  belief  of  all  nations  of  antiquity, 
especially  the  Hindus.  This  sense  of  original 
corruption  is  expressed  in  the  following  prayer, 
used  by  them : 


“ I am  sinful,  I qommit  sin,  my  nature  is 
sinful,  1 am  conceived  in  sin.  Save  me,  O thou 
lotus-eyed  Heri,  the  remover  of  Sin.”  (Wil- 
liams’ Hinduism,  p.  214.) 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER. 

The  worship  of  the  “ Virgin,”  the  “ Queen  of  Heaven,”  the 
“ Great  Goddess,”  the  “ Mother  of  God,”  &c.,  which  has  become 
one  of  the  grand  features  of  the  Christian  religion — the  Council  of 
Ephesus  (a.  t>.  431)  having  declared  Mary  “ Mother  of  God,”  her 

assumption  being  declared  in  813, 
and  her  Immaculate  Conception 
by  the  Pope  and  Council  in 
18511 — was  almost  universal,  for 
ages  before  the  birth  of  Jesus, 
and  “the  pure  virginity  of  the 
celestial  mother  was  a tenet  of 
faith  for  two  thousand  years  be- 
fore the  virgin  now  adored  was 
born.”2 

In  India , they  have  wor- 
shiped, for  ages,  Devi , Maha- 
Devi — “ The  One  Great  God- 
dess”3— and  have  temples  erected 
in  honor  of  her.4  Gonzales  states 
that  among  the  Indians  he  found 
a temple  “ Pariturce  Virginia  ” — of  the  Virgin  about  to  bring 
forth.5 

Maya , the  mother  of  Buddha,  and  Devdki  the  mother  of  Crishna, 
were  worshiped  as  virgins ,6  and  represented  with  the  infant  Saviours 
in  their  arms,  just  as  the  virgin  of  the  Christians  is  represented  at 
the  present  day.  Maya  was  so  pure  that  it  was  impossible  for  God, 
man,  or  Asura  to  view  her  with  carnal  desire.  Fig.  No.  16  is 


1 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  115,  and  4 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  540. 

Monumental  Christianity,  pp.  208  and  226.  5 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  185. 

3 Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  159.  * St.  Jerome  says  : “It  is  handed  down  as 

* See  Williams’  Hinduism.  a tradition  among  the  Gyranosophists  of  India, 

326 


FIG. 16, 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER. 


327 


a representation  of  tlie  Virgin  Devaki,  with  the  infant  Saviour 
Crishna,  taken  from  Moor’s  “ Hindu  Pantheon.”1  “No  person 
could  bear  to  gaze  upon  Devaki,  because  of  the  light  that  in- 
vested her.”  “ The  gods,  invisible  to  mortals,  celebrated  her  praise 
continually  from  the  time  that  Vishnu  was  contained  in  her  per- 
son.”3 

“ Crishna  and  his  mother  are  almost  always  represented  black ,”3 
and  the  word  “ Crishna  ” means  “ the  black” 

The  Chinese , who  have  had  several  avatars,  or  virgin-born  gods, 
among  them,  have  also  worshiped  a Virgin  Mother  from  time  im- 
memorial. Sir  Charles  Francis  Davis,  in  his  “ History  of  China,” 
tells  us  that  the  Chinese  at  Canton  worshiped  an  idol,  to  which 
they  gave  the  name  of  “ The  Virgin.”4 

The  Rev.  Joseph  B.  Gross,  in  his  “ Heathen  Religion,”  tells  us 
that : 

“Upon  the  altars  of  the  Chinese  temples  were  placed,  behind  a screen,  an 
image  of  Shin-moo,  or  the  ‘ Holy  Mother sitting  with  a child  in  her  arms,  in  an 
alcove,  with  rays  of  glory  around  her  head,  and  tapers  constantly  burning  before 
her.”5 

Shin-moo  is  called  the  “ Mother  Goddess,”  and  the  “ Virgin.” 
Her  child,  who  was  exposed  in  his  infancy,  was  brought  up  by 
poor  fishermen.  He  became  a great  man,  and  performed  wonder- 
ful miracles.  In  wealthy  houses  the  sacred  image  of  the  “ Mother 
Goddess  ” is  carefully  kept  in  a recess  behind  an  altar,  veiled  with 
a silken  screen.6 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Gutzlaff,  in  his  “ Travels,”  speaking  of  the  Chinese 
people,  says: 

“ Though  otherwise  very  reasonable  men,  they  have  always  showed  them- 
selves bigoted  heathens.  . . . They  have  everywhere  built  splendid  temples, 

chiefly  in  honor  of  Ma-tsoo-po,  the  4 Queen  of  Heaven.  * ”7 

Isis , mother  of  the  Egyptian  Saviour,  Horus,  was  worshiped  as 
a virgin.  Nothing  is  more  common  on  the  religious  monuments  of 
Egypt  than  the  infant  Horus  seated  in  the  lap  of  his  virgin  mother. 
She  is  styled  “ Our  Lady,”  the  “ Queen  of  Heaven,”  “ Star  of  the 
Sea,”  “ Governess,”  “ Mother  of  God,”  “ Intercessor,”  “ Immacu- 


that  Buddha , the  founder  of  their  system  was 
brought  forth  by  a virgin  from  her  side.” 
(Contra  Jovian , bk.  i.  Quoted  in  Rhys  Davids’ 
Buddhism,  p.  183.) 

1 Plate  59. 

2 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  218. 

Of  the  Virgin  Mary  we  read  : “ Her  face 
was  shining  as  snow,  and  its  brightness  could 


hardly  be  borne.  Her  conversation  was  with 
the  angels,  &c.”  (Nativity  of  Mary,  Apoc.) 

3 See  Ancient  Faiths,  i.  401. 

4 Davis’  China,  vol.  ii.  p.  95. 

5 The  Heathen  ReJig.,  p.  60. 

6 Barrows:  Travels  in  China,  p.  467. 

7 Gutzlaff’s  Voyages,  p.  154. 


328 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


late  Virgin,”  &C.;1  all  of  which  epithets  were  in  after  years  applied 
to  the  Virgin  Mother  worshiped  by  the  Christians.2 

“ The  most  common  representation  of  Horns  is  being  nursed  on 
the  knee  of  Isis,  or  suckled  at  her  breast.”3  In  Monumental 
Christianity  (Fig.  92),  is  to  be  seen  a representation  of  “ Isis  and 
Horus.”  The  infant  Saviour  is  sitting  on  his  mother’s  knee,  while 
she  gazes  into  his  face.  A cross  is  on  the  back  of  the  seat.  The 
author,  Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy,  says,  in  speaking  of  it : 

“Is  this  Egyptian  mother,  too,  meditating  her  son’s  conflict,  suffering,  and 
triumph,  as  she  holds  him  before  her  and  gazes  into  his  face?  And  is  this  cross 
meant  to  convey  the  idea  of  life  through  suffering,  and  conflict  with  Typho  or 
Evil?” 

In  some  statues  and  basso-relievos , when  Isis  appears  alone,  she 
is  entirely  veiled  from  head  to  foot,  in  common  with  nearly  every 
other  goddess,  as.  a symbol  of  a mother’s  chastity.  Ho  mortal  man 
hath  ever  lifted  her  veil. 

Isis  was  also  represented  standing  on  the  crescent  moon,  with 
'welve  stars  surrounding  her  head.4  In  almost  every  Roman 
Catholic  Church  on  the  continent  of  Europe  may  be  seen  pictures 
and  statues  of  Mary , the  “ Queen  of  Heaven,”  standing  on  the 
crescent  moon,  and  her  head  surrounded  with  twelve  stars. 

Dr.  Inman,  in  his  “ Pagan  and  Christian  Symbolism,”  gives  a 
figure  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  with  her  infant,  standing  on  the  crescent 
moon.  In  speaking  of  this  figure,  he  says  : 

“ In  it  the  Virgin  is  seen  as  the  ‘ Queen  of  Heaven,’  nursing  her  infant,  and 
identified  with  the  crescent  moon.  . . . Than  this,  nothing  could  more  com- 

pletely identify  the  Christian  mother  and  child,  with  Isis  and  Horus.”5 

This  crescent  moon  is  the  symbol  of  Isis  and  Juno,  and  is  the 
Yoni  of  the  Hindoos.6 

The  priests  of  Isis  yearly  dedicated  to  her  a new  ship  (emble- 
matic of  the  Yoni),  laden  with  the  first  fruits  of  spring.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem,  the  carrying  in  procession  of  ships,  in  which  the 
Virgin  Mary  takes  the  place  of  the  heathen  goddesses,  has  not  yet 
wholly  gone  out  of  use.7 

Isis  is  also  represented,  with  the  infant  Saviour  in  her  arms, 
enclosed  in  a framework  of  the  flowers  of  the  Egyptian  bean,  or 
lotus?  The  Virgin  Mary  is  very  often  represented  in  this 
manner,  as  those  who  have  studied  mediaeval  art  well  know. 

1 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  141.  8 See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  307,  and 

2 See  The  Lily  of  Israel,  p.  14.  Dr.  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths. 

* Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  425.  7 See  Cox’s  Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  119, 

4 See  Draper’s  Science  and  Religion,  pp.  47,  note . 

48  and  Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  304.  8 See  Pagan  and  Christian  Symbolism,  pp. 

• Pagan  and  Christian  Symbolism,  p.  50.  13, 14. 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER. 


329 


Dr.  Inman,  describing  a painting  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  which  is 
to  be  seen  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  and  which  is  en- 
closed in  a framework  of  flowers,  says : 

“It  represents  the  Virgin  and  Child  precisely  as  she  used  to  be  represented  in 
Egypt,  in  India,  in  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Phoenicia,  and  Etruria.”1 2 

The  lotus  and  poppy  were  sacred  among  all  Eastern  nations, 
and  were  consecrated  to  the  various  virgins  worshiped  by  them. 
These  virgins  are  represented  holding  this  plant  in  their  hands,  just 
as  the  Virgin,  adored  by  the  Christians,  is  represented  at  the  present 
day.8  Mr.  Squire,  speaking  of  this  plant,  says  : 

“It  is  well  known  that  the  ‘ Nymphe  ’ 

— lotus  or  water-lily  — is  held  sacred 
throughout  the  East,  and  the  various  sects 
of  that  quarter  of  the  globe  represented 
their  deities  either  decorated  with  its 
flowers,  holding  it  as  a sceptre,  or  seated 
on  a lotus  throne  or  pedestal.  Lacshmi, 
the  beautiful  Hindoo  goddess,  is  associ- 
ated with  the  lotus.  The  Egyptian  Isis  is 
often  called  the  ‘'Lotus-crowned?  in  the 
ancient  invocations.  The  Mexican  god- 
dess Corieotl,  is  often  represented  with  a 
water-plant  resembling  the  lotus  in  her 
hand.”3 

In  Egyptian  and  Hindoo  my- 
thology, the  offspring  of  the  virgin 
is  made  to  bruise  the  head  of  the 
serpent,  but  the  Romanists  have  given  this  office  to  the  mother.  Mary 
is  often  seen  represented  standing  on  the  serpent.  Fig.  IT  alludes 
to  this,  and  to  her  immaculate  conception , which,  as  we  have  seen,, 
was  declared  by  the  Pope  and  council  in  1851.  The  notion  of  the 
divinity  of  Mary  was  broached  by  some  at  the  Council  of  Hice, 
and  they  were  thence  named  Marianites. 

The  Christian  Father  Epiphanius  accounts  for  the  fact  of  the 
Egyptians  worshiping  a virgin  and  child,  by  declaring  that  the 
prophecy — “ Behold,  a virgin  shall  conceive  and  bring  forth  a son” 
— must  have  been  revealed  to  them.4 * 

In  an  ancient  Christian  work,  called  the  “ Chronicle  of  Alex- 
andria,” occurs  the  following : 


1 Pagan  and  Christian  Symbolism,  pp.  4,  5.  split  apricot,  the  pomegranate,  rimmon,  and 

2 See  Knight : Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  the  Vine,  just  as  was  the  ancient  Venus.”  (Dr* 

pp.  45, 104,  105.  Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  528.) 

“We  6ee,  in  pictures,  that  the  Virgin  and  * Serpent  Symbol,  p.  39., 

Child  are  associated  in  modem  times  with  the  4 Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  185. 


330 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ Watch  how  Egypt  has  constructed  the  childbirth  of  a virgin,  and  the  birth 
of  her  son,  who  was  exposed  in  a crib  to  the  adoration  of  the  people.”' 

We  have  another  Egyptian  Virgin  Mother  in  Neitli  or  Nout, 
mother  of  “ Osiris  the  Saviour.”  She  was  known  as  the  “ Great 
Mother,”  and  yet  “ Immaculate  Virgin.”3  M.  Beauregard  speaks 
of 

“The  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin  (Mary),  who  can  henceforth,  as 
well  as  the  Egyptian  Minerva,  the  mysterious  Neitb,  boast  of  having  come  from 
herself,  and  of  having  given  birth  to  god.”3 

What  is  known  in  Christian  countries  as  “ Candlemas  day,”  or 
the  Purification  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  is  of  Egyptian  origin.  The 
feast  of  Candlemas  was  kept  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  in  honor  of 
the  goddess  Neitli,  and  on  the  very  day  that  is  marked  on  our 
Christian  almanacs  as  “ Candlemas  day.”4 

The  ancient  Chaldees  believed  in  a celestial  virgin,  who  had 
purity  of  body,-  loveliness  of  person,  and  tenderness  of  affection ; 
and  who  was  one  to  whom  the  erring  sinner  could  appeal  with 
more  chance  of  success  than  to  a stern  father.  She  was  portrayed 
as  a mother,  although  a virgin,  with  a child  in  her  arms.6 

The  ancient  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  worshiped  a goddess 
mother,  and  son,  who  was  represented  in  pictures  arid  in  images  as 
an  infant  in  his  mother’s  arms  (see  Fig.  UST o.  18).  Her  name  was 
Mylitta , the  divine  son  was  Tammuz , the  Saviour,  whom  we  have 
seen  rose  from  the  dead.  He  was  invested  with  all  his  father’s 
attributes  and  glory,  and  identified  with  him.  He  was  worshiped 
as  mediator .6 

There  was  a temple  at  Paphos,  in  Cyprus,  dedicated  to  the 
Virgin  Mylitta,  and  was  the  most  celebrated  one  in  Grecian 
times.7 

The  ancient  Etruscans  worshiped  a Virgin  Mother  and  Son, 
who  was  represented  in  pictures  and  images  in  the  arms  of  his 
mother.  This  was  the  goddess  Nutria , to  be  seen  in  Fig.  Ho. 

19.  On  the  arm  of  the  mother  is  an  inscription  in  Etruscan 
letters.  This  goddess  was  also  worshiped  in  Italy.  Long  before 
the  Christian  era  temples  and  statues  were  erected  in  memory 
of  her.  “ To  the  Great  Goddess  Nutria,”  is  an  inscription  which 
has  been  found  among  the  ruins  of  a temple  dedicated  to  her. 
No  doubt  the  Roman  Church  would  have  claimed  her  for  a 


1 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  143. 
a Ibid.  p.  115. 

* Quoted  in  Ibid.  p.  115. 

4 Ibid.,  and  Kenrick’s  Egypt. 


6 Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  59. 

• See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  211,  and 
Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  350. 

7 Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  213. 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER. 


331 


Madonna,  but  most  unluckily  for  them,  she  has  the  name 
“Nutria”  in  Etruscan  letters  on  her  arm,  after  the  Etruscan 
practice. 

The  Egyptian  Isis  was  also  worshiped  in  Italy,  many  centuries 
before  the  Christian  era,  and  all  images  of  her,  with  the  infant 
Horus  in  her  arms,  have  been  adopted,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
by  the  Christians,  even  though  they  represent  her  and  her  child 
as  black  as  an  Ethiopian,  in  the  same  manner  as  we  have  seen  that 
Devaki  and  Crishna  were  represented. 


The  children  of  Israel,  who,  as  we  have  seen  in  a previous 
chapter,  were  idolaters  of  the  worst  kind— worshiping  the 
sun,  moon  and  stars,  and  offering  human  sacrifices  to  their  god, 
Moloch — were  also  worshipers  of  a Virgin  Mother,  whom  they 
styled  the  “ Queen  of  Heaven.” 

Jeremiah,  who  appeared  in  Jerusalem  about  the  year  625  b.c., 
and  who  was  one  of  the  prophets  and  reformers,  rebukes  the 
Israelites  for  their  idolatry  and  worship  of  the  “ Queen  of  Heaven,” 
whereupon  they  answer  him  as  follows  : 

“ As  for  the  word  that  thou  hast  spoken  unto  us,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, we 
will  not  hearken  unto  thee.  But  we  will  certainly  do  whatsoever  thing  goeth 
forth  out  of  our  own  mouth,  to  burn  incense  unto  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  to 
pour  out  drink  offerings  unto  her,  as  we  have  done,  we,  and  our  fathers,  our  kings, 
and  our  princes,  in  the  city  of  Judah,  and  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem : for  then  we 
had  plenty  of  victuals,  and  were  well,  and  saw  no  evil. 

“But  since  we  left  off  to  burn  incense  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  to  pour 
out  drink  offerings  unto  her,  we  have  wanted  all  things,  and  have  been  consumed 
by  the  sword  and  by  the  famine.  And  when  we  burned  incense  to  the  Queen  of 


rie  no,  is 


Fig.  19 


332 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Heaven,  and  poured  out  drink  offerings  unto  her,  did  we  make  her  cakes  to  war- 
ship her,  and  pour  out  drink  offerings  unto  her,  without  our  men  ?”1 

The  “ calces  ” which  were  offered  to  the  “ Queen  of  Heaven  ” 
by  the  Israelites  were  marked  with  a cross , or  other  symbol  of  sun 
worship.2  The  ancient  Egyptians  also  put  a cross  on  their 
“ sacred  cakes.”3  Some  of  the  early  Christians  offered  “ sacred 
cakes”  to  the  Virgin  Mary  centuries  after.4 * 

The  ancient  Persians  worshiped  the  Virgin  and  Child.  On 
the  monuments  of  Mithra,  the  Saviour,  the  Mediating  and  Redeem- 
ing God  of  the  Persians,  the  Virgin  Mother  of  this  god  is  to  be  seen 
Buckling  her  infant.6 

The  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  worshiped  the  Virgin  Mother 
and  Child  for  centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  One  of  these 
was  Myrrha ,6  the  mother  of  Bacchus , the  Saviour,  who  was 
represented  with  the  infant  in  her  arms.  She  had  the  title  of 
“Queen  of  Heaven.”7  At  many  a Christian  shrine  the  infant 
Saviour  Bacchus  may  be  seen  reposing  in  the  arms  of  his  deified 
mother.  The  names  are  changed — the  ideas  remain  as  before.8 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Stuckley  writes : 

“Diodorus  says  Bacchus  was  born  of  Jupiter,  the  Supreme  God,  and  Ceres 
(Myrrha).  Both  Ceres  and  Proserpine  were  called  Virgo  (Virgin).  The  story  of 
this  woman  being  deserted  by  a man,  and  espoused  by  a god,  has  somewhat  so 
exceedingly  like  that  passage.  Matt.  i.  19,  20,  of  the  blessed  Virgin’s  history,  that 
we  should  wonder  at  it,  did  we  not  see  the  parallelism  infinite  between  the  sacred  and 
the  profane  history  before  us. 

“ There  are  many  similitudes  between  the  Virgin  (Mary)  and  the  mother  of 
Bacchus  (also  called  Mary — see  note  6 below) — in  all  the  old  fables.  Mary,  or 
Miriam,  St.  Jerome  interprets  Myrrha  Maris.  Orpheus  calls  the  mother  of 
Bacchus  a Sea  Goddess  (and  the  mother  of  Jesus  is  called  ‘ Mary,  Star  of  the 
Sea:  y 

Thus  we  see  that  the  reverend  and  learned  Dr.  Stuckley  has  clearly 


1 Jeremiah,  xliv.  16-22. 

3 See  Colenso’s  Lectures,  p.  297,  and  Bon- 
wick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  148. 

? See  the  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  vi.  p. 
115,  App.,  and  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p. 
148. 

4 See  King’s  Gnostics,  p.  91,  and  Monumen- 

tal Christianity,  p.  224. 

6  See  Dupuis : Origin  of  Relig.  Belief,  p.  237. 

6 It  would  seem  more  than  chance  that  so 

many  of  the  virgin  mothers  and  goddesses  of 
antiquity  should  have  the  same  name.  The 
mother  of  Bacchus  was  Myrrha  ; the  mother  of 
Mercury  or  Hermes  was  Myrrha  or  Maia  (See 
Ferguson’s  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  p.  186, 
and  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  253);  the 
mother  of  the  Siamese  Saviour— Sommona  Ca- 
dom— was  called  Maya  Maria,  f.  e.,  “ the  Great 
Mary  the  mother  of  Adonis  was  Myrrha 


(See  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  314,  and  Inman’s 
Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  253);  the  mother  of 
Buddha  was  Maya ; now,  all  these  names, 
whether  Myrrha,  Maia  or  Maria,  are  the  same 
as  Mary,  the  name  of  the  mother  of  the  Chris- 
tian Saviour.  (See  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths, 
vol.  ii.  pp.  353  and  780.  Also,  Dunlap’s  Mys- 
teries of  Adoni,  p.  124.)  The  month  of  May 
was  sacred  to  these  goddesses,  so  likewise  is 
it  sacred  to  the  Virgin  Mary  at  the  present 
day,  She  was  also  called  Myrrha  and  Maria,  as 
well  as  Mary.  (See  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  304, 
and  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  26.) 

7 Higgins : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  pp.  303, 
304. 

8 Prof.  Wilder,  in  “ Evolution,”  June,  ’77. 
Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii. 

9 Stuckley  : Pal.  Sac.  No.  1 p.  34,  in  Anac- 
alypsis, i.  p.  304. 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER. 


333 


made  out  that  the  story  of  Mary,  the  “ Queen  of  Heaven,”  the 
“ Star  of  the  Sea,”  the  mother  of  the  Lord,  with  her  translation  to 
heaven,  &c.,  was  an  old  story  long  before  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
born.  After  this  Stuckley  observes  that  the  Pagan  “ Queen  of 
Heaven  ” has  upon  her  head  a crown  of  twelve  stars.  This,  as  wre 
have  observed  above,  is  the  case  of  the  Christian  “ Queen  of 
Heaven”  in  almost  every  Romish  church  on  the  continent  of 
Europe. 

The  goddess  Cybele  was  another.  She  was  equally  called  the 
“ Queen  of  Heaven  ” and  the  “ Mother  of  God.”  As  devotees 
now  collect  alms  in  the  name  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  so  did  they  in 
ancient  times  in  the  name  of  Cybele.  The  Galli  now  used  in  the 
churches  of  Italy,  were  anciently  used  in  the  worship  of  Cybele 
(called  Galliambus , and  sang  by  her  priests).  “ Our  Lady  Hay,” 
or  the  day  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  of  the  Roman  Church,  was  here- 
tofore dedicated  to  Cybele.1 

Minerva , who  was  distinguished  by  the  title  of  “ Virgin 
Queen,”2  was  extensively  worshiped  in  ancient  Greece.  Among 
the  innumerable  temples  of  Greece,  the  most  beautiful  was  the 
Parthenon , meaning,  the  Temple  of  the  Virgin  Goddess.  It  was 
a magnificent  Doric  edifice,  dedicated  to  Minerva,  the  presiding 
deity  of  Athens. 

Juno  was  called  the  “ Virgin  Queen  of  Heaven.”3  She  was 
represented,  like  Isis  and  Mary , standing  on  the  crescent  moon,4 
and  was  considered  the  special  protectress  of  women,  from  the 
cradle  to  the  grave,  just  as  Mary  is  considered  at  the  present 
day. 

Diana , who  had  the  title  of  “ Mother,”  was  nevertheless 
famed  for  her  virginal  purity.4  She  was  represented,  like  Isis 
and  Mary , with  stars  surrounding  her  head.8 

The  ancient  Muscovites  worshiped  a sacred  group,  composed 
of  a woman  with  a male  child  in  her  lap,  and  another  standing  by 
her.  They  had  likewise  another  idol,  called  the  golden  heifer , 
which,  says  Mr.  Knight,  “ seems  to  have  been  the  animal  symbol 
of  the  same  personage.”7  Here  we  have  the  Virgin  and  infant 
Saviour,  with  the  companion  ( J ohn  the  Baptist),  and  6 ‘ The  Lamb 
that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,”  among  the  ancient  Musco- 


1 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  305.  4 See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  308— Fig. 

a See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  and  Knight : Ancient  144. 

Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  175.  6 gee  Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  pp, 

9 See  Roman  Antiquities,  p.  73.  Anacalyp-  175,  176. 
eis,  vol.  ii.  p.  82,  and  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  6 See  Montfaucon,  vol.  i.  plate  xcii. 

P.  160.  7 Knight’s  Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  147. 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


334 


vites  before  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus.  This  goddess  had  also  the 
title  of  “ Queen  of  Heaven.1 

The  ancient  Germans  worshiped  a virgin  goddess  under  the 
the  name  of  Ilertha , or  Ostara,  who  was  fecundated  by  the  active 
spirit,  i.e.,  the  “ Holy  Spirit.”2  She  was  represented  in  images 
as  a woman  with  a child  in  her  arms.  This  image  was  common  in 
their  consecrated  forests,  and  was  held  peculiarly  sacred.3  The 
Christian  celebration  called  kaster  derived  its  name  from  this 
goddess. 

The  ancient  Scandinavians  worshiped  a virgin  goddess  called 
Disa.  Mr.  R.  Payne  Knight  tells  us  that : 

“This  goddess  is  delineated  on  the  sacred  drums  of  the  Laplanders,  accom- 
panied by  a child,  similar  to  the  Horns  of  the  Egyptians,  who  so  often  appears  in 
the  lap  of  Isis  on  the  religious  monuments  of  that  people.”4 

The  ancient  Scandinavians  also  worshiped  the  goddess 
Frigga.  She  was  mother  of  “ Baldur  the  Good,”  his  father  being 
Odin,  the  supreme  god  of  the  northern  nations.  It  was  she  who 
was  addressed,  as  Mary  is  at  the  present  day,  in  order  to  obtain 
happy  marriages  and  easy  childbirths.  The  Eddas  style  her  the 
most  favorable  of  the  goddesses.5 

In  Gaul , the  ancient  Druids  worshiped  the  Virgo-Paritura  as 
the  “ Mother  of  God,”  and  a festival  was  annually  celebrated  in 
honor  of  this  virgin.6 

In  the  year  1747  a monument  was  found  at  Oxford,  England, 
of  pagan  origin,  on  which  is  exhibited  a female  nursing  an  infant.7 
Thus  we  see  that  the  Virgin  and  Child  were  worshiped,  in 
pagan  times,  from  China  to  Britain,  and,  if  we  turn  to  the  Hew 
World,  we  shall  find  the  same  thing  there ; for,  in  the  words  of 
Dr.  Inman,  “ even  in  Mexico  the  ‘ Mother  and  Child  5 were  wor- 
shiped.”8 

This  mother,  who  had  the  title  of  “ Virgin,”  and  “ Queen 
of  Heaven,”9  was  Chimalman,  or  Sochiquetzal,  and  the  infant 
was  Quetzalcoatle,  the  crucified  Saviour.  Lord  Kingsborough 
says : 

“She  who  represented  ‘Our  Lady’  (among  the  ancient  Mexicans)  had  her 
hair  tied  up  in  the  manner  in  which  the  Indian  women  tie  and  fasten  their  hair, 


1 Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  pp.  109,  110.  Celtic  Druids,  p.  163,  and  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p. 

2 See  Knight’s  Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  21.  184. 

8 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  374,  and  7 See  Celtic  Druids,  p.  163,  and  Dupuis,  p. 
Mallet : Northern  Antiquities.  237. 

4 Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  147.  8 Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  100. 

* See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities.  9 See  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  33,  and  Mex* 

* See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  pp.  108,  ican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  176. 

109,  259.  Dupuis  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  p.  257. 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER. 


335 


and  in  the  knot  behind  was  inserted  a small  cross,  by  which  it  was  intended  to 
show  that  she  was  the  Most  Holy.”1 

The  Mexicans  had  pictures  of  this  “ Heavenly  Goddess  ” on 
long  pieces  of  leather,  which  they  rolled  up.2 

The  annunciation  to  the  Virgin  Chimalman,  that  she  should  be- 
come the  mother  of  the  Saviour  Quetzalcoatle,  was  the  subject  of  a 
Mexican  hieroglyphic,  and  is  remarkable  in  more  than  one  respect. 
She  appears  to  be  receiving  a bunch  of  flowers  from  the  embassador 
or  angel,3  which  brings  to  mind  the  lotus,  the  sacred  plant  of 
the  East,  which  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Pagan  and  Christian 
virgins. 

The  25th  of  March,  which  was  celebrated  throughout  the 
aucient  Grecian  and  Homan  world,  in  honor  of  “ the  Mother  of 
the  Gods,”  was  appointed  to  the  honor  of  the  Christian  “ Mother  of 
God,”  and  is  now  celebrated  in  Catholic  countries,  and  called 
“ Lady  day.”4  The  festival  of  the  conception  of  the  “ Blessed  Vir- 
gin Mary  ” is  also  held  on  the  very  day  that  the  festival  of  the 
miraculous  conception  of  the  “Blessed  Virgin  Juno”  was  held 
among  the  pagans,5  which,  says  the  author  of  the  u Perennial 
Calendar,”  “ is  a remarkable  coincidence.”8  It  is  not  such  a very 
“ remarkable  coincidence  ” after  all,  when  we  find  that,  even  as 
early  as  the  time  of  St.  Gregory,  Bishop  of  Neo-Csesarea,  who 
flourished  about  a.d.  240-250,  Pagan  festivals  were  changed  into 
Christian  holidays.  This  saint  was  commended  by  his  namesake 
of  Nyssa  for  changing  the  Pagan  festivals  into  Christian  holidays, 
the  better  to  draw  the  heathens  to  the  religion  of  Christ.7 

The  month  of  May,  which  was  dedicated  to  the  heathen  Virgin 
Mothers,  is  also  the  month  of  Mary,  the  Christian  Virgin. 

Now  that  we  have  seen  that  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  and  Child 
was  universal  for  ages  before  the  Christian  era,  we  shall  say  a few 
words  on  the  subject  of  pictures  and  images  of  the  Madonna — so 
called. 

The  most  ancient  pictures  and  statues  in  Italy  and  other  parts 
of  Europe,  of  what  are  supposed  to  be  representations  of  the  Virgin 
Mary  and  the  infant  Jesus,  are  Hack.  The  infant  god,  in  the  arms 
of  his  black  mother,  his  eyes  and  drapery  white,  is  himself  perfectly 


Godfrey  Higgins,  on  whose  authority  we  have  stated  the  above, 
informs  us  that,  at  the  time  of  his  writing — 1825-1835 — images  and 


black.8 


1 Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  176. 

» Ibid, 

s Ibid. 

4 Higgins  : Anacaiypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  304. 

8 Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  82. 


236. 


8 Quoted  in  Ibid. 

7 See  Middleton’s  Letters  from  Rome,  p. 


8 Higgins  : Anacaiypsis,  \Ol.  i.  p,  138. 


336 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


paintings  of  this  kind  were  to  be  seen  at  the  cathedral  of  Moulins ; 
the  famous  chapel  of  “ the  Virgin  ” at  Loretto;  the  church  of  the 
Annunciation,  the  church  of  St.  Lazaro,  and  the  church  of  St. 
Stephens,  at  Genoa  / St.  Francis,  at  Pisa  ; the  church  at  B vixen , 
in  the  Tyrol ; the  church  at  Padua  ; the  church  of  St.  Theodore, 
at  Munich — in  the  two  last  of  which  the  white  of  the  eyes  and 
teeth,  and  the  studied  redness  of  the  lips,  are  very  observable.1 

“ The  Bambino 2 at  Pome  is  black,”  says  Dr.  Inman,  “ and 
so  are  the  Virgin  and  Child  at  Loretto.”* 3  Many  more  are  to  be 
seen  in  Rome,  and  in  innumerable  other  places ; in  fact,  says  Mr. 
Higgins, 

“ There  is  scarcely  an  old  church  in  Italy  where  some  remains  of  the  worship 

of  the  black  Virgin , and  black  child,  are 
not  met  with;”  and  that  “pictures  in 
great  numbers  are  to  be  met  with,  where 
the  white  of  the  eyes,  and  of  the  teeth, 
and  the  lips  a little  tinged  with  red, 
like  the  black  figures  in  the  museum 
of  the  Indian  company.  ”4 

Fig.  Ho.  20  is  a copy  of  the 
image  of  the  Virgin  of  Loretto. 
Dr.  Conyers  Middleton,  speaking 
of  it,  says : 

f 

“ The  mention  of  Loretto  puts  me 
in  mind  of  the  surprise  that  I was  in  at 
the  first  sight  of  the  Holy  Image,  for 
its  face  is  as  black  as  a negro’s.  But 
I soon  recollected,  that  this  very  cir- 
cumstance of  its  complexion  made  it 
but  resemble  the  more  exactly  the  old  idols  of  Paganism.”* 

The  reason  assigned  by  the  Christian  priests  for  the  images  being 
black,  is  that  they  are  made  so  by  smoke  and  incense,  but,  we  may 
ask,  if  they  became  black  by  smoke,  why  is  it  that  the  white  drapery, 
white  teeth,  and  the  white  of  the  eyes  have  not  changed  in  color  ? 
Why  are  the  lips  of  a bright  red  color  ? Why,  we  may  also  ask,  are 
the  black  images  crowned  and  adorned  with  jewels,  just  as  the 
images  of  the  Hindoo  and  Egyptian  virgins  are  represented  \ 

When  we  find  that  the  Virgin  Devaki,  and  the  Virgin  Isis  were 
represented  just  as  these  so-called  ancient  Christian  idols  represent 
Mary,  we  are  led  to  the  conclusion  that  they  are  Pagan  idols  adopted 
by  the  Christians. 


1 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  138.  3 Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  401. 

3 Bambino— a term  in  art,  descriptive  of  the  4 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  13® 

swaddled  figure  of  the  infant  Saviour.  • Letters  from  Rome,  p,  84 


THE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN  MOTHER. 


337 


We  may  say,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Lnndy,  “ what  jewels  are 
•doing  on  the  neck  of  this  poor  and  lowly  maid,  it  is  not  easy  to  say.”1 
The  crown  is  also  foreign  to  early  representations  of  the  Madonna 
and  Child,  but  not  so  to  Devaki  and  Crishna,2  and  Isis  and  Horus. 
The  coronation  of.  the  Virgin  Mary  is  unknown  to  primitive  Chris- 
tian art,  but  is  common  in  Pagan  art.3  “ It  may  be  well,”  says  Mr. 
Lundy,  “ to  compare  some  of  the  oldest  Hindoo  representations  of 
the  subject  with  the  Romish,  and  see  how  complete  the  resemblance 
is  ; ”4  and  Dr.  Inman  says  that,  “ the  head-dress,  as  put  on  the  head 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  is  of  Grecian,  Egyptian,  and  Indian  origin.”5 

The  whole  secret  of  the  fact  of  these  early  representations  of  the 
Virgin  Mary  and  Jesus — so-called— being  black , crowned,  and  cov- 
ered with  jewels,  is  that  they  are  of  pre-Christian  origin  ; they  are 
Isis  and  Horus , and  perhaps,  in  some  cases,  Devaki  and  Crishna, 
baptized  anew. 

The  Egyptian  “ Queen  of  Heaven  ” was  worshiped  in  Europe 
for  centuries  before  and  after  the  Christian  Era.6  Temples  and 
statues  were  also  erected  in  honor  of  Isis,  one  of  which  was  at 
Bologna,  in  Italy. 

Mr.  King  tells  us  that  the  Emperor  Hadrian  zealously  strove  to 
reanimate  the  forms  of  that  old  religion,  whose  spirit  had  long  since 
passed  away,  and  it  was  under  his  patronage  that  the  creed  of  the 
Pharaohs  blazed  up  for  a moment  with  a bright  but  fictitious  lustre.7 
To  this  period  belongs  a beautiful  sard,  in  Mr.  King’s  collection, 
representing  Serapis8  and  Isis,  with  the  legend : “ Immaculate  is  Our 
Lady  Isis.”9 

Mr.  King  further  tells  us  that : 

“The  ‘ Black  Virgins ’ so  highly  reverenced  in  certain  French  cathedrals 
during  the  long  night  of  the  middle  ages,  proved,  when  at  last  examined  criti- 
cally, basalt  figures  of  Isis.”10 

And  Mr.  Bon  wick  says  : 

“We  may  be  surprised  that,  as  Europe  has  Black  Madonnas,  Egypt  had  Black 


1 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  208. 

2 See  Ibid.  p.  229,  and  Moore’s  Hindu  Pan- 
theon, Inman’s  Christian  and  Pagan  Symbol- 
ism, Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.,  where  the 
figures  of  Crishna  and  Devaki  may  be  seen, 
crowned,  laden  with  jewels,  and  a ray  of  glory 
eurronnding  their  heads. 

3 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  227. 

* Ibid. 

5 Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  767. 

6 In  King’s  Gnostics  and  their  Remains,  p. 

109,  the  author  gives  a description  of  a pro- 

cession, given  during  the  second  century  by 

Apuleius,  in  honor  of  Isis , the  “ Immaculate 

Lady.” 


7 King's  Gnostics,  p.  71. 

8 “ Serapis  does  not  appear  to  be  one  of  the 
native  gods,  or  monsters,  who  sprung  from  the 
fruitful  soil  of  Egypt.  The  first  of  the  Ptolemies 
had  been  commanded,  by  a dream,  to  import 
the  mysterious  stranger  from  the  coast  of 
Pontus,  where  he  had  been  long  adored  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Sinope  ; but  his  attributes  and 
his  reign  were  so  imperfectly  understood,  that 
it  became  a subject  of  dispute,  whether  he 
represented  the  bright  orb  of  day,  or  the 
gloomy  monarch  of  the  subterraneous  regions.” 
(Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  143.) 

3 Ibid. 

10  King’s  Gnostics,  p.  71,  note. 


22 


338 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


images  and  pictures  of  Isis.  At  the  same  time  it  is  a little  odd  that  the  'Virgin 
Mary  copies  most  honored  should  not  only  be  Black,  but  have  a decided  Isis  cast 
of  feature.”1 2 

The  slirine  now  known  as  that  of  the  “ Virgin  in  Amadon,”  in 
France,  was  formerly  an  old  Black  Venus.7 

“ To  this  we  may  add,”  (says  Dr.  Inman),  “ that  at  the  Abbey  of  Einsiedelen, 
on  Lake  Zurich,  the  object  of  adoration  is  an  old  black  doll,  dressed  in  gold  bro- 
cade, and  glittering  with  jewels.  She  is  called,  apparently,  the  Virgin  of  the 
Swiss  Mountains.  My  friend,  Mr.  Newton,  also  tells  me  that  he  saw,  over  a 
church  door  at  Ivrea,  in  Italy,  twenty-nine  miles  from  Turin,  the  fresco  of  & Black 
Virgin  and  child,  the  former  bearing  a triple  crown.”3 

This  triple  crown  is  to  be  seen  on  the  heads  of  Pagan  gods  and 
goddesses,  especially  those  of  the  Hindoos. 

Dr.  Barlow  says  : 

“ The  doctrine  of  the  Mother  of  God  was  of  Egyptian  origin.  It  was  brought 
in  along  with  the  worship  of  the  Madonna  by  Cyril  (Bishop  of  Alexandria,  and 
the  Cyril  of  Hypatia)  and  the  monks  of  Alexandria,  in  the  fifth  century.  The 
earliest  representations  of  the  Madonna  have  quite  a Greco-Egyptian  character, 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Isis  nursing  Horus  was  the  origin  of  them 
all.”4 

And  Arthur  Murphy  tells  us  that: 

“The  superstition  and  religious  ceremonies  of  the  Egyptians  were  diffused 
over  Asia,  Greece,  and  the  rest  of  Europe.  Brotier  says,  that  inscriptions  of  Isis 
and  Serapis  (Horus  ?)  have  been  frequently  found  in  Germany.  . . . The  mission- 
aries who  went  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries  to  propagate  the  Christian  re- 
ligion in  those  parts,  saw  many  images  and  statues  of  these  gods.”3 

These  “ many  images  and  statues  of  these  gods  ” were  evidently 
baptized  anew,  given  other  names,  and  allowed  to  remain  where 
they  were. 

In  many  parts  of  Italy  are  to  be  seen  pictures  of  the  Virgin  with 
her  infant  in  her  arms,  inscribed  with  the  words : “ Deo  Soli.”  This 
betrays  their  Pagan  origin. 


1 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  141.  “ Black 
is  the  color  of  the  Egyptian  Isis.”  (The  Rose- 
crucians,  p.  154.) 

2 Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  159.  In  Monte- 

faucon,  vol.  i.  plate  xcv.,  may  be  seen  a rep- 

resentation of  a Black  Venus. 


8 Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  264. 

4 Quoted  in  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p. 
142. 

6 Notes  3 and  4 to  Tacitus’  Manners  of  the 
Germans. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 

A thorough  investigation  of  this  subject  would  require  a volume, 
therefore,  as  we  can  devote  but  a chapter  to  it,  it  must  necessarily 
be  treated  somewhat  slightingly. 

The  first  of  the  Christian  Symbols  which  we  shall  notice  is  the 

CROSS. 

Overwhelming  historical  facts  show  that  the  cross  was  used,  as  a 
religious  emblem , many  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  by  every 
nation  in  the  world.  Bishop  Colenso,  speaking  on  this  subject, 
says : — 

‘ ‘ From  the  dawn  of  organized  Paganism  in  the  Eastern  world,  to  the  final 
establishment  of  Christianity  in  the  West,  the  cross  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the 
commonest  and  most  sacred  of  symbolical  monuments.  Apart  from  any  distinc- 
tions of  social  or  intellectual  superiority,  of  caste,  color,  nationality,  or  location 
in  either  hemisphere,  it  appears  to  have  been  the  aboriginal  possession  of  every 
people  in  antiquity. 

“Diversified  forms  of  the  symbol  are  delineated  more  or  less  artistically, 
according  to  the  progress  achieved  in  civilization  at  the  period,  on  the  ruined 
walls  of  temples  and  palaces,  on  natural  rocks  and  sepulchral  galleries,  on 
the  hoariest  monoliths  and  the  rudest  statuary;  on  coins,  medals,  and  vases  of 
every  description;  and  in  not  a few  instances,  are  preserved  in  the  architectural 
proportions  of  subterranean  as  well  as  superterranean  structures  of  tumuli,  as 
well  as  fanes. 

£ ‘ Populations  of  essentially  different  culture,  tastes,  and  pursuits — the  highly- 
civilized  and  the  semi-civilized,  the  settled  and  the  nomadic — vied  with  each 
other  in  their  superstitious  adoration  of  it,  and  in  their  efforts  to  extend  the 
knowledge  of  its  exceptional  import  and  virtue  amongst  their  latest  posterities. 

“ Of  the  several  varieties  of  the  cross  still  in  vogue,  as  national  and  ecclesi- 
astical emblems,  and  distinguished  by  the  familiar  appellations  of  St.  George, 
St.  Andrew,  the  Maltese,  the  Greek,  the  Latin,  &c.,  &c.,  there  is  not  one  amongst 
them  the  existence  of  which  may  not  be  traced  to  the  remotest  antiquity.  They  were 
the  common  property  of  the  Eastern  nations. 

“ That  each  known  variety  has  been  derived  from  a common  source,  and  is 
emblematical  of  one  and  the  same  truth  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  of  forms 
identically  the  same,  whether  simple  or  complex,  cropping  out  in  contrary  direc- 
tions, in  the  Western  as  well  as  the  Eastern  hemisphere.”1 


1 The  Pentateuch  Examined,  voi.  vi.  p.  113. 


[839] 


340 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  cross  has  been  adored  in  India  from  time  immemorial,  and 
was  a symbol  of  mysterious  significance  in  Brahmanical  iconography. 
It  was  the  symbol  of  the  Hindoo  god  Agni,  the  “ Light  of  the 
World.”1 

In  the  Cave  of  Elephanta,  over  the  head  of  the  figure  represented 
as  destroying  the  infants,  whence  the  story  of  Herod  and  the  in- 
fants of  Bethlehem  (which  was  unknown  to  all  the  Jewish,  Homan, 
and  Grecian  historians)  took  its  origin,  may  be  seen  the  Mitre,  the 
Crosier,  and  the  Cross.2 

It  is  placed  by  Muller  in  the  hand  of  Siva,  Brahma,  Yishnu, 
Crishna,  Tvashtri  and  Jama.  To  it  the  worshipers  of  Yishnu  at- 
tribute as  many  virtues  as  does  the  devout  Catholic  to  the  Christian 
cross.3  Fra  Paolino  tells  us  it  was  used  by  the  ancient  kings  of 
India  as  a sceptre.4 * 

Two  of  the  principal  pagodas  of  India — Benares  and  Mathura — 
were  erected  in  the  forms  of  vast  crosses.6  The  pagoda  at  Mathura 
was  sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Yirgin-born  and  crucified  Saviour 
Crishna.6 

The  cross  has  been  an  object  of  profound  veneration  among  the 
Buddhists  from  the  earliest  times.  One  is  the  sacred  Swastica 
(Fig.  Ho.  21).  It  is  seen  in  the  old 
Buddhist  Zodiacs,  and  is  one  of  the 
symbols  in  the  Asoka  inscriptions.  It 
is  the  sectarian  mark 
of  the  Jains,  and  the 
distinctive  badge  of 
the  sect  of  Xaca  Ja- 
ponicus.  The  Yaisli- 
navas  of  India  have 
also  the  same  sacred 
sign.7  And,  accord- 
ing to  Arthur  Lillie,6 
“the  only  Christian  cross  in  the  cata- 
combs is  this  Buddhist  Swastica .” 

The  cross  is  adored  by  the  follow- 
ers of  the  Lama  of  Thibet.9  Fig.  Ho.  22  is  a representation 
of  the  most  familiar  form  of  Buddhist  cross.  The  close 

1 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  14.  8 Ibid.  vol.  iii.  p.  47. 

a Baring-Gould  : Curious  Myths,  p.  301.  7 Curious  Myths,  pp.  280-282.  Buddha  and 

Higgins  : Anac.,  vol.  i.  p.  220.  Early  Buddhism,  pp.  7,  9,  and  22,  and  Anaca- 

a Curious  Myths,  p.  301.  lypsie,  vol.  i.  p.  223. 

« jbid.  p.  302.  8 Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism,  p.  227. 

8 Maurice  ; Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii.  p.  9 Inman  : Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  409. 

359.  Higgins  : Anac.,  vol.  i.  p.  230. 


CHKISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


341 


resemblance  between  the  ancient  religion  of  Thibet  and  that 
of  the  Christians  has  been  noticed  by  many  European  trav- 
ellers and  missionaries,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Pere 
Grebillon,  Pere  Grueber,  Horace  de  la  Paon,  D’Orville,  and 
M.  L’  Abbe  Hue.  The  Buddhists,  and  indeed  all  the  sects  of  India, 
marked  their  followers  on  the  head  with  the  sign  of  the  cross.1 
This  was  undoubtedly  practiced  by  almost  all  heathen  nations,  as 
we  have  seen  in  the  chapter  on  the  Eucharist  that  the  initiates  into 
the  Heathen  mysteries  were  marked  in  that  manner. 

The  ancient  Egyptians  adored  the  cross  with  the  profoundest 
veneration.  This  sacred  symbol  is  to  be  found  on  many  of  their 
ancient  monuments,  some  of  which  may  be  seen  at  the  present  day 
in  the  British  Museum.2  In  the  museum  of  the  London  University, 
a cross  upon  a Calvary  is  to  be  seen  upon  the  breast  of  one  of  the 
Egyptian  mummies.3  Many  of  the  Egyptian  images  hold  a cross 
in  their  hand.  There  is  one  now  extant  of  the  Egyptian  Saviour 
Horus  holding  a cross  in  his  hand,4  and  he  is  represented  as  an  in- 
fant sitting  on  his  mother’s  knee,  with  a cross  on  the  back  of  the 
seat  they  occupy.6 

The  commonest  of  all  the  Egyptian  crosses,  the  crux  ansata 
(Fig.  No.  23)  was  adopted  by  the  Christians.  Thus, 
beside  one  of  the  Christian  inscriptions  at  Phile  (a 
celebrated  island  lying  in  the  midst  of  the  Nile)  is 
seen  both  a Maltese  cross  and  a crux  ansata .6  In  a 
painting  covering  the  end  of  a church  in  the  cemetery 
of  El-Khargeh,  in  the  Great  Oasis,  are  three  of  these 
crosses  round  the  principal  subject,  which  seems  to 
have  been  a figure  of  a saint.7  In  an  inscription  in  a 
Christian  church  to  the  east  of  the  Nile,  in  the  desert,  these  crosses 
are  also  to  be  seen.  Beside,  or  in  the  hand  of,  the  Egyptian  gods, 
this  symbol  is  generally  to  be  seen.  When  the  Saviour  Osiris  is 
represented  holding  out  the  crux  ansata  to  a mortal,  it  signifies 
that  the  person  to  whom  he  presents  it  has  put  off  mortality,  and 
entered  on  the  life  to  come.8 

The  Greek  cross,  and  the  cross  of  St.  Anthony,  are  also  found 


1 See  Ibid. 

2 See  Celtic  Druids,  p.  126  ; Anacalypsis, 
vol.  i.  p.  217,  and  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief, 
pp.  216,  217  and  219. 

3 Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  217. 

4 Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  58. 


8 See  Inman’s  “ Symbolism,”  and  Lundy’s 
Monu.  Christianity,  Fig.  92. 

6 Baring-Gould  : Curious  Myths,  p.  285. 

7 Hoskins’  Visit  to  the  great  Oasis,  pi.  xii. 
in  Curious  Myths,  p.  286. 

8 Curious  Myths,  p.  286. 


342 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


on  Egyptian  monuments.  A figure  of  a Shari  (Fig.  No.  24),  from 
Sir  Gardner  Wilkinson’s  book,  lias  a necklace  round  liis  throat, 
from  which  depends  a pectoral  cross.  A third  Egyptian  cross  is 
that  represented  in  Fig.  No.  25,  which  is  ap- 


Jr 

parently  intended  for  a Latin 
cross  rising  out  of  a heart,  like 
the  mediseval  emblem  of  “ Cor 
in  Cruce , Crux  in  Corde : ” 
it  is  the  hierogylpli  of  good- 

[i] 

Fie  N?  zh- 

ness.1 

It  is  related  by  the  eccles- 
iastical  historians  Socrates  and 

Fionas 

Sozomon,  that  when  the  temple  of  Serapis, 
at  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  was  demolished  by  one  of  the  Christian 
emperors,  beneath  the  foundation  was  discovered  a cross.  The 
words  of  Socrates  are  as  follows  : 

‘ ‘ In  the  temple  of  Serapis,  now  overthrown  and  rifled  throughout,  there  were 
found  engraven  in  the  stones  certain  letters  . . . resembling  the  form  of  the 

cross.  The  which  when  both  Christians  and  Ethnics  beheld,  every  one  applied 
to  his  proper  religion.  The  Christians  affirmed  that  the  cross  was  a sign  or 
token  of  the  passion  of  Christ,  and  the  proper  cognizance  of  their  profession. 
The  Ethnics  avouched  that  therein  was  contained  something  in  common,  belonging 
as  well  to  Serapis  as  to  Christ.”* * 

It  should  be  remembered,  in  connection  with  this,  that  the 
Emperor  Hadrian  saw  no  difference  between  the  worshipers  of 
Serapis  and  the  worshipers  of  Christ  Jesus.  In  a letter  to  the  Con- 
sul Servanus  he  says  : 

“ There  are  there  (in  Egypt)  Christians  who  worship  Serapis , and  devoted  to 
Serapis  are  those  who  call  themselves  ‘ Bishops  of  Christ ”3 

The  ancient  Egyptians  were  in  the  habit  of  putting  a cross  on 
their  sacred  cakes,  just  as  the  Christians  of  the  present  day  do  on 
Good  Friday.4  The  plan  of  the  chamber  of  some  Egyptian  sepul- 
chres has  the  form  of  a cross,5  and  the  cross  was  worn  by  Egyptian 
ladies  as  an  ornament,  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  Christian 
ladies  wear  it  at  the  present  day.6 

The  ancient  Babylonians  honored  the  cross  as  a religious  symbol. 
It  is  to  be  found  on  their  oldest  monuments.  Anu,  a deity  who 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  Babylonian  mythology,  had  a cross  for  his 


1 Curious  Myths,  p.  287.  4 See  Colenso’s  Pentateuch  Examined  vol. 

> Socrates  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  v.  ch.  xvii.  vi.  p.  115. 

* Quoted  by  Rev.  Dr.  Giles : Hebrew  and  * Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  12. 

Christian  Records,  vol.  ii.  p.  86,  and  Rev.  Robert  8 ibid.  p.  219. 

Tayior : Diegesis,  p.  202. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


343 


sign  or  symbol.1 *  It  is  also  the  symobl  of  the  Babylonian  god  Bal.*  A 
cross  hangs  on  the  breast  of  Tiglath  Pileser,  in  the  colossal  tablet 
from  Nimroud,  now  in  the  British  Museum.  Another  king,  from 
the  ruins  of  Ninevah,  wears  a Maltese  cross  on  his  bosom.  And 
another,  from  the  hall  of  Nisroch,  carries  an  emblematic  necklace, 
to  which  a Maltese  cross  is  attached.3  The  most  common  of  crosses, 
the  crux  ansata  (Fig.  No.  21)  was  also  a sacred  symbol  among  the 
Babylonians.  It  occurs  repeatedly  on  their  cylinders,  bricks  and 
gems.4 

The  ensigns  and  standards  carried  by  the  Persians  during  their 
wars  with  Alexander  the  Great  (b.  c.  335),  were  made  in  the  form 
of  a cross — as  we  shall  presently  see  was  the  style  of  the  ancient 
Homan  standards — and  representations  of  these  cross-standards  have 
been  handed  down  to  the  present  day. 

Sir  Robert  Ker  Porter,  in  his  very  valuable  work  entitled  : 
“ Travels  in  Georgia,  Persia,  Armenia,  and  Ancient  Babylonia,”5 
shows  the  representation  of  a bas-reliefs  of  very  ancient  antiquity, 
which  he  found  at  Nashi-Roustam,  or  the  Mountain  of  Sepulchres. 
It  represents  a combat  between  two  horsemen — Baharam-Gour,  one 
of  the  old  Persian  kings,  and  a Tartar  prince.  Baharam-Gour  is  in 
the  act  of  charging  his  opponent  with  a spear,  and  behind  him, 
scarcely  visible,  appears  an  almost  effaced  form,  which  must  have 
been  his  standard-bearer,  as  the  ensign  is  very  plainly  to  be  seen. 
This  ensign  is  a cross.  There  is  another  representation  of  the  same 
subject  to  be  seen  in  a bas-reliefs  which  shows  the  standard-bearer 
and  his  cross  ensign  very  plainly.6  This  bas-relief  belongs  to  a 
period  when  the  Arsacedian  kings  governed  Persia,7  which  was 
within  a century  after  the  time  of  Alexander,  and  consequently 
more  than  two  centuries  b.  c. 

Sir  Robert  also  found  at  this  place,  sculptures  cut  in  the  solid 
rock,  which  are  in  the  form  of  crosses.  These  belong  to  the  early 
race  of  Persian  monarchs,  whose  dynasty  terminated  under  the  sword 
of  Alexander  the  Great.8  At  the  foot  of  Mount  Nakshi-Rajab, 
he  also  found  bas-relief  s,  among  which  were  two  figures  carrying 
a cross-standard.  Fig.  No.  26  is  a representation  of  this.9  It  is 
coeval  with  the  sculptures  found  at  Nashi-Roustam,10  and  therefore 
belongs  to  a period  before  the  time  of  Alexander’s  invasion. 

The  cross  is  represented  frequently  and  prominently  on  the  coins 

1 Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  218,  and  3 Vol.  i.  p.  337,  pi.  xx. 

Smith’s  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis,  p.  54.  8 Travels  in  Persia,  vol.  i.  p.  545,  pi.  xxi. 

a Egyptian  Belief,  p.  218.  7 Ibid.  p.  529,  and  pi.  xvi. 

3 Bonomi : Ninevah  and  Its  Palaces,  in  8 Ibid.,  and  pi.  xvii. 

Curious  Myths,  p.  287.  9 Ibid.  pi.  xxvii. 

4 Curious  Myths,  p.  287.  Ibid.  p.  573. 


344 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


of  Asia  Minor.  Several  have  a ram  or  lamb  on  one  side,  and  a cross 
on  the  other.1  On  some  of  the  early  coins  of  the  Phenicians,  the 
cross  is  found  attached  to  a chaplet  of  beads  placed  in  a circle,  so  as 

to  form  a complete  rosary,  such  as  the 
Lamas  of  Thibet  and  China,  the  Hin- 
doos, and  the  Homan  Catholics,  now 
tell  over  while  they  pray.2  On  a 
Phenician  medal,  found  in  the  ruin& 
of  Citium,  in  Cyprus,  and  printed  in 
Dr.  Clark’s  “ Travels  ” (vol.  ii.  c.  xi.), 
are  engraved  a cross,  a rosary,  and  a 
lamb.3  This  is  the  “ Lamb  of  God 
who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world.” 

The  ancient  Etruscans  revered  the 
cross  as  a religious  emblem.  This 
sacred  sign,  accompanied  with  the 
heart,  is  to  be  seen  on  their  monu- 
ments. Fig.  1ST o.  27,  taken  from  the  work  of  Gorrio  (Tab.  xxxv.), 
shows  an  ancient  tomb  with  angels  and  the  cross  thereon.  It 

would  answer  perfectly  for  a Chris-  

tian  cemetery. 


The  cross  was  adored  by  the 
ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  for 
centuries  before  the  Augustan  era.  An  ancient  inscription  in 
Thessaly  is  accompanied  by  a Calvary  cross  (Fig.  JSTo.  28) ; and 
Greek  crosses  of  equal  arms  adorn  the  tomb  of  Midas  (one  of  the 
ancient  kings),  in  Phrygia.4 


1 

n 

a 

Fie, 

,'28 

1 Curious  Myths,  p.  290.  8 See  Illustration  in  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p. 

a Knight : Anct.  Ait  and  Mytho.,  p.  31.  224. 

* Baring-Gould  : Curious  Myths,  p.  291. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


345 


The  adoration  of  the  cross  by  the  Romans  is  spoken  of  by  the 
Christian  Father  Minucius  Felix,  when  denying  the  charge  of  idol- 
atry which  was  made  against  his  sect. 

“ As  for  the  adoration  of  cross,”  (says  he  to  the  Romans),  “ which  you  object 
against  us,  I must  tell  you  that  we  neither  adore  crosses  nor  desire  them.  You 
it  is,  ye  Pagans,  who  worship  wooden  gods,  who  are  the  most  likely  people  to 
adore  wooden  crosses,  as  being  part  of  the  same  substance  with  your  deities. 
For  what  else  are  your  ensigns,  flags,  and  standards,  but  crosses,  gilt  and  beauti- 
ful. Your  victorious  trophies  not  only  represent  a cross,  but  a cross  with  a man 
upon  it.”1 * * 

The  principal  silver  coin  among  the  Romans,  called  the  de- 
narius, had  on  one  side  a personification  of  Rome  as  a warrior  with 
a helmet,  and  on  the  reverse,  a chariot  drawn  by  four  horses.  The 
driver  had  a cross-standard  in  one  hand.  This  is  a representation  of 
a denarius  of  the  earliest  kind,  which  was  first  coined  296  b.  c.a 
The  cross  was  used  on  the  roll  of  the  Roman  soldiery  as  the  sign  of 
life.' 

But,  long  before  the  Romans,  long  before  the  Etruscans,  there 
lived  in  the  plains  of  Northern  Italy  a people  to  whom  the  cross  was  a 
religious  symbol,  the  sign  beneath  which  they  laid  their  dead  to  rest ; 
a people  of  whom  history  tells  nothing,  knowing  not  their  name  ; 
but  of  whom  antiquarian  research  has  learned  this,  that  they  lived 
in  ignorance  of  the  arts  of  civilization,  that  they  dwelt  in  villages 
built  on  platforms  over  lakes,  and  that  they  trusted  to  the  cross  to 
guard,  and  may  be  to  revive,  their  loved  ones  whom  they  committed 
to  the  dust. 

The  examination  of  the  tombs  of  Golasecca  proves,  in  a most 
convincing,  positive,  and  precise  manner  that  which  the  terramares 
of  Emilia  had  only  indicated,  but  which  had  been  confirmed  by  the 
cemetery  of  Yillanova,  that  above  a thousand  years  b.  c.,  the  cross 
was  already  a religious  emblem  of  frequent  employment.4 

“It  is  more  than  a coincidence,”  (says  the  Rev.  S.  Baring-Gould),  “that 
Osiris  by  the  cross  should  give  life  eternal  to  the  spirits  of  the  just;  that  with 
the  cross  Thor  should  smite  the  head  of  the  great  Serpent,  and  bring  to  life  those 
who  were  slain ; that  beneath  the  cross  the  Muysca  mothers  should  lay  their 
babes,  trusting  to  that  sign  to  secure  them  from  the  power  of  evil  spirits;  that 
with  that  symbol  to  protect  them,  the  ancient  people  of  Northern  Italy  should 
lay  them  down  in  the  dust.”5 

The  cross  was  also  found  among  the  ruins  of  Pompeii.® 

It  was  a sacred  emblem  among  the  ancient  Scandinavians. 


1 Octavius,  ch.  xxix. 

a See  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Denarius.” 

» Curious  Myths,  p.  291. 


4 Ibid.  pp.  291,  296. 

5 Ibid.  p.  311. 

• The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  vi.  p.  115, 


346 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“It  occurs  ” (says  Mr.  R.  Payne  Knight),  “on  many  Runic  monuments 
found  in  Sweden  and  Denmark,  which  are  of  an  age  long  anterior  to  the  ap- 
proach of  Christianity  to  those  countries,  and,  probably,  to  its  appearance  in 
the  world.”1 

Tlieir  god  Thor,  son  of  the  Supreme  god  Odin,  and  the  goddess 
Freyga,  had  the  hammer  for  his  symbol.  It  was  with  this  hammer 
that  Thor  crushed  the  head  of  the  great  Mitgard  serpent,  that  he 
destroyed  the  giants,  that  he  restored  the  dead  goats  to  life,  which 
drew  his  car,  that  he  consecrated  the  pyre  of  Baldur.  This  harnmer 
was  a cross.2 

The  cross  of  Thor  is  still  used  in  Iceland  as  a magical  sign  in 
connection  with  storms  of  wind  and  rain. 

King  Olaf,  Longfellow  tells  us,  when  keeping  Christmas  at 
Drontheim : 

“ O’er  his  drinking-horn,  the  sign 
He  made  of  the  Cross  Divine, 

And  he  drank,  and  mutter’d  his  prayers ; 

But  the  Berserks  evermore 
Made  the  sign  of  the  hammer  of  Thor 
Over  theirs.” 

Actually,  they  both  made  the  same  symbol. 

This  we  are  told  by  Snorro  Sturleson,  in  the  Heimskringla 
(Saga  iv.  c.  18),  when  he  describes  the  sacrifice  at  Lade,  at  which 
King  Hakon,  Athelstan’s  foster-son,  was  present : 

“Now  when  the  first  full  goblet  was  filled,  Earl  Sigurd  spoke  some  words 
over  it,  and  blessed  it  in  Odin’s  name,  and  drank  to  the  king  out  of  the  horn; 
and  the  king  then  took  it,  and  made  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  it.  Then  said 
Kaare  of  Greyting,  ‘ What  does  the  king  mean  by  doing  so?  will  he  not  sacri- 
fice?’ But  Earl  Sigurd  replied,  ‘ The  King  is  doing  what  all  of  you  do  who 
trust  in  your  power  and  strength;  for  he  is  blessing  the  full  goblet  in  the  name 
of  Thor,  by  making  the  sign  of  his  hammer  over  it  before  he  drinks  it.”3 

The  cross  was  also  a sacred  emblem  among  the  Laplanders. 
“ In  solemn  sacrifices,  all  the  Lapland  idols  were  marked  with  it 
from  the  blood  of  the  victims.”4 

It  was  adored  by  the  ancient  Druids  of  Britain,  and  is  to  be 
seen  on  the  so-called  “ fire  towers  ” of  Ireland  and  Scotland.  The 
“ consecrated  trees  ” of  the  Druids  had  a cross  beam  attached  to 
them,  making  the  figure  of  a cross.  On  several  of  the  most  curious 
and  most  ancient  monuments  of  Britain,  the  cross  is  to  be  seen,  evi- 
dently cut  thereon  by  the  Druids.  Many  large  stones  throughout 
Ireland  have  these  Druid  crosses  cut  in  them.6 


1 Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  30. 

a Curious  Myths,  pp.  280,  281. 

• Ibid.  pp.  281,  282. 


4 Knight : Ancient  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  30. 
• See  Celtic  Druids,  pp.  126,  130,  131. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


347 


Cleland  observes,  in  his  “ Attempt  to  Revive  Celtic  Literature,” 
that  the  Druids  taught  the  doctrine  of  an  overruling  providence,  and 
the  immortality  of  the  soul : that  they  had  also  their  Lent,  their 
Purgatory,  their  Paradise,  their  Hell,  their  Sanctuaries,  and  the 
similitude  of  the  May-pole  inform  to  the  cross.1 

“ In  the  Island  of  I-com-kill,  at  the  monastery  of  the  Culdees, 
at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  there  were  three  hundred  and  sixty 
crosses.”2  The  Caaba  at  Mecca  was  surrounded  by  three  hundred 
and  sixty  crosses.3  This  number  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
Christianity,  but  is  to  be  found  everywhere  among  the  ancients. 
It  represents  the  number  of  days  of  the  ancient  year.4 

When  the  Spanish  missionaries  first  set  foot  upon  the  soil  of 
America , in  the  fifteenth  century,  they  were  amazed  to  find  that 
the  cross  was  as  devoutly  worshiped  by  the  red  Indians  as  by  them- 
selves. The  hallowed  symbol  challenged  their  attention  on  every 
hand,  and  in  almost  every  variety  of  form.  And,  what  is  still  more 
remarkable,  the  cross  was  not  only  associated  with  other  objects  cor- 
responding in  every  particular  with  those  delineated  on  Babylonian 
monuments  ; but  it  was  also  distinguished  by  the  Catholic  appella- 
tions, “ the  tree  of  subsistence,”  “ the  wood  of  health,”  “ the  emblem 
of  life,”  &c.5 

When  the  Spanish  missionaries  found  that  the  cross  was  no  new 
object  of  veneration  to  the  red  men,  they  were  in  doubt  whether  to 
ascribe  the  fact  to  the  pious  labors  of  St.  Thomas,  whom  they  thought 
might  have  found  his  way  to  America,  or  the  sacrilegious  subtlety 
of  Satan.  It  was  the  central  object  in  the  great  temple  of  Coza- 
mel,  and  is  still  preserved  on  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  ruined  city  of 
Palenque.  From  time  immemorial  it  had  received  the  prayers 
and  sacrifices  of  the  Aztecs  and  Toltecs,  and  was  suspended  as  an 
august  emblem  from  the  walls  of  temples  in  Popogan  and  Cundin- 
amarca.0 

The  ruined  city  of  Palenque  is  in  the  depths  of  the  forests  of 
Central  America.  It  was  not  inhabited  at  the  time  of  the  conquest 
of  Mexico  by  the  Spaniards.  They  discovered  the  temples  and  pal- 
aces of  Chiapa,  but  of  Palenque  they  knew  nothing.  According  to 
tradition  it  was  founded  by  V otan  in  the  ninth  century  before  the 
Christian  era.  The  principal  building  in  this  ruined  city  is  the 
palace.  A noble  tower  rises  above  the  courtyard  in  the  centre.  In 


1 Cleland,  p.  102,  in  Anac..  i.  p.  716. 

2 Celtic  Druids,  p.  242,  and  Chambers’s 

Encyclo.,  art.  “ Cross.” 

* Ibid. 


4 See  Maurice  : Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  ii. 
103. 

6 The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  vi.  p. 
114. 

• Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  95. 


348 


BXELE  MYTHS. 


this  building  are  several  small  temples  or  chapels,  with  altars  stand- 
ing. At  the  back  of  one  of  these  altars  is  a slab  of  gypsum,  on 
which  are  sculptured  two  figures,  one  on  each  side  of  a cross  (Fig. 
N o.  29).  The  cross  is  surrounded  with  rich  feather-work,  and  orna- 
mental chains.1 * 3  “ The  style  of  scripture,”  says  Mr.  Baring-Gould, 
“ and  the  accompanying  hieroglyphic  inscriptions,  leave  no  room 
for  doubting  it  to  be  a heathen  representation.”1 

The  same  cross  is  represented  on  old  pre-Mexican  MSS.,  as  in 
the  Dresden  Codex,  and  that  in  the  possession  of  Herr  Fejervary,  at 

the  end  of  which  is  a colossal  cross,  in 
the  midst  of  which  is- represented  a bleed- 
ing deity,  and  figures  stand  round  a Tau 
cross,  upon  which  is  perched  the  sacred 
bird.8 

The  cross  was  also  used  in  the  north 
of  Mexico.  It  occurs  among  the  Mix- 
tecas  and  in  Queredaro.  Siguenza  speaks 
of  an  Indian^  cross  which  was  found  in 
the  ca.  e of  Mixteca  Baja.  Among  the 
ruins  on  the  island  of  Zaputero,  in  Lake 
Nicaragua,  were  also  found  old  crosses 
reverenced  by  the  Indians.  White  marble 
crosses  were  found  on  the  island  of  St. 
Ulloa,  on  its  discovery.  In  the  state  of 
Oaxaca,  the  Spaniards  found  that  wooden  crosses  were  erected 
as  sacred  symbols,  so  also  in  Aguafoleo,  and  among  the  Zapa- 
tecas.  The  cross  was  venerated  as  far  as  Florida  on  one  side,  and 
Cibola  on  the  other.  In  South  America,  the  same  sign  was  consid- 
ered symbolical  and  sacred.  It  was  revered  in  Paraguay.  In  Peru 
the  Incas  honored  a cross  made  out  of  a single  piece  of  jasper ; it 
was  an  emblem  belonging  to  a former  civilization.4 

Among  the  Muyscas  at  Cumana  the  cross  was  regarded  with 
devotion,  and  was  believed  to  be  endowed  with  power  to  drive  away 
evil  spirits ; consequently  new-born  children  were  placed  under  the 
sign.6 

The  Toltecs  said  that  their  national  deity  Quetzalcoatle — whom 
we  have  found  to  be  a virgin-born  and  crucified  Saviour — had  intro- 


1 Stephens  : Central  America,  vol.  ii.  p.  846,  ous  Myths,  pp.  298,  299. 
in  Curious  Myths,  p.  298.  4 Carious  Myths,  p.  299. 

9 Curious  Myths,  p.  298.  6 Miiller  : Geechichte  der  AimrikanJschen 

3 Kiemm  Kulturgeachichte,  v.  142,  in  Curl-  Urreligionen,  in  Jhid. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


349 


duced  the  sign  and  ritual  of  the  cross,  and  it  was  called  the  “ Tree 
of  Nutriment,”  or  “ Tree  of  Life.”1 

Malcom,  in  his  “ Antiquities  of  Britain,”  says  . 

«*  Gomara  tells  that  St.  Andrew’s  cross,  which  is  the  same  with  that  of  Bur- 
gundy, was  in  great  veneration  among  the  Cumas,  in  South  America,  and  that 
they  fortified  themselves  with  the  cross  against  the  incursions  of  evil  spirits,  and 
were  in  use  to  put  them  upon  new-born  infants;  which  thing  very  justly  deserves 
admiration.”* 

Felix  Cabrara,  in  his  “Description  of  the  Ancient  City  ot 
Mexico,”  says : 

“ The  adoration  of  the  cross  has  been  more  general  in  the  world,  than  that 
of  any  other  emblem.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  ruins  of  the  fine  city  of  Mexico, 
near  Palenque,  where  there  are  many  examples  of  it  among  the  hieroglyphics  on 
the  buildings.”8 

In  “ Chambers’s  Encyclopaedia  ” we  find  the  following : 

**  It  appears  that  the  sign  of  the  cross  was  in  use  as  an  emblem  having  certain 
religious  and  mystic  meanings  attached  to  it,  long  before  the  Christian  era  ; and  the 
Spanish  conquerors  were  astonished  to  find  it  an  object  of  religious  veneration 
among  tne  nations  of  Central  and  South  America.”4 

Lord  Kingsborough,  in  his  “ Antiquities  of  Mexico,”  speaks  of 
crosses  being  found  in  Mexico,  Peru,  and  Yucatan.6  He  also  informs 
us  that  the  bcmner  of  Montezuma  was  a cross,  and  that  the  historical 
paintings  of  the  “ Codex  Yaticanus  ” represent  him  carrying  a cross 
as  his  banner.6 

A very  fine  and  highly  polished  marble  cross  which  was  taken 
from  the  Incas,  was  placed  in  the  Roman  Catholie  cathedral  at 
Cuzco.7 

Few  cases  have  been  more  powerful  in  producing  mistakes  in 
ancient  history,  than  the  idea,  hastily  taken  by  Christians  in  all  ages, 
that  every  monument  of  antiquity  marked  with  a cross,  or  with  any 
of  those  symbols  which  they  conceived  to  be  monograms  of  their  god, 
was  of  Christian  origin.  The  early  Christians  did  not  adopt  it  as 
one  of  their  symbols ; it  was  not  until  Christianity  began  to  be  pa- 
ganized that  it  became  a Christian  monogram,  and  even  then  it  was 
not  the  cross  as  we  know  it  to-day.  “ It  is  not  until  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century  that  the  pure  form  of  the  cross  emerges  to 
light.”8  The  cross  of  Constantine  was  nothing  more  than  the  , 
the  monogram  of  Osiris,  and  afterwards  of  Christ.9  This  is  seen 


* Curious  Myths,  p.  301. 

2 Quoted  in  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  30. 

8 Quoted  in  Celtic  Druids,  p.  131. 

4 Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “Cross.” 

5 Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  pp.  165,  180. 

• Ibid.  p.  179- 


T Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  32. 

8 Jameson’s  Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,  vol. 
ii.  p.  318. 

• “ These  two  letters  in  the  old  Samaritan, 
as  found  on  coins,  stand,  the  first  for  400,  the 
second  for  200=600.  This  is  the  etaff  of  Osiris. 


350 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


from  tlie  fact  that  the  “ Labarum ,”  or  sacred  banner  of  Constantine 
— on  which  was  placed  the  sign  by  which  he  was  to  conquer — was 
inscribed  with  this  sacred  monogram.  Fig.  No.  30  is  a representa- 
tion of  the  Labarum,  taken  from  Smith’s  Dictionary  of  the  Bible. 
The  author  of  “ The  History  of  Our  Lord  in  Art  ” says : 

“ It  would  be  difficult  to  prove  that  the  cross  of  Constantine  was  of  the  simple 
construction  as  now  understood.  As  regards  the  Labarum,  the  coins  of  the 
time,  in  which  it  is  expressly  set  forth,  proves  that  the  so-called  cross  upon  it  was 
nothing  else  than  the  same  ever-recurring  monogram  of  Christ.”1 

Now,  this  so-called  monogram  of  Christ, 
like  everything  else  called  Christian,  is  of 
Pagan  origin.  It  was  the  monogram  of  the 
Egyptian  Saviour,  Osiris,  and  also  of  Jupi- 
ter Ammon.2  As  M.  Basnage  remarks  in 
his  Hist  de  Juif  ;* 

“Nothing  can  be  more  opposite  to  Jesus  Christ, 
than  the  Oracle  of  Jupiter  Ammon.  And  yet  the  same 
cipher  served  the  false  god  as  well  as  the  true  one  ; 
for  we  see  a medal  of  Ptolemy,  King  of  Cyrene, 
having  an  eagle  carrying  a thunderbolt,  with  the 
monogram  of  Christ  to  signify  the  Oracle  of  Jupiter 
Ammon .” 

Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy  says : 

“ Even  the  P.X.,  which  I had  thought  to  be  ex- 
clusively Christian,  are  to  be  found  in  combination 

thus:  (just  as  the  early  Christians  used  it),  on 

coins  of  the  Ptolemies,  and  on  those  of  Herod  the 
Great,  struck  forty  years  before  our  era,  together  with 
this  other  form,  so  often  seen  on  the  early  Christian 

monuments,  viz. : ^ .”4 

This  monogram  is  also  to  be  found  on  the  coins  of  Decius,  a Pa- 
gan Roman  emperor,  who  ruled  during  the  commencement  of  the 
third  century.6 

Another  form  of  the  same  monogram  is  ^ and  X H.  The 
monogram  of  the  Sun  was  ^ . P.  H.  All  these  are  now  called  mono- 
grams of  Christ,  and  are  to  be  met  with  in  great  numbers  in  almost 


It  is  also  the  monogram  of  Osifls,  and  has 
been  adopted  by  the  Christians,  and  is  to  be 
eeen  in  the  churches  in  Italy  in  thousands  of 
places.  See  Basuage  (lib.  iii.  c.  xxxiii.),  where 
several  other  instances  of  this  kind  may  be 
found.  In  Addison’s  * Travels  in  Italy  ’ there 
is  an  account  of  a medal,  at  Rome,  of  Con- 
stantins, with  this  inscription ; In  hoc  signo 


Victor  eria  ^ .”  (Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  222.) 

• Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,  vol.  ii.  p.  316. 
8 See  Celtic  Druids,  p.  127,  and  Bonwick’s 

Egyptian  Belief,  p.  218. 

• Bk.  iii.  c.  xxiii.  in  Anac.,  i.  p.  219. 

4 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  125. 

• See  Celtic  Druids,  pp.  127,  128. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


S51 


every  church  in  Italy.1 * *  The  monogram  of  Mercury  was  a cross.* 
The  monogram  of  the  Egyptian  Taut  was  formed  by  thiee  crosses.0 
The  monogram  of  Saturn  was  a cross  and  a ram’s  horn ; it  was  also 
a monogram  of  Jupiter.4 *  The  monogram  of  Venus  was  a cross 
and  a circle.6 7  The  monogram  of  the  Phenician  Astarte,  and  the 
Babylonian.  Bal,  was  also  a cross  and  a circle.®  It  was  also  that  of 
Freya,  Holda,  and  Aphrodite/  Its  true  significance  was  the  Linga 
and  Yoni. 

The  cross,  which  was  so  universally  adored,  in  its  different  forms 
among  heathen  nations,  was  intended  as  an  emblem  or  symbol  of  the 
Sun,  of  eternal  life , the  generative  powers,  &c.9 

As  with  the  cross,  and  the  X.  P.,  so  likewise  with  many  other 
so-called  Christian  symbols  — they  are  borrowed  from  Paganism. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  mystical  tliree  letters  I.  H.  S., 
to  this  day  retained  in  some  of  our  Protestant,  as  well  as  Homan 
Catholic  churches,  and  falsely  supposed  to  stand  for  “ Jem  Romini- 
urn  Salvator ,”  or  “ In  Hoc  Signo.”  It  is  none  other  than  the  iden- 
tical monogram  of  the  heathen  god  Bacchus  * and  was  to  be  seen 
on  the  coins  of  the  Maharajah  of  Cashmere /°  Dr.  Inman  says  : 

“ For  a long  period  I.  H.  8.,  L E.  E.  8,  was  a monogram  of  Bacchus;  letters 
now  adopted  by  Romanists.  Hesus  was  an  old  divinity  of  Gaul,  possibly  left  by 
the  Phenicians.  We  have  the  same  I.  H.  8.  in  Jazabel,  and  reproduced  in  our 
Isabel.  The  idea  connected  with  the  word  is  ‘ Phallic  Vigor.*  ”n 

The  Triangle,  which  is  to  be  seen  at  tne  present  day  in  Chris- 
tian churches  as  an  emblem,  of  the  Ever-blessed  Trinity,”  is  also 
of  Pagan  origin,  and  was  used  by  them  for  the  same  purpose. 

Among  the  numerous  symbols,  the  Triangle  is  conspicuous  in 
India.  Hindoos  attached  a mystic  signification  to  its  three  sides, 
and  generally  placed  it  in  their  temples.  It  was  often  composed  of 
lotus  plants,  with  an  eye  in  the  center.19  It  was  sometimes  repre- 
sented in  connection  with  the  mystical  word  AUM 11  (Fig.  Xo.  31), 
and  sometimes  surrounded  with  rays  of  glory.14 

This  symbol  was  engraved  upon  the  tablet  of  the  ring  which  the 
religious  chief,  called  the  Brahm-dtma  wore,  as  one  of  the  signs  of 


1 See  Ibid,  and  Monumental  Christianity, 
pp.  15,  92,  123,  126,  127. 

8J3ee  Celtic  Druids,  p.  101.  Anacalyp6is, 
vol.  i.  p.  220.  Indian  Antiq.,  ii.  68. 

8 See  Celtic  Druids,  p.  101.  Bonwick’s 
Egyptian  Belief,  p.  103. 

4 See  Celtic  Druids,  p.  127,  and  Taylor’s 

Diegesis,  p.  201. 

6 See  Celtic  Druids,  p.  127. 

« See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  218. 

7 See  Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  115. 


8  See  The  Pentateuch  Examined,  vol.  vi. 
pp.  113-115. 

0 See  Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  pp.  221 
and  328.  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  187.  Celtic 
Druids,  p.  127,  and  Isis  Unveiled,  p.  527,  vol.  ii. 

10  See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  212. 

11  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  pp.  518,  519. 

18  See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  94. 

18  This  word— AUM— stood  for  Brahma, 
Vishnu  and  Siva,  the  Hindoo  Irinity. 

14  See  Isis  Unvei  ed,  vol.  ii.  p.  31. 


352 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


his  dignity,  and  it  was  used  by  the  Buddhists  as  emblematic  of  the 
Trinity.1 

The  ancient  Egyptians  signified  their  divine  Triad  by  a single 
Triangle .2 

Mr.  Bonwick  says : 

“ The  Triangle  was  a religious  form  from  the  first.  It  is  to  be  recognized  in 
the  Obelisk  and  Pyramid  (of  Egypt).  To  this  day,  in  some  Christian  churches, 
the  priest’s  blessing  is  given  as'  it  was  in  Egypt,  by  the  sign  of  a triangle;  viz. : 
two  fingers  and  a thumb.  An  Egyptian  god  is  seen  with  a triangle  over  his 
shoulders.  This  figure,  in  ancient  Egyptian  theology,  was  the  type  of  the  Holy 
Trinity — three  in  one.”3 

And  Dr.  Inman  says : 

“ The  Triangle  is  a sacred  symbol  in  our  modern  churches,  and  it  was  the 
sign  used  in  ancient  temples  before  the  initiated,  to  indicate  the  Trinity — three 
persons  ‘ co-eternal  together,  and  co-equal.’”4 * 

The  Triangle  is  found  on  ancient  Greek  monuments.6  An  an- 
cient seal  (engraved  in  the  Memoires 
de  l’Academie  royale  des  Inscriptions 
et  Belles  Lettres),  supposed  to  be  of 
Plienician  origin,  “has  as  subject  a 
standing  figure  between  two  stars, 
beneath  which  are  handled  crosses. 
Above  the  head  of  the  deity  is  the 
triangle,  or  symbol  of  the  Trinity.”8 
One  of  the  most  conspicuous 
among  the  symbols  intended  to  rep- 
resent the  Trinity,  to  be  seen  in 
Christian  churches,  is  the  compound 
leaf  of  the  trefoil.  Modern  story  had 
attributed  to  St.  Patrick  the  idea  of 
demonstrating  a trinity  in  unity,  by 
showing  the  shamrock  to  his  hearers  ; but,  says  Dr.  Inman,  “ like 
many  other  things  attributed  to  the  moderns,  the  idea  belongs  to  the 
ancients.”7 

The  Trefoil  adorned  the  head  of  Osiris , the  Egyptian  Saviour, 
and  is  to  be  found  among  the  Pagan  symbols  or  representations  of 


1 See  Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  31.  6 See  Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p. 

2 Knight  : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  196.  196. 

8 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  213.  8 Curious  Myths,  p.  289. 

* Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  p.  328.  7 Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  i.  pp.  153, 

154. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


353 


the  three-in-one  mystery.1 *  Fig.  No.  32  is  a representation  of  the 
Trefoil  used  by  the  ancient  Hindoos  as  emblematic  of  their  celestial 
Triad  — Brahma,  Yishnu  and  Siva  — and  afterwards  adopted  by 
the  Christians.3  The  leaf  of  the  Vila , or  Bel-tree , is  typical  of 
Siva’s  attributes,  because  triple  in  form.3 

The  Trefoil  was  a sacred  plant  among  the  ancient  Druids  of  Bri- 
tain. It  was  to  them  an  emblem  of  the  mysterious  three  in  one* 
It  is  to  be  seen  on  their  coins* 

The  Tripod  was  very  generally  employed  among  the  ancients 
as  an  emblem  of  the  Trinity , and  is 
found  composed  in  an  endless  variety 
of  ways.  On  the  coins  of  Menecratia, 
in  Phrygia,  it  is  represented  between 
two  asterisks, with  a serpent  wreathed 
around  a battle-axe,  inserted  into  it,  as 
an  accessory  symbol,  signifying  pre- 
servation and  destruction.  In  the 
ceremonial  of  worship,  the  number 
three  was  employed  with  mystic  so- 
lemnity.6 

The  three  lines,  or  three  human 
legs,  springing  from  a central  disk  or 
circle,  which  has  been  called  a Tri- 
nacria , and  supposed  to  allude  to  the 
island  of  Sicily,  is  simply  an  ancient  emblem  of  the  Trinity . 
44  It  is  of  Asiatic  origin ; its  earliest  appearance  being  upon 
the  very  ancient  coins  of  Aspendus  in  Pamphylia;  sometimes 
alone  in  the  square  incuse,  and  sometimes  upon  the  body  of  an 
eagle  or  the  back  of  a lion.”7 

We  have  already  seen,  in  the  chapter  on  the  crucifixion , that  the 
earliest  emblems  of  the  Christian  Saviour  were  the  “ Good  Shep- 
herd ” and  the  “ Lamb.”  Among  these  may  also  be  mentioned  the 
Fish . “ The  only  satisfactory  explanation  why  Jesus  should  be 

represented  as  a Fishfi  says  Mr.  King,  in  his  Gnostics  and  their 
Remains,8  44  seems  to  be  the  circumstance  that  in  the  quaint  jargon 
of  the  Talmud  the  Messiah  is  often  designated  4 Dag,’  or  4 The 
Fish  ;’  ” and  Mr.  Lundy,  in  his  44  Monumental  Christianity,”  says : 


1 See  Bonwick’e  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  242. 

a See  Inman’s  Pagan  and  Christian  Sym- 
bolism, p.  30. 

3 See  Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  99. 

4 See  Myths  of  the  British  Druids,  p.  448. 


6 Ibid.  p.  601. 

8 Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  170. 
' Ibid.  pp.  169,  170. 

3 Page  138. 


354 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


‘ 5 Next  to  the  sacred  monogram  (the  ) the  Fish  takes  its  place  in  import- 
ance as  a sign  of  Christ  in  his  special  office  of  Saviour”  “ In  the  Talmud  the 
Messiah  is  called  * Dag  ’ or  ‘ Fish.  ’ ” “ Where  did  the  Jews  learn  to  apply  ‘ Dag  ’ 

to  their  Messiah  ? And  why  did  the  primitive  Christians  adopt  it  as  a sign  of 
Christ  ?”  “I  cannot  disguise  facts.  Truth  demands  no  concealment  or  apology. 
Paganism  has  its  types  and  prophecies  of  Christ  as  well  as  Judaism.  What  then 
is  the  Dag-on  of  the  old  Babylonians  ? The  fish-god  or  being  that  taught  them 
all  their  civilization.”1 

As  Mr.  Lundy  says,  “ truth  demands  no  concealment  or  apol- 
ogy,” therefore,  when  the  truth  is  exposed,  we  find  that  Vishnu, 
the  Hindoo  Messiah,  Preserver,  Mediator  and  Saviour , was  repre- 
sented as  a “ dag,”  or  fish.  The  Fish 
takes  its  place  in  importance  as  a sign 
of  Vishnu  in  his  special  office  of 
Sa/viour. 

Prof.  Monier  Williams  says : 

“It  is  as  Vishnu  that  the  Supreme  Being, 
according  to  the  Hindoos,  exhibited  his  sympa- 
thy with  human  trials,  his  love  for  the  human 
race.  Nine  principal  occasions  have  already 
occurred  in  which  the  god  has  thus  interposed 
for  the  salvation  of  his  creatures.  The  first 
was  Malsaya,  the  Fish.  In  this  Yishnu  became 
a fish  to  save  the  seventh  Manu,  the  progenitor 
of  the  human  race,  from  the  universal  deluge.”2 

We  have  already  seen,  in  Chap.  IX., 
the  identity  of  the  Hindoo  Matsaya 
and  the  Babylonian  Dagon. 

The  fish  was  sacred  among  the  Babylonians,  Assyrians  and 
Phenicians,  as  it  is  among  the  Romanists  of  to-day.  It  was  sacred 
also  to  Venus,  and  the  Romanists  still  eat  it  on  the  very  day  of  the 
week  which  was  called  “ Dies  veneris ,”  Venus’  day;  fish  day.3 
It  was  an  emblem  of  fecundity.  The  most  ancient  symbol  of  the 
productive  power  was  a fish,  and  it  is  accordingly  found  to  be  the 
universal  symbol  upon  many  of  the  earliest  coins.4  Pythagoras 
and  his  followers  did  not  eat  fish.  They  were  ascetics,  and  the  eat- 
ing of  fish  was  supposed  to  tend  to  carnal  desires.  This  ancient 
superstition  is  entertained  by  many  even  at  the  present  day. 

The  fish  was  the  earliest  symbol  of  Christ  Jesus.  Fig.  Ho.  33 
is  a design  from  the  catacombs.6  This  cross-fish  is  not  unlike  the 
sacred  monogram. 

1 Monumental  Christianity,  pp.  130,  132,  133.  4 Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  111. 

9 Indian  Wisdom,  p.  329.  6 Lillie  : Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism,  p. 

9 Inman  : Anct.  Faiths,  vol.  i.  pp.  528,  529  , 227. 

and  Muller  : Science  of  Relig.,  p.  315. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


355 


That  the  Christian  Saviour  should  be  called  a fish,  may  at  first 
appear  strange,  but  when  the  mythos  is  properly  understood  (as  we 
shall  endeavor  to  make  it  in  Chap.  XXXIX.),  it  will  not  appear  so. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Geikie,  in  his  “Life  and  Words  of  Christ,”  says  that 
a fish  stood  for  his  name , from  the  significance  of  the  Greek  letters 
in  the  word  that  expresses  the  idea,  and  for  this  reason  he  was  called 
a fish.  But,  we  may  ask,  why  was  Buddha  not  only  called  Fo, 
or  Po,  but  Dag-Po , which  was  literally  the  Fish  Po,  or  Fish 
Buddha?  The  fish  did  not  stand  for  his  name.  The  idea  that  Jesus 
was  called  a fish  because  the  Messiah  is  designated  “ Dag  ” in  the 
Talmud,  is  also  an  unsatisfactory  explanation. 

Julius  Africanus  (an  early  Christian  writer)  says  : 

“Christ  is  the  great  Fish  taken  by  the  fish-hook  of  God,  and  whose  flesh 
nourishes  the  whole  world.”1 

“ The  fish  fried 
Was  Christ  that  died,” 

is  an  old  couplet.2 

Prosper  Africanus  calls  Christ, 

“ The  great  fish  who  satisfied  for  himself  the  disciples  on  the  shore,  and 
offered  himself  as  a fish  to  the  whole  world.”3 

The  Serpent  was  also  an  emblem  of  Christ  Jesus,  or  in  other 
words,  represented  Christ,  among  some  of  the  early  Christians. 

Moses  set  up  a brazen  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  and  Christian 
divines  have  seen  in  this  a type  of  Christ  Jesus.  Indeed,  the  Gos- 
pels sanction  this ; for  it  is  written  : 

“ As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  wilderness,  so  must  the  Son  of  man 
be  lifted  up.” 

From  this  serpent,  Tertullian  asserts,  the  early  sect  of  Christians 
called  Ophites  took  their  rise.  Epiphanius  says,  that  the  “ Ophites 
sprung  out  of  the  Nicolaitans  and  Gnostics,  who  were  so  called  from 
the  serpent , which  they  worshiped.”  “The  Gnostics,”  he  adds, 
“ taught  that  the  ruler  of  the  world  was  of  a dracontio  formP  The 
Ophites  preserved  live  serpents  in  their  sacred  chest,  and  looked 
upon  them  as  the  mediator  between  them  and  God.  Manes,  in  the 
third  century,  taught  serpent  worship  in  Asia  Minor,  under  the 
name  of  Christianity,  promulgating  that 

“ Christ  was  an  incarnation  of  the  Great  Serpent,  who  glided  over  the  cradle  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  when  she  was  asleep,  at  the  age  of  a year  and  a half. ”4 

“ The  Gnostics,”  says  Irenaeus,  “ represented  the  Mind  (the  Son, 


1 Quoted  in  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  2 Ibid.  p.  135.  * Ibid.  p.  372. 

134.  4 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  246. 


356 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


the  Wisdom)  in  the  form  of  a serpent,”  and  “ the  Ophites,”  says 
Epiphanius,  “ have  a veneration  for  the  serpent ; they  esteem  him 
the  same  as  Christ.”  “ They  even  quote  the  Gospels,”  says  Ter- 
tullian,  “ to  prove  that  Christ  was  an  imitation  of  the  serpent.”1 

The  question  now  arises,  Why  was  the  Christian  Saviour  repre- 
sented as  a serpent?  Simply  because  the  heathen  Saviours  were 
represented  in  like  manner. 

From  the  earliest  times  of  which  we  have  any  historical  notice, 
the  serpent  has  been  connected  with  the  preserving  gods,  or  Sa- 
viours ; the  gods  of  goodness  and  of  wisdom.  In  Hindoo  mythol- 
ogy, the  serpent  is  intimately  associated  with  Yishnu,  the  preserving 
god,  the  Saviour.2  Serpents  are  often  associated  with  the  Hindoo 
gods,  as  emblems  of  eternity.3  It  was  a very  sacred  animal  among 
the  Hindoos.4 

Worshipers  of  Buddha  venerate  serpents.  “This  animal,” 
says  Mr.  Wake,  “became  equal  in  importance  as  Buddha  himself.” 
And  Mr.  Lillie  says  : 

“ That  God  was  worshiped  at  an  early  date  by  the  Buddists  under  the  symbol 
of  the  Serpent  is  proved  from  the  sculptures  of  oldest  topes,  where  worshipers 
are  represented  so  doing.”5 

The  Egyptians  also  venerated  the  serpent.  It  was  the  special 
symbol  of  Thoth,  a primeval  deity  of  Syro-Egyptian  mythology, 
and  of  all  those  gods,  such  as  Hermes  and  Seth,  who  can  be  con- 
nected with  him.6  Kneph  and  Apap  were  also  represented  as 
serpents.7 

Herodotus,  when  he  visited  Egypt,  found  sacred  serpents  in  the 
temples.  Speaking  of  them,  he  says : 

“ In  the  neighborhood  of  Thebes,  there  are  sacred  serpents,  not  at  all  hurtful 
to  men : they  are  diminutive  in  size,  and  carry  two  horns  that  grow  on  the  top 
of  the  head.  When  these  serpents  die,  they  bury  them  in  the  temple  of  Jupiter; 
for  they  say  they  are  sacred  to  that  god.”8 

The  third  member  of  the  Chaldean  triad,  Hea,  or  Hoa,  was  rep- 
resented by  a serpent.  According  to  Sir  Henry  Kawlinson,  the 
most  important  titles  of  this  deity  refer  “ to  his  functions  as  the 
source  of  all  knowledge  and  science.”  Not  only  is  he  “ The  Intel- 
ligent Fish,”  but  his  name  may  be  read  as  signifying  both  “ Life  ” 
and  a “ Serpent,”  and  he  may  be  considered  as  “ figured  by  the 
great  serpent  which  occupies  so  conspicuous  a place  among  the 


1 Fergusson  : Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  p.  9.  6 Wake,  p.  73.  Lillie:  p.  20. 

2 Wake  : Phallism  in  Ancient  Religs.,  p.  72.  6 Wake,  p.  40,  and  Bunsen’s  Keys,  p. 

3 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  169.  101. 

4 Knight  : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  16,  and  7 Champollion,  pp.  144,  145. 

Fergusson  : Tree  and  Serpent  Worship.  8 Herodotus,  bk.  ii.  ch.  74. 


CHRISTIAN  SYMBOLS. 


357 


symbols  of  the  gods  on  the  black  stones  recording  Babylonian  bene- 
factors.’51 

The  Phenicians  and  other  eastern  nations  venerated  the  serpent 
as  symbols  of  their  beneficent  gods.1 2 

As  god  of  medicine,  Apollo,  the  central  figure  in  Grecian  my- 
thology, was  originally  worshiped  under  the  form  of  a serpent,  and 
men  invoked  him  as  the  “ Helper.”  He  was  the  Solar  Serpent-god.3 

H^sculapius,  the  healing  god,  the  Saviour,  was  also  worshiped 
under  the  form  of  a serpent.4  “ Throughout  Hellas,”  says  Mr.  Cox, 
“ H^sculapius  remained  the  ‘ Healer,’  and  the  4 Restorer  of  Life,’  and 
accordingly  the  serpent  is  everywhere  his  special  emblem.”5 

Why  the  serpent  was  the  symbol  of  the  Saviours  and  beneficent 
gods  of  antiquity,  will  be  explained  in  Chap.  XXXIX. 

The  Dove , among  the  Christians,  is  the  symbol  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  The  Matthew  narrator  relates  that  when  Jesus  went  up  out 
of  the  water,  after  being  baptized  by  John,  “ the  heavens  were 
opened  unto  him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  descending  like  a 
dove , and  lighting  upon  him.” 

Here  is  another  piece  of  Paganism,  as  we  find  that  the  Dove 
was  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Spirit  among  all  nations  of  antiquity. 
Rev.  J.  P.  Lundy,  speaking  of  this,  says : 

“ It  is  a remarkable  fact  that  this  spirit  (i.  e.,  the  Holy  Spirit)  has  been  sym- 
bolized among  all  religious  and  civilized  nations  by  the  Dove”6 

And  Earnest  De  Bunsen  says  : 

“ The  symbol  of  the  Spirit  of  God  was  the  Dove,  in  Greek,  peleia,  and  the 
Samaritans  had  a brazen  fiery  dove,  instead  of  the  brazen  fiery  serpent.  Both 
referred  to  fire,  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost.”7 

Buddha  is  represented,  like  Christ  Jesus,  with  a dove  hovering 
over  his  head.8 

The  virgin  goddess  Juno  is  often  represented  with  a dove  on  her 
head.  It  is  also  seen  on  the  heads  of  the  images  of  Astarte,  Cybele, 
and  Isis;  it  was  sacred  to  Venus,  and  was  intended  as  a symbol  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.9 

Even  in  the  remote  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  a bird  is  be- 
lieved to  be  an  emblem  of  the  Holy  Spirit.10 

R.  Payne  Knight,  in  speaking  of  the  “ mystic  Dove,”  says : 


1 Wake  : Phallism  in  Anct.  Religs.,  p.  30. 

2 See  Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  16. 
Cox  : Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  128.  Fergus- 
Bon’s  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  and  Squire’s 
Serpent  Symbol. 

3 Deane:  Serpent  Worship,  p.  218. 

* Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  p.  7,  and  Bnl- 


finch  : Age  of  Fable,  p.  397. 

5 Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  36. 

6 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  293. 

7 Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  44. 

8 See  ch.  xxix. 

9 Monumental  Christianity,  pp  323  and  293» 
10  Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p 169 


358 


BIBLE  MYTHS 


“ A bird  was  probably  cbosen  for  the  emblem  of  the  third  person  (*.  e.,  the 
Holy  Ghost)  to  signify  incubation,  by  which  was  figuratively  expressed  the  fruc- 
tification of  inert  matter,  caused  by  the  vital  spirit  moving  upon  the  waters. 

“ The  Dove  would  naturally  be  selected  in  the  East  in  preference  to  every 
other  species  of  bird,  on  account  of  its  domestic  familiarity  with  man;  it  usually 
lodging  under  the  same  roof  with  him,  and  being  employed  as  his  messenger 
from  one  remote  place  to  another.  Birds  of  this  kind  were  also  remarkable  for 
the  care  of  their  offspring,  and  for  a sort  of  conjugal  attachment  and  fidelity  to 
each  other,  as  likewise  for  the  peculiar  fervency  of  their  sexual  desires,  whence 
they  were  sacred  to  Venus,  and  emblems  of  love.”1 

Masons’  marks  are  conspicuous  among  the  Christian  symbols. 
On  some  of  the  most  ancient  Roman  Catholic  cathedrals  are  to  be 
found  figures  of  Christ  Jesus  with  Mason’s  marks  about  him. 

Many  are  the  so-called  Christian  symbols  which  are  direct  im- 
portations from  paganism.  To  enumerate  them  would  take,  as  we 
have  previously  said,  a volume  of  itself.  For  further  information 
on  this  subject  the  reader  is  referred  to  Dr.  Inman’s  u Ancient  Pa- 
gan and  Modern  Christian  Symbolism,”  where  he  will  see  how  many 
ancient  Indian,  Egyptian,  Etruscan,  Grecian  and  Roman  symbols 
have  been  adopted  by  Christians,  a great  number  of  which  are 
Phallic  emblems.2 


1 Knight’s  Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  p.  Priapus,  and  the  other  works  of  Dr.  Thoma* 
170.  Inman. 

8 See  also,  R.  Payne  Knight’s  Worship  of 


CHAPTER  XXXIY. 


THE  BIRTH-DAY  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 

Christmas  — December  the  25th  — is  a day  which  has  been  set 
apart  by  the  Christian  church  on  which  to  celebrate  the  birth  of 
their  Lord  and  Saviour,  Christ  Jesus,  and  is  considered  by  the  ma- 
jority of  persons  to  be  really  the  day  on  which  he  was  born.  This 
is  altogether  erroneous,  as  will  be  seen  upon  examination  of  the 
subject. 

There  was  no  uniformity  in  the  period  of  observing  the  Nativity 
among  the  early  Christian  churches ; some  held  the  festival  in  the 
month  of  May  or  April,  others  in  January.1 

The  year  in  which  he  was  born  is  also  as  uncertain  as  the  month 
or  day.  “ The  year  in  which  it  happened,”  says  Mosheim,  the  ec- 
clesiastical historian,  “ has  not  hitherto  been  fixed  with  certainty, 
notwithstanding  the  deep  and  laborious  researches  of  the  learned.”2 

According  to  Iren^us  (a.  d.  190),  on  the  authority  of  “ The 
Gospel,”  and  “ all  the  elders  who  were  conversant  in  Asia  with 
John,  the  disciple  of  the  Lord,”  Christ  Jesus  lived  to  be  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  fifty  years  of  age.  If  this  celebrated  Christian  father  is 
correct,  and  who  can  say  he  is  not,  Jesus  was  born  some  twenty 
years  before  the  time  which  has  been  assigned  as  that  of  his  birth.’ 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Giles  says : 

“Concerning  the  time  of  Christ’s  birth  there  are  even  greater  doubts  than 
about  the  place  ; for,  though  the  four  Evangelists  have  noticed  several  contem- 
porary facts,  which  would  seem  to  settle  this  point,  yet  on  comparing  these 
dates  with  the  general  history  of  the  period,  we  meet  with  serious  discrep- 
ancies, which  involve  the  subject  in  the  greatest  uncertainty.”4 

Again  he  says : 


1 See  Bible  for  Learners  vol.  iii.  p.  66;  3 See  Chapter  XL.,  this  work. 

Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Christmas."  4 Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,  vol.  ii.  p. 

a Eccl.  Hist.,  vol.  i.  p.  53.  Quoted  in  Tay-  189. 

lor’s  Diegesis,  p.  104. 


359 


360 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ Not  only  do  we  date  our  time  from  the  exact  year  in  which  Christ  is  said  to 
have  been  born , but  our  ecclesiastical  calendar  has  determined  with  scrupulous 
minuteness  the  day  and  almost  the  hour  at  which  every  particular  of  Christ’s 
wonderful  life  is  stated  to  have  happened.  All  this  is  implicitly  believed  by 
millions;  yet  all  these  things  are  among  the  most  uncertain  and  shadowy  that  history 
has  recorded.  We  have  no  clue  to  either  the  day  or  the  time  of  year,  or  even  the  year 
itself,  in  which  Christ  was  born.”1 

Some  Christian  writers  fix  the  year  4 b.  c.,  as  the  time  when 
he  was  born,  others  the  year  5 b.  c.,  and  again  others  place  his  time 
of  birth  at  about  15  b.  o.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Geikie,  speaking  of  this, 
in  his  Life  of  Christ , says  : 

“ The  whole  subject  is  very  uncertain.  Ewald  appears  to  fix  the  date  of  the 
birth  at  five  years  earlier  than  our  era.  Petavius  and  Usher  fix  it  on  the  25th  of 
December,  five  years  before  our  era.  Bengel  on  the  25th  of  December,  four 
years  before  our  era;  Anger  and  Winer,  four  years  before  our  era,  in  the  Spring ; 
Scaliger,  three  years  before  our  era,  in  October;  St.  Jerome,  three  years  before 
our  era,  on  December  25th ; Eusebius,  two  years  before  our  era,  on  January  6th ; 
and  Idler,  seven  years  before  our  era,  in  December.  ”2 

Albert  Barnes  writes  in  a manner  which  implies  that  he  knew 
all  about  the  year  (although  he  does  not  give  any  authorities),  but 
knew  nothing  about  the  month.  He  says  : 

“ The  birth  of  Christ  took  place  four  years  before  the  common  era.  That  era 
began  to  be  used  about  a.d.  526,  being  first  employed  by  Dionysius,  and  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  placed  about  four  years  too  late.  Some  make  the  difference 
two,  others  three,  four,  five,  and  even  eight  years.  He  was  born  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  Herod,  or  at  the  close  of  the  year 
preceding.”3 

“The  Jews  sent  out  their  flocks  into  the  mountainous  and  desert  regions  during 
the  summer  months,  and  took  them  up  in  the  latter  part  of  October  or  the  first 
of  November,  when  the  cold  weather  commenced.  . . . It  is  clear  from  this 

that  our  Saviour  was  born  before  the  25th  of  December,  or  before  what  we  call 
Christmas.  At  that  time  it  is  cold,  and  especially  in  the  high  and  mountainous 
regions  about  Bethlehem.  God  has  concealed  the  time  of  his  birth.  There  is  no 
way  to  ascertain  it.  By  different  learned  men  it  has  been  fixed  at  each  month  in 
the  year.  ”4 

Canon  Farrar  writes  with  a little  more  caution,  as  follows : 

‘ ‘ Although  the  date  of  Christ’s  birth  cannot  be  fixed  with  absolute  certainty, 
there  is  at  least  a large  amount  of  evidence  to  render  it  probable  that  he  was 
bornjfowr  years  before  our  present  era.  It  is  universally  admitted  that  our  re- 
ceived chronology,  which  is  not  older  than  Dionysius  Exignus,  in  the  sixth 
century,  is  wrong.  But  all  attempts  to  discover  the  month  and  the  day  are  use- 
less. No  data  whatever  exists  to  enable  us  to  determine  them  with  even  ap- 
proximate accuracy.”6 


1 Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,  p.  194. 

2 Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.  p.  559. 

8 Barnes’  Notes,  vol.  ii.  p.  402. 


* Ibid.  p.  25. 

6 Farrar’s  Life  of  Christ,  App.,  pp.  673,  4. 


THE  BIRTHDAY  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


361 


Bunsen  attempts  to  show  (on  the  authority  of  Irenceus,  above 
quoted),  that  Jesus  was  born  som  % fifteen  years  before  the  time  as- 
signed, and  that  he  lived  to  be  nearly,  if  not  quite,  fifty  years  of 
age.1 

According  to  Basnage,2 3  the  Jews  placed  his  birth  near  a century 
sooner  than  the  generally  assumed  epoch.  Others  have  placed  it 
even  in  the  third  century  b.  c.  This  belief  is  founded  on  a pas- 
sage in  the  “ Book  of  Wisdom,”*  written  about  250  b.  c.,  which 
is  supposed  to  refer  to  Christ  Jesus , and  none  other.  In  speaking 
of  some  individual  who  lived  at  that  time , it  says  : 

“He  professeth  to  have  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  he  calleth  himself  the 
child  of  the  Lord.  He  was  made  to  reprove  our  thoughts.  He  is  grievous  unto 
us  even  to  behold;  for  his  life  is  not  like  other  men’s,  his  ways  are  of  another 
fashion.  We  are  esteemed  of  him  as  counterfeits;  he  abstaineth  from  our  ways 
as  from  filthiness;  he  pronounceth  the  end  of  the  just  to  be  blessed,  and  maketh 
his  boast  that  God  is  his  father.  Let  us  see  if  his  words  be  true;  and  let  us  prove 
what  shall  happen  in  the  end  of  him.  For  if  the  just  man  be  the  son  of  God,  he 
(God)  will  help  him,  and  deliver  him  from  the  hand  of  his  enemies.  Let  us 
examine  him  with  despitefulness  and  torture,  that  we  may  know  his  meekness, 
and  prove  his  patience.  Let  us  condemn  him  with  a shameful  death;  for  by  his 
own  saying  he  shall  be  respected.” 

This  is  a very  important  passage.  Of  course,  the  church  claim 
it  to  be  a prophecy  of  what  Christ  Jesus  was  to  do  and  suffer,  but 
this  does  not  explain  it. 

If  the  writer  of  the  “ Gospel  according  to  Luke  ” is  correct, 
Jesus  was  not  born  until  about  a.  d.  10,  for  he  explicitly  tells  us 
that  this  event  did  not  happen  until  Cyrenius  was  governor  of 
Syria.4  Now  it  is  well  known  that  Cyrenius  was  not  appointed  to 
this  office  until  long  after  the  death  of  Herod  (during  whose  reign 
the  Matthew  narrator  informs  us  Jesus  was  born 5),  and  that  the 
taxing  spoken  of  by  the  Luke  narrator  as  having  taken  place  at  this 
time,  did  not  take  place  until  about  ten  years  after  the  time  at  which, 
according  to  the  Matthew  narrator,  Jesus  was  born.6 

Eusebius,  the  first  ecclesiastical  historian,7  places  his  birth  at  the 
time  Cyrenius  was  governor  of  Syria,  and  therefore  at  about  a.  d. 
10.  His  words  are  as  follows  : 

“It  was  the  two  and  fortieth  year  after  the  reign  of  Augustus  the  Emperor, 
and  the  eight  and  twentieth  year  after  the  subduing  of  Egypt,  and  the  death  of 
Antonius  and  Cleopatra,  when  last  of  all  the  Ptolemies  in  Egypt  ceased  to  bear 


i Bible  Chronology,  pp.  73,  74. 

3 Hist,  de  Juif. 

3 Chap.  ii.  13-20. 

4 Luke,  ii.  1-7. 

4 Matt.  ii.  1. 

• See  Josephus  : Antiq.,bk.  xviii.  ch.  i.  sec.  i. 


7 Eusebius  was  Bishop  of  Cesarea  from  a.d. 
315  to  340,  in  which  he  died,  in  the  70th  year 
of  his  age,  thus  playing  his  great  part  in  life 
chiefly  under  the  reigns  of  Constantine  the 
Great  and  his  son  Constantins. 


362 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


rule,  when  our  Saviour  and  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  at  the  time  of  the  first  taxing — 
Cyrenius,  then  President  of  Syria — was  born  in  Bethlehem,  a city  of  Judea, 
according  unto  the  prophecies  in  that  behalf  premised.”1 

Had  the  Luke  narrator  known  anything  about  Jewish  history, 
he  never  would  have  made  so  gross  a blunder  as  to  place  the  taxing 
of  Cyrenius  in  the  days  of  Herod,  and  would  have  saved  the  im- 
mense amount  of  labor  that  it  has  taken  in  endeavoring  to  explain 
away  the  effects  of  his  ignorance.  One  explanation  of  this  mistake 
is,  that  there  were  two  assessments,  one  about  the  time  Jesus  was 
born,  and  the  other  ten  years  after;  but  this  has  entirely  failed. 
Dr.  Hooykaas,  speaking  of  this,  says : 

“ The  Evangelist  (Luke)  falls  into  the  most  extraordinary  mistakes  through- 
out. In  the  first  place,  history  is  silent  as  to  a census  of  the  whole  (Roman) 
world  ever  having  been  made  at  all.  In  the  next  place,  though  Quirinius  cer- 
tainly did  make  such  a register  in  Judea  and  Samaria,  it  did  not  extend  to 
Galilee  ; so  that  Joseph’s  household  was  not  affected  by  it.  Besides,  it  did  not 
take  place  until  ten  years  after  the  death  of  Herod,  when  his  son  Archelaus  was 
deposed  by  the  emperor,  and  the  districts  of  Judea  and  Samaria  were  thrown 
into  a Roman  province.  Under  the  reign  of  Herod,  nothing  of  the  kind  took 
place,  nor  was  there  any  occasion  for  it.  Finally,  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of 
Jesus,  the  Governor  of  Syria  was  not  Quirinius,  but  Quintus  Sentius  Saturni- 
nus.”2 

The  institution  of  the  festival  of  the  Nativity  of  Christ  Jesus 
being  held  on  the  25th  of  December,  among  the  Christians,  is  at- 
tributed to  Telesphorus,  who  flourished  during  the  reign  of  Anto- 
nius  Pius  (a.  d.  138-161),  but  the  first  certain  traces  of  it  are  found 
about  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Commodus  (a.  d.  180-1 92). 3 

For  a long  time  the  Christians  had  been  trying  to  discover  upon 
what  particular  day  Jesus  had  possibly  or  probably  come  into  the 
world ; and  conjectures  and  traditions  that  rested  upon  absolutely 
no  foundation,  led  one  to  the  20th  of  May,  another  to  the  19th  or 
20tli  of  April,  and  a third  to  the  5th  of  January.  At  last  the  opin- 
ion of  the  community  at  Rome  gained  the  upper  hand,  and  the  25th 
of  December  was  fixed  upon.4  It  was  not  until  th v fifth  century, 
however,  that  this  day  had  been  generally  agreed  upon.5  How  it 
happened  that  this  day  finally  became  fixed  as  the  birthday  of 
Christ  Jesus,  may  be  inferred  from  what  we  shall  now  see. 

On  the  first  moment  after  midnight  of  the  24th  of  Decembei 
(i.  e.,  on  the  morning  of  the  25tli),  nearly  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 


1 Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  1,  ch.  vi.  from  the  influence  of  some  tradition,  or  from 

2 Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  56.  the  desire  to  supplant  Heathen  Festivals  of  that 

8 See  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Christ-  period  of  the  year,  such  as  the  Saturnalia,  the 

mas."  25th  of  December  had  been  generally  agreed 

4 See  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  66.  upon.”  (Encyclopaedia  Brit.,  art.  “ Christ* 

£ “By  the  fifth  century,  however,  whether  mas.” 


THE  BIRTHDAY  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


363 


as  if  by  common  consent,  celebrated  the  accouchement  of  tho 
“ Queen  of  Heaven ,”  of  the  “ Celestial  Virgin  ” of  the  sphere,  and 
the  birth  of  the  god  Sol. 

In  India  this  is  a period  of  rejoicing  everywhere.1 2  It  is  a great 
religious  festival,  and  the  people  decorate  their  houses  with  garlands, 
and  make  presents  to  friends  and  relatives . This  custom  is  of  very 
great  antiquity.3 

In  China , religious  solemnities  are  celebrated  at  the  time  of  the 
winter  solstice , the  last  week  in  December , when  all  shops  are  shut 
up,  and  the  courts  are  closed.3 

Buddha , the  son  of  the  Virgin  Maya,  on  whom,  according  to 
Chinese  tradition,  “ the  Holy  Ghost  ” had  descended,  was  said  to 
have  been  born  on  Christmas  day,  December  25th.4 

Among  the  ancient  Persians  their  most  splendid  ceremonials 
were  in  honor  of  their  Lord  and  Saviour  Mithras  ; they  kept  his 
birthday,  with  many  rejoicings,  on  the  25th  of  December. 

The  author  of  the  “ Celtic  Druids  ” says : 

“It  was  the  custom  of  the  heathen,  long  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  to  cele- 
brate the  birth-day  of  their  gods,”  and  that,  “ the  25th  of  December  was  a great 
festival  with  the  Persians,  who,  in  very  early  times,  celebrated  the  birth  of  their 
god  Mithras.”* 

The  Rev.  Joseph  B.  Gross,  in  his  “ Heathen  Religion”  also 
tells  us  that : 

“The  ancient  Persians  celebrated  a festival  in  honor  of  Mithras  on  the  first 
day  succeeding  the  Winter  Solstice,  the  object  of  which  was  to  commemorate  the 
birth  of  Mithras”* 

Among  the  ancient  Egyptians , for  centuries  before  the  time  of 
Christ  Jesus,  the  25th  of  December  was  set  aside  as  the  birthday  of 
their  gods.  M.  Le  Clerk  De  Septehenes  speaks  of  it  as  follows : 

“ The  ancient  Egyptians  fixed  the  pregnancy  of  Isis  (the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and 
the  Virgin  Mother  of  the  Saviour  Horus),  on  the  last  days  of  March,  and  towards 
the  end  of  December  they  placed  the  commemoration  of  her  delivery.”1 

Mr.  Bonwick,  in  speaking  of  Horus , says : 

“ He  is  the  great  God-loved  of  Heaven.  His  birth  was  one  of  the  greatest 
mysteries  of  the  Egyptian  religion.  Pictures  representing  it  appeared  on  the 


1 See  Monier  Williams  : Hinduism,  p.  181. 

2 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  126. 

3 Ibid.  216. 

4 See  Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  pp.  x.- 
25,  and  110,  and  Lillie : Buddha  and  Buddhism, 
p.  73. 

Some  writers  have  asserted  that  Crishna  is 
said  to  have  been  born  on  December  25th,  but 
this  is  not  the  case.  His  birthday  is  held  in 
July- August.  (See  W illiams’  Hinduism,  p.  183, 


and  Life  and  Religion  of  the  Hindoos,  p.  134.) 

6 Celtic  Druids,  p.  163.  See  also,  Prog. 
Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  272  ; Monumental  Chris- 
tianity, p.  167  ; Bible  for  Learners,  iii.  pp.  66, 
67. 

6 The  Heathen  Religion,  p.  287.  See  also, 
Dupuis  : p.  246. 

7 Relig.  of  the  Anct.  Greeks,  p'.  214.  See  also, 
Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  09. 


364 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


walls  of  temples.  One  passed  through  the  holy  Adytum 1 to  the  still  more 
sacred  quarter  of  the  temple  known  as  the  birth-place  of  Horus.  He  was  pre- 
sumably the  child  of  Deity.  At  Christmas  time,  or  that  answering  to  our  festi- 
val, his  image  was  brought  out  of  that  sanctuary  with  peculiar  ceremonies, 
as  the  image  of  the  infant  Bambino 2 is  still  brought  out  and  exhibited  in 
Rome.  ”3 

Rigord  observes  that  the  Egyptians  not  only  worshiped  a Vir- 
gin Mother  “ prior  to  the  birth  of  onr  Saviour,  but  exhibited  the 
effigy  of  her  son  lying  in  the  manger,  in  the  maimer  the  infant  Je- 
sus was  afterwards  laid  in  the  cave  at  Bethlehem.”4 

The  “Chronicles  of  Alexandria,”  an  ancient  Christian  work, 
says : 

“ Watch  how  Egypt  has  constructed  the  childbirth  of  a Virgin,  and  the  birth 
of  her  son,  who  was  exposed  in  a crib  to  the  adoration  of  the  people .”5 

Osiris , son  of  the  “ Holy  Virgin ,”  as  they  called  Ceres,  or 
Neith,  his  mother,  was  born  on  the  25th  of  December.6 * 

This  was  also  the  time  celebrated  by  the  ancient  Greeks  as  being 
the  birthday  of  Hercules . The  author  of  “The  Religion  of  the  An- 
cient Greeks  ” says : 

“ The  night  of  the  Winter  Solstice,  which  the  Greeks  named  the  triple  night, 
was  that  which  they  thought  gave  birth  to  Hercules”’1 2 

He  further  says : 

“ It  has  become  an  epoch  of  singular  importance  in  the  eyes  of  the  Christian, 
who  has  destined  it  to  celebrate  the  birth  of  the  Saviour,  the  true  Sun  of  Justice, 
who  alone  came  to  dissipate  the  darkness  of  ignorance.”8 

Bacchus , also,  was  born  at  early  dawn  on  the  25th  of  December. 
Mr.  Higgins  says  of  him : 

“The  birth-place  of  Bacchus,  called  Sabizius  or  Sabaoth,  was  claimed  by 
several  places  in  Greece  ; but  on  Mount  Zelmissus,  in  Thrace,  his  worship  seems 
to  have  been  chiefly  celebrated.  He  was  born  of  a virgin  on  the  25th  of  Decem- 
ber, and  was  always  called  the  Saviour.  In  his  Mysteries,  he  was  shown  to 
the  people,  as  an  infant  is  by  the  Christians  at  this  day,  on  Christmas-day  morn- 
ing, in  Rome.”9 

The  birthday  of  Adonis  was  celebrated  on  the  25th  of  Decem- 
ber. This  celebration  is  spoken  of  by  Tertullian,  Jerome,  and  other 


1 “Adytum'1''— the  interior  or  sacred  part 
of  a heathen  temple. 

2 “ Bambino  a term  used  for  representa- 

tions of  the  infant  Saviour,  Christ  Jesns,  in 

swaddlings. 

s Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  157.  See 

also,  Dupuis,  p.  237. 

* '‘Deinceps  Egyptii  Parituram  Virginem 

magno  in  honore  habuerunt  ; quin  soliti  sunt 

puerum  effingere  jacentem  in  praesepe,  quali 


postea  in  Bethlehemetica  spelunca  natus  est.” 
(Quoted  in  Anacalypsis,  p.  102,  of  vol.  ii.) 

6 Quoted  by  Bonwick,  p.  143. 

8 Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  99. 

7 Relig.  Anct.  Greece,  p.  215. 

8 Ibid. 

9 Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  102  ; Dupuis,  p.  237, 
and  Baring-Gould  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  vol.  i. 
p.  322. 


THE  BIRTHDAY  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


365 


Fathers  of  the  Church,1  who  inform  us  that  the  ceremonies  took  place 
in  a cave,  and  that  the  cave  in  which  they  celebrated  his  mysteries 
in  Bethlehem,  was  that  in  which  Christ  Jesus  was  born. 

This  was  also  a great  holy  day  in  ancient  Borne.  The  Bev.  Mr. 
Gross  says : 

“In  Rome,  before  the  time  of  Christ,  a festival  was  observed  on  the  25th 
of  December,  under  the  name  of  ‘ Natalis  Solis  Invicti  ’ (Birthday  of  Sol  the 
Invincible).  It  was  a day  of  universal  rejoicings,  illustrated  by  illuminations 
and  public  games.”2  “ All  public  business  was  suspended,  declarations  of  war 
and  criminal  executions  were  postponed,  friends  made  presents  to  one  another , 
and  the  slaves  were  indulged  with  great  liberties.”3 

A few  weeks  before  the  winter  solstice,  the  Calabrian  shepherds 
came  into  Borne  to  play  on  the  pipes.  Ovid  alludes  to  this  when 
he  says : 

“ Ante  Deum  matrem  cornu  tibicen  adunco 
Cum  canit,  exiguae  quis  stipis  aera  neget.” 

— (Epist.  i.  1.  ii.) 

i.  e.,  “ When  to  the  mighty  mother  pipes  the  swain, 

Grudge  not  a trifle  for  his  pious  strain.” 

This  practice  is  kept  up  to  the  present  day. 

The  ancient  Germans,  for  centuries  before  “ the  true  Sun  of 
Justice  ” was  ever  heard  of,  celebrated  annually,  at  the  time  of  the 
Winter  solstice , what  they  called  their  Yule-feast.  At  this  feast 
agreements  were  renewed,  the  gods  were  consulted  as  to  the  future, 
sacrifices  were  made  to  them,  and  the  time  was  spent  in  jovial  hos- 
pitality. Many  features  of  this  festival,  such  as  burning  the  yule- 
log  on  Christmas-eve,  still  survive  among  us.4 

Yule  was  the  old  name  for  Christmas.  In  French  it  is  called 
Noel , which  is  the  Hebrew  or  Chaldee  word  Nule* 

The  greatest  festival  of  the  year  celebrated  among  the  ancient 
Scandinavians,  was  at  the  Winter  solstice.  They  called  the  night 
upon  which  it  was  observed,  the  u Mother-night .”  This  feast  was 
named  Jul  — hence  is  derived  the  word  Yule  — and  was  celebrated 
in  honor  of  Freyr  (son  of  the  Supreme  God  Odin,  and  the  goddess 
Frigga),  who  was  born  on  that  day.  Feasting,  nocturnal  assemblies, 
and  all  the  demonstrations  of  a most  dissolute  joy,  were  then  author- 
ized by  the  general  usage.  At  this  festival  the  principal  guests  re- 
ceived presents  — generally  horses,  swords,  battle-axes,  and  gold 
rings — at  their  departure.6 


1 Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  99. 

a The  Heathen  Religion,  p.  287  ; Dupuis,  p. 
283. 

* Bulfinch,  p.  21. 

4.See  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  67,  and 


Chambers,  art.  “ Yule.” 

6 See  Chambers’s,  art.  “Yule,”  and  “ Celfc’c 
Druids,”  p.  162. 

6 Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  pp.  110  and 
355.  Knight : p.  87. 


$66 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  festival  of  the  25th  of  December  was  celebrated  by  the 
ancient  Druids,  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  with  great  fires 
lighted  on  the  tops  of  hills.1 

Godfrey  Higgins  says : 

“ Stuckley  observes  that  the  worship  of  Mithra  was  spread  all  over  Gaul  and 
Britain.  The  Druids  kept  this  night  as  a great  festival,  and  called  the  day  fol- 
lowing it  Nolagh  or  Noel,  or  the  day  of  regeneration,  and  celebrated  it  with 
great  tires  on  the  tops  of  their  mountains,  which  they  repeated  on  the  day  of  the 
Epiphany  or  twelfth  night.  The  Mithraic  monuments,  which  are  common  in 
Britain,  have  been  attributed  to  the  Romans,  but  this  festival  proves  that  the 
Mithraic  worship  was  there  prior  to  their  arrival.  ”2 

This  was  also  a time  of  rejoicing  in  Ancient  Mexico.  Acosta 
says : 

“In  the  first  month,  which  in  Peru  they  call  Ray  me,  and  answering  to  our 
December,  they  made  a solemn  feast  called  Ccvpacrayme  (the  Winter  Solstice), 
wherein  they  made  many  sacrifices  and  ceremonies,  which  continued  many 
days.”3 

The  evergreens,  and  particularly  the  mistletoe,  which  are  used 
all  over  the  Christian  world  at  Christmas  time,  betray  its  heathen 
origin.  Tertullian,  a Father  of  the  Church,  who  flourished  about 
a.  d.  200,  writing  to  his  brethren,  affirms  it  to  be  “ rank  idolatry  ” 
to  deck  their  doors  “ with  garlands  or  flowers,  on  festival  days,  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  the  heathen?'* 

This  shows  that  the  heathen  in  those  days,  did  as  the  Christians 
do  now.  What  have  evergreens,  and  garlands,  and  Christmas  trees, 
to  do  with  Christianity  ? Simply  nothing.  It  is  the  old  Yule- 
feast  which  was  held  by  all  the  northern  nations,  from  time  imme- 
morial, handed  down  to,  and  observed  at  the  present  day.  In  the 
greenery  with  which  Christians  deck  their  houses  and  temples  of 
worship,  and  in  the  Christmas-trees  laden  with  gifts,  we  unques- 
tionably see  a relic  of  the  symbols  by  which  our  heathen  forefathers 
signified  their  faith  in  the  powers  of  the  returning  sun  to  clothe  the 
earth  again  with  green,  and  hang  new  fruit  on  the  trees.  Foliage, 
such  as  the  laurel,  myrtle,  ivy,  or  oak,  and  in  general,  all  evergreens , 
were  Dionysiac  plants,  that  is,  symbols  of  the  generative  power, 
signifying  perpetuity  of  youth  and  vigor.6 

Among  the  causes,  then,  that  co-operated  in  fixing  this  period — 
December  25th  — as  the  birthday  of  Christ  Jesus,  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  that  almost  every  ancient  nation  of  the  earth  held  a festival 
on  this  day  in  commemoration  of  the  birth  of  their  virgin-born  god. 


1 Dupuis,  160  ; Celtic  Druids,  and  Monu-  3 Hist.  Indies,  vol.  ii.  p.  354. 

mental  Christianity,  p.  167.  4 See  Middleton’s  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  80. 

3 Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  99.  s Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  32. 


THE  BIRTHDAY  OF  CHRIST  JESUS. 


367 


On  this  account  the  Christians  adopted  it  as  the  time  of  the  birth 
of  their  God.  Mr.  Gibbon,  speaking  of  this  in  his  “ Decline  and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,55  says  • 

“ The  Roman  Christians,  ignorant  of  the  real  date  of  his  (Christ’s)  birth,  fixed 
the  solemn  festival  to  the  25th  of  December,  the  Brumalia,  or  Winter  Solstice, 
when  the  Pagans  annually  celebrated  the  birth  of  Sol.”1 

And  Mr.  King,  in  his  “ Gnostics  and  their  Remains,55  says : 

‘  *  * The  ancient  festival  held  on  the  25th  of  December  in  honor  of  the  ‘ Birthday 
of  the  Invincible  One,’  and  celebrated  by  the  ‘great  games’  at  the  circus,  was 
afterwards  transferred  to  the  commemoration  of  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  precise 
day  of  which  many  of  the  Fathers  confess  was  then  unknown.”2 

St.  Chrysostom,  who  flourished  about  a.  d.  390,  referring  to  this 
Pagan  festival,  says : 

“ On  this  day,  also,  the  birth  of  Christ  was  lately  fixed  at  Rome,  in  order  that 
whilst  the  heathen  were  busy  with  their  profane  ceremonies,  the  Christians 
might  perform  their  holy  rites  undisturbed.  ”3 

Add  to  this  the  fact  that  St.  Gregory,  a Christian  Father  of  the 
third  century,  was  instrumental  in,  and  commended  by  other  Fathers 
for,  changing  Pagan  festivals  into  Christian  holidays , for  the  pur- 
pose, as  they  said,  of  drawing  the  heathen  to  the  religion  of  Christ.4 

As  Dr.  Hooykaas  remarks,  the  church  was  always  anxious  to 
meet  the  heathen  half  way,  by  allowing  them  to  retain  the  feasts 
they  were  accustomed  to,  only  giving  them  a Christian  dress , or 
attaching  a new  or  Christian  signification  to  them.5 

In  doing  these,  and  many  other  such  things,  which  we  shall 
speak  of  in  our  chapter  on  “ Paganism  in  Christianity,”  the 
Christian  Fathers,  instead  of  drawing  the  heathen  to  their  religion, 
drew  themselves  into  Paganism. 


1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  383. 
3 King’s  Gnostics,  p.  49. 

* Quoted  in  Ibid. 


4 See  the  chapter  on  “ Paganism  in  Christi* 
anity.” 

• Bible  for  Learners , vo.  iii.  p.  67. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 


THE  TRINITY. 

“ Say  not  there  are  three  Gods,  God  is  but  One  God.” — (Koran.) 

The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  the  highest  and  most  mysterious 
doctrine  of  the  Christian  church.  It  declares  that  there  are  three 
persons  in  the  Godhead  or  divine  nature  — the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  — and  that  “ these  three  are  one  true,  eternal  God, 
the  same  in  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory,  although  distin- 
guished by  their  personal  propensities.”  The  most  celebrated  state- 
ment of  the  doctrine  is  to  be  found  in  the  Athanasian  creed,1  which 
asserts  that : 

“ The  Catholic2  faith  is  this:  That  we  worship  One  God  as  Trinity,  and  Trin- 
ity in  Unity — neither  confounding  the  persons,  nor  dividing  the  substance — for 
there  is  One  person  of  the  Father,  another  of  the  Son,  and  another  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  But  the  Godhead  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
is  all  one  ; the  glory  equal,  the  majesty  co-eternal.” 

As  M.  Reville  remarks : 

‘ ‘ The  dogma  of  the  Trinity  displayed  its  contradictions  with  true  bravery. 
The  Deity  divided  into  three  divine  persons,  and  yet  these  three  persons  forming 
only  One  God  ; of  these  three  the  first  only  being  self- existent,  the  two  others  de- 
riving their  existence  from  the  first,  and  yet  these  three  persons  being  considered 
as  perfectly  equal;  each  having  his  special,  distinct  character,  his  individual 
qualities,  wanting  in  the  other  two,  and  yet  each  one  of  the  three  being  supposed 
to  possess  the  fullness  of  perfection — here,  it  must  be  confessed,  we  have  the 
deification  of  the  contradictory.”3 

We  shall  now  see  that  this  very  peculiar  doctrine  of  three  in 
one,  and  one  in  three,  is  of  heathen  origin,  and  that  it  must  fall  with 
all  the  other  dogmas  of  the  Christian  religion. 


1 The  celebrated  passage  (I-  John,  v.  7) 

“ For  there  are  three  that  bear  record  in  heaven, 
the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 

these  three  are  one,”  is  now  admitted  on  all 
hands  to  be  an  interpolation  into  the  epistle 
many  centuries  after  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus. 

368 


(See  Giles’  Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,  vol. 
ii.  p.  12.  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  556.  In- 
man’s Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  886.  Taylor’s 
Diegesis  and  Reher’s  Christ  of  Paul.) 

2 That  is,  the  true  faith. 

• Dogma  Deity  Jesus  Christ,  p.  95. 


THE  TRINITY. 


369 


The  number  three  is  sacred  in  all  theories  derived  from  oriental 
^sources.  Deity  is  always  a trinity  of  some  kind,  or  the  successive 
emanations  proceeded  in  threes.1 

If  we  turn  to  India  we  shall  find  that  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent features  in  the  Indian  theology  is  the  doctrine  of  a divine  triad, 
governing  all  things.  This  triad  is  called  Tri-murti  — from  the 
Sanscrit  word  tri  (three)  and  murti  (form)  — and  consists  of 
Brahma,  Yishnu,  and  Siva.  It  is  an  inseparable  unity,  though  three 
in  form.2 

“ When  the  universal  and  infinite  being  Brahma  — the  only  re- 
ally existing  entity,  wholly  without  form,  and  unbound  and  unaf- 
fected by  the  three  Gunas  or  by  qualities  of  any  kind  — wished  to 
create  for  his  own  entertainment  the  phenomena  of  the  universe, 
he  assumed  the  quality  of  activity  and  became  a male  person,  as 
Brahma  the  creator.  Next,  in  the  progress  of  still  further  self- 
evolution,  he  willed  to  invest  himself  with  the  second  quality  of 
goodness,  as  Vishnu  the  preserver,  and  with  the  third  quality  of 
darkness,  as  Siva  the  destroyer.  This  development  of  the  doctrine 
of  triple  manifestation  ( tri-murti ),  which  appears  first  in  the  Brah- 
manized  version  of  the  Indian  Epics,  had  already  been  adumbrated 
in  the  Yeda  in  the  triple  form  of  fire,  and  in  the  triad  of  gods, 
Agni,  Surya,  and  Indra ; and  in  other  ways.”3 * * 

This  divine  Tri-murti — says  the  Brahmans  and  the  sacred  books 
— is  indivisible  in  essence,  and  indivisible  in  action  ; mystery  pro- 
found ! which  is  explained  in  the  following  manner : 

Brahma  represents  the  creative  principle,  the  unreflected  or  un- 
evolved protogoneus  state  of  divinity  — the  Father. 

Vishnu  represents  the  protecting  and  preserving  principle,  the 
evolved  or  reflected  state  of  divinity  — the  Son.* 

Siva  is  the  principle  that  presides  at  destruction  and  re- con- 
struction — the  Holy  Spirit.6 


1 “ The  notion  of  a Triad  of  Supreme  Pow- 
ers is  indeed  common  to  most  ancient  relig- 
ions.” (Prichard’s  Egyptian  Mytho.,  p.  285.) 

“Nearly all  the  Pagan  nations  of  antiquity, 
in  their  various  theological  systems,  acknowl- 
edged a trinity  in  the  divine  nature.”  (Maur- 
ice : Indian  Antiquities,  voi.  vi.  p.  35.) 

“ The  ancients  imagined  that  their  triad  of 
gods  or  persons,  only  constituted  one  god.” 
(Celtic  Druids,  p.  197.) 

2 The  three  attributes  called  Brahma,  Vishnu 

and  Siva,  are  indicated  by  letters  corresponding 

to  our  a.  u.  m.,  generally  pronounced  om.  This 

mystic  word  is  never  uttered  except  in  prayer, 

and  the  sign  which  represents  it  in  their  tem- 

24 


pies  is  an  object  of  profound  adoration. 

3 Monier  Williams’  Indian  Wisdom,  p.  324. 

4 That  is,  the  Lord  and  Saviour  Crishna.  The 

Supreme  Spirit,  in  order  to  preserve  the  world, 
produced  Vishnu.  Vishnu  came  upon  earth,  for 
this  purpose,  in  the  form  of  Crishna.  He 
was  believed  to  be  an  incarnation  of  the  Su- 
preme Being,  one  of  the  persons  of  their  holy 
and  mysterious  trinity,  to  use  their  language, 
“ The  Lord  and  Savior— three  persons  and  one 
god.”  In  the  Geita,  Crishna  is  made  to  say: 
“ I am  the  Lord  of  all  created  beings.”  “ I am 
the  mystic  figure  o.  m.”  “ I am  Brahma, 

Vishnu,  and  Siva,  three  gods  in  one.” 

6 See  The  Heathen  Religion,  p.  124. 


370 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  third  person  was  the  Destroyer,  or,  in  his  good  capacity,  the 
Regenerator.  The  dove  was  the  emblem  of  the  Regenerator.  As 
the  spiritus  was  the  passive  cause  (brooding  on  the  face  of  the 
waters)  by  which  all  things  sprang  into  life,  the  dove  became  the 
emblem  of  the  Spirit,  or  Holy  Ghost,  the  third  person. 

These  three  gods  are  the  first  and  the  highest  manifestations  of 
the  Eternal  Essence,  and  are  typified  by  the  three  letters  composing 
the  mystic  syllable  OM  or  AUM.  They  constitute  the  well  known 
Trimurti  or  Triad  of  divine  forms  which  characterizes  Hindooism. 
It  is  usual  to  describe  these  three  gods  as  Creator,  Preserver  and 
Destroyer,  but  this  gives  a very  inadequate  idea  of  their  complex 
characters.  Hor  does  the  conception  of  their  relationship  to  each 
other  become  clearer  when  it  is  ascertained  that  their  functions  are 
constantly  interchangeable,  and  that  each  may  take  the  place  of  the 
other,  according  to  the  sentiment  expressed  by  the  greatest  of  In- 
dian poets,  Kalidasa  (Kumara-sambhava,  Griffith,  vii.  4 1) : 

“ In  those  three  persons  the  One  God  was  shown — 

Each  first  in  place,  each  last — not  one  alone  ; 

Of  Siva,  Vishnu,  Brahma,  each  may  be 
First,  second,  third,  among  the  blessed  three.  ” 

A devout  person  called  Attencin,  becoming  convinced  that  he 
should  worship  but  one  deity,  thus  addressed  Brahma,  Yishnu  and 
Siva  : 

‘ ‘ O you  three  Lords  ; know  that  I recognize  only  One  God  ; inform  me  there- 
fore, which  of  you  is  the  true  divinity , that  I may  address  to  him  alone  my  vows 
and  adorations.” 

The  three  gods  became  manifest  to  him,  and  replied : 

“Learn,  O devotee,  that  there  is  no  real  distinction  between  us  ; what  to  you 
appears  such  is  only  by  semblance  ; the  Single  Being  appears  under  three  forms, 
but  he  is  One”1 

Sir  William  Jones  says : 

“ Very  respectable  natives  have  assured  me,  that  one  or  two  missionaries 
have  been  absurd  enough  in  their  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  to  urge 
that  the  Hindoos  were  even  now  almost  Christians  ; because  their  Brahma, 
Vishnou,  and  Mahesa  (Siva),  were  no  other  than  the  Christian  Trinity.  ”2 

Thomas  Maurice,  in  his  “ Indian  Antiquities,”  describes  a mag- 
nificent piece  of  Indian  sculpture,  of  exquisite  workmanship,  and 
of  stupendous  antiquity,  namely  : 

‘ ‘ A bust  composed  of  three  heads,  united  to  one  body,  adorned  with  the  oldest 
symbols  of  the  Indian  theology,  and  thus  expressly  fabricated  according  to  the 


1 Allen's  India,  pp.  382,  883. 


a Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  272. 


THE  TRINITY. 


371 


unanimous  confession  of  the  sacred  sacerdotal  tribe  of  India,  to  indicate  the  Cre- 
ator, the  Preserver , and  the  Regenerator,  of  mankind  ; which  establishes  the  solemn 
fact,  that  from  the  remotest  eras,  the  Indian  nations  had  adored  a triune  deity”1 

Fig.  No.  34  is  a representation  of  an  Indian  sculpture,  intended 
to  represent  the  Triune  God,2  evidently  similar  to  the  one  described 
above  by  Mr.  Maurice.  It  is  taken  from  “ a very  ancient  granite  ” 
in  the  museum  at  the  ‘‘Indian 
House,”  and  was  dug  from  the 
ruins  of  a temple  in  the  island 
of  Bombay. 

The  Buddhists,  as  well  as  the 
Brahmans,  have  had  their  Trin- 
ity from  a very  early  period. 

Mr.  Faber,  in  his  “ Origin  of 
Heathen  Idolatry,”  says : 

“ Among  the  Hindoos,  we  have  the 
Triad  of  Brahma,  Vishnu, and  Siva;  so, 
among  the  votaries  of  Buddha,  we  find 
the  self -triplicated  Buddha  declared  to 
be  the  same  as  the  Hindoo  Trimurti. 

Among  the  Buddhist  sect  of  the  Jain- 
ists,  we  have  the  triple  Jiva,  in  whom 
the  Trimurti  is  similarly  declared  to 
he  incarnate.” 

In  this  Trinity  V ay rapcmi  answers  to  Brahma,  or  Jehovah,  the 
“ All-father,”  Manjusri  is  the  “ deified  teacher,”  the  counterpart 
of  Crishna  or  Jesus,  and  Avalohitesvara  is  the  “ Holy  Spirit.” 

Buddha  was  believed  by  his  followers  to  be,  not  only  an  incar- 
nation of  the  deity,  but  “God  himself  in  human  form”  — as  the 
followers  of  Crishna  believed  him  to  be  — and  therefore  “ three  gods 
in  one.”  This  is  clearly  illustrated  by  the  following  address  delivered 
to  Buddha  by  a devotee  called  Amora  : 

“ Reverence  be  unto  thee,  O God,  in  the  form  of  the  God  of  mercy,  the  dis- 
peller of  pain  and  trouble,  the  Lord  of  all  things,  the  guardian  of  the  universe, 
the  emblem  of  mercy  towards  those  who  serve  thee — OM  ! the  possessor  of  all 
things  in  vital  form.  Thou  art  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Maliesa  ; thou  art  Lord  of 
all  the  universe.  Thou  art  under  the  proper  form  of  all  things,  movable  and 
immovable,  the  possessor  of  the  whole,  and  thus  I adore  thee.  I adore  thee, 
who  art  celebrated  by  a thousand  names,  and  under  various  forms  ; in  the  shape 
of  Buddha,  the  god  of  mercy.”3 

The  inhabitants  of  China  and  Japan,  the  majority  of  whom 
are  Buddhists,  worship  God  in  the  form  of  a Trinity.  Their  name 


1 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  iv.  p.  372.  8 Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  iii.  pp.  285,  283 

2 Taken  from  Moore’s  “ Hindoo  Pantheon,”  See  also,  King’s  Gnostics,  167. 

plate  81. 


372 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


for  him  (Buddha)  is  Fo,  and  in  speaking  of  the  Trinity  they  say : 
“ The  three  pure,  precious  or  honorable  Fo.”1 2  This  triad  is  repre- 
sented in  their  temples  by  images  similar  to  those  found  in  the 
pagodas  of  India,  and  when  they  speak  of  God  they  say : “ Fo  is 
one  person,  but  has  three  forms”' 

In  a chapel  belonging  to  the  monastery  of  Poo-ta-la,  which  was 
found  in  Manchow-Tartary,  was  to  be  seen  representations  of  Fo,  in 
the  form  of  three  persons.3 

Navarette,  in  his  account  of  China,  says : 

“ This  sect  (of  Fo)  has  another  idol  they  call  Sanpao.  It  consists  of  three, 
equal  in  all  respects.  This,  which  has  been  represented  as  an  image  of  the  Most 
Blessed  Trinity,  is  exactly  the  same  with  that  which  is  on  the  high  altar  of  the 
monastery  of  the  Trinitarians  at  Madrid.  If  any  Chinese  whatsoever  saw  it,  he 
would  say  that  Sanpao  of  his  country  was  worshiped  in  these  parts.” 

And  Mr.  Faber,  in  bis  “ Origin  of  Heathen  Idolatry,”  says: 

“ Among  the  Chinese,  who  worship  Buddha  under  the  name  of  Fo,  we  find 
this  God  mysteriously  multiplied  into  three  persons.  ” 

The  mystic  syllable  O.  M.  or  A.  U.  M.  is  also  reverenced  by  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese,4 *  as  we  have  found  it  reverenced  by  the  in- 
habitants of  India. 

The  followers  of  Laou-tsze,  or  Laou-keum-tsze — a celebrated 
philosopher  of  China,  and  deified  hero,  born  604  b.  c.  — known  as 
the  Taou  sect,  are  also  worshipers  of  a Trinity.6  It  was  the  leading 
feature  in  Laou-keun’s  system  of  philosophical  theology,  that  Taou, 
the  eternal  reason,  produced  one  / one  produced  two  / two  produced 
three  j and  three  produced  all  things. 6 This  was  a sentence  which 
Laou-keun  continually  repeated,  and  which  Mr.  Maurice  considers, 
“ a most  singular  axiom  for  a heathen  philosopher.”7 

The  sacred  volumes  of  the  Chinese  state  that : 

“The  Source  and  Root  of  all  is  One.  This  self-existent  unity  necessarily 
produced  a second.  The  first  and  second,  by  their  union,  produced  a third. 
These  Three  produced  all.”8 

The  ancient  emperors  of  China  solemnly  sacrificed,  every  three 
years.,  to  “ Him  who  is  One  and  Three.”9 

The  ancient  Egyptians  worshiped  God  in  the  form  of  a Trinity, 


1 Davis’  China,  vol.  ii.  p.  104. 

2 Ibid.  pp.  103  and  81. 

a Ibid.  pp.  105,  106. 

4 Ibid.  pp.  103,  81. 

6  Ibid.  110,  111.  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p 
36.  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  150. 

6 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  v.  p.  41.  Dupuis, 
p.  285.  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  150. 

7 Indian  Autiquities,  vol.  v.  p.  41. 


This  Taou  sect,  according  to  John  Francis 
Davis,  and  the  Rev.  Charles  Gutzlaff,  both  of 
whom  have  resided  in  China— call  their  trinity 
“ the  three  pure  ones,”  or  “ the  three  precious 
ones  in  heaven.”  (See  Davis’  China,  vol.  ii.  p. 
110,  and  Gutzlaff’s  Voyages,  p.  307.) 

8  See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  210. 

* Ibid. 


THE  TRINITY. 


373 


which  was  represented  in  sculptures  on  the  most  ancient  of  their 
temples.  The  celebrated  symbol  of  the  wing,  the  globe,  and  the 
serpent,  is  supposed  to  have  stood  for  the  different  attributes  of 
God.1 2 3 

The  priests  of  Memphis,  in  Egypt,  explained  this  mystery  to  the 
novice,  by  intimating  that  the  premier  (first)  monad  created  the 
dyad , who  engendered  the  triads  and  that  it  is  this  triad  which 
shines  through  nature. 

Thulis,  a great  monarch,  who  at  one  time  reigned  over  all  Egypt, 
and  who  was  in  the  habit  of  consulting  the  oracle  of  Serapis,  is  said 
to  have  addressed  the  oracle  in  these  words : 

“ Tell  me  if  ever  there  was  before  one  greater  than  I,  or  will  ever  be  one 
greater  than  me  ?” 

The  oracle  answered  thus  : 

“First  God,  afterward  the  Word,  and  with  them  the  Holy  Spirit,  all  these 
are  of  the  same  nature,  and  make  but  one  whole,  of  which  the  power  is  eternal. 
Go  away  quickly,  mortal,  thou  who  hast  but  an  uncertain  life.  ”a 

The  idea  of  calling  the  second  person  in  the  Trinity  the  Logos , 
or  Word?  is  an  Egyptian  feature,  and  was  engrafted  into  Christi- 
anity many  centuries  after  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus.4 *  Ajoollo , who 
had  his  tomb  at  Delphi  in  Egypt,  was  called  the  Word.6 

Mr.  Bonwick,  in  his  “ Egyptian  Belief  and  Modern  Thought,” 
says : 

“Some  persons  are  prepared  to  admit  that  the  most  astonishing  development 
of  the  old  religion  of  Egypt  was  in  relation  to  the  Logos  or  Divine  Word,  by 
whom  all  things  were  made,  and  who,  though  from  God,  was  God.  It  had  long 
been  known  that  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  others  before  the  Christian  era,  cherished 
the  idea  of  this  Demiurgus  ; but  it  was  not  known  till  of  late  that  Chaldeans 
and  Egyptians  recognized  this  mysterious  principle.  ”6 


1 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  p.  127. 

2 Higgins  : Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  14. 

The  following  answer  is  stated  by  Manetho, 
an  Egyptian  priest,  to  have  been  given  by  an 
Oracle  to  Sesostris  : “On  his  return  through 
Africa  he  entered  the  sanctuary  of  the  Oracle, 
saying:  ‘ Tell  me,  O thou  strong  in  fire,  who  be- 
fore me  could  subjugate  all  things  ? and  who 
shall  after  me  ?’  But  the  Oracle  rebuked  him, 
saying,  ‘ First,  God  ; then  the  Word  ; and  with 
them,  the  Spirit .’  ” (Nimrod,  vol.  i.  p.  119,  in 
Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  805.) 

Here  we  have  distinctly  enumerated  God, 
the  Logos,  and  the  Spirit  or  Holy  Ghost,  in  a 
very  early  period,  long  previous  to  the  Christian 
era. 

3 I.  John,  v.  7.  John  i.  1. 

4 The  Alexandrian  theology,  of  which  the 

celebrated  Plato  was  the  chief  representative, 

taught  that  the  Logos  was  “ the  second  Ood  ;" 


a being  of  divine  essence,  but  distinguished 
from  the  Supreme  God.  It  is  also  called  “ the 
first-born  Son  of  God." 

“ The  Platonists  furnished  brilliant  recruits 
to  the  Christian  churches  of  Asia  Minor  and 
Greece,  and  brought  with  them  their  love  for 
system  and  their  idealism.”  “ It  is  in  the 
Platonizing,  or  Alexandrian,  branch  of  Judaism 
that  we  must  seek  for  the  antecedents  of  the 
Christian  doctrine  of  the  Logos."  (A.  Keville  : 
Dogma  Deity  Jesus,  p.  29.) 

5 Higgins : . Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  102. 
Mithras , the  Mediator,  and  Saviour  of  the 
Persians,  was  called  the  Logos.  (See  Dunlap’s 
Son  of  the  Man,  p.  20.  Bunsen’s  Angel-Mes- 
siah,  p.  75.)  Hermes  was  called  the  Logos. 
(See  Dunlap’s  Son  of  the  Man,  p.  39,  marginal 
note.) 

6 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  402. 


374 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ The  Logos  or  Word  was  a great  mystery  (among  the  Egyptians),  in  whose 
sacred  books  the  following  passages  may  be  seen : ‘ I know  the  mystery  of  the 

divine  Word;  ’ ‘The  Word  of  the  Lord  of  All,  which  was  the  maker  of  it;’  ‘ The 
Word— this  is  the  first  person  after  himself,  uncreated,  infinite  ruling  overall 
things  that  were  made  by  him.’ 5,1 

The  Assyrians  had  Marduk  for  their  Logos  ;a  one  of  their  sacred 
addresses  to  him  reads  thus  : 

“ Thou  art  the  powerful  one — Thou  art  the  life  giver — Thou  also  the  pros- 
perer — Merciful  one  among  the  gods — Eldest  son  of  Hea,  who  made  heaven  and 
earth — Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  who  an  equal  has  not — Merciful  one,  who  dead 
to  life  raises.”1 2 3 

The  Chaldeans  had  tlieir  Memra  or  “ Word  of  God,”  corre- 
sponding to  the  Greek  Logos,  which  designated  that  being  who 
organized  and  who  still  governs  the  world,  and  is  inferior  to  God 
only.4 

The  Logos  was  with  Philoa  most  interesting  subject  of  discourse, 
tempting  him  to  wonderful  feats  of  imagination.  There  is  scarcely 
a personifying  or  exalting  epithet  that  he  did  not  bestow  on  the 
Divine  fteason.  He  described  it  as  a distinct  being;  called  it  “a 
Pock,”  “ The  Summit  of  the  Universe,”  “ Before  all  things,”  “First- 
begotten  Son  of  God,”  “ Eternal  Bread  from  Heaven,”  “ Fountain 
of  Wisdom,”  “ Guide  to  God,”  “ Substitute  for  God,”  “ Image  of 
God,”  “Priest,”  “Creator  of  the  Worlds,”  “Second  God,”  “ Inter- 
preter of  God,”  “Ambassador of  God,”  “Power of  God,”  “King,” 
“ Angel,”  “ Man,”  “ Mediator,”  “ Light,”  “ The  Beginning,”  “ The 
East,”  “ The  Hame  of  God,”  “ The  Intercessor.”5 

This  is  exactly  the  Logos  of  John.  It  becomes  a man,  “ is  made 
flesh  ;”  appears  as  an  incarnation  / in  order  that  the  God  whom 
“ no  man  has  seen  at  any  time,”  may  be  manifested. 

The  worship  of  God  in  the  form  of  a Trinity  was  to  be  found 
among  the  ancient  Greeks.  When  the  priests  were  about  to  offer 
up  a sacrifice  to  the  gods,  the  altar  was  three  times  sprinkled  by 
dipping  a laurel  branch  in  holy  water,  and  the  people  assembled 
around  it  were  three  times  sprinkled  also.  Frankincense  was  taken 
from  the  censer  with  three  fingers,  and  strewed  upon  the  altar  three 
times.  This  was  done  because  an  oracle  had  declared  that  all  sa- 
cred things  ought  to  l)e  in  threes,  therefore,  that  number  was  scru- 
pulously observed  in  most  religious  ceremonies.6 

Orpheus7  wrote  that : 

1 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  404.  9 See  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  307. 

2 Ibid.  7 Orpheus  is  said  to  have  been  a native  of 

8 Ibid.  Thracia,  the  oldest  poet  of  Greece,  and  to  have 

4 Ibid.  p.  28.  writ  en  before  the  time  of  Homer ; but  he  Is 

* Frjthingham’s  Cradle  of  the  Christ,  p.  112.  evid.  ntly  a mythological  character. 


THE  TRINITY. 


375 


“All  things  were  made  by  One  godhead  in  three  names,  and  that  this  god 
is  all  things.”1 * 

This  Trinitarian  view  of  the  Deity  he  is  said  to  have  brought 
from  Egypt,  and  the  Christian  Fathers  of  the  third  and  fourth  cen- 
turies claimed  that  Py  thagoras,  Heraclitus,  and  Plato  — who  taught 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  — had  drawn  their  theological  philosophy 
from  the  writings  of  Orpheus.8 

The  works  of  Plato  were  extensively  studied  by  the  Church 
Fathers,  one  of  whom  joyfully  recognizes  in  the  great  teacher,  the 
schoolmaster  who,  in  the  fullness  of  time,  was  destined  to  educate 
the  heathen  for  Christ,  as  Moses  did  the  Jews.3 

The  celebrated  passage  : “In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and 
the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God,”4  is  a fragment 
of  some  Pagan  treatise  on  the  Platonic  philosophy,  evidently  writ- 
ten by  Irenseus.5  It  is  quoted  by  Amelius , a Pagan  philosopher, 
as  strictly  applicable  to  the  Logos,  or  Mercury,  the  Word,  appa- 
rently as  an  honorable  testimony  borne  to  the  Pagan  deity  by  a 
barbarian — for  such  is  what  he  calls  the  writer  of  John  i.  1.  His 
words  are : 

“ This  plainly  was  the  Word,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  he  being  him- 
self eternal,  as  Heraclitus  also  would  say  ; and  by  Jove,  the  same  whom  the 
barbarian  affirms  to  have  been  in  the  place  and  dignity  of  a principal,  and  to 
be  with  God,  and  to  be  God,  by  whom  all  things  were  made,  and  in  whom 
everything  that  was  made  has  its  life  and  being.”6 

The  Christian  Father,  Justin  Martyr,  apologizing  for  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  tells  the  Emperor  Antoninus  Pius,  that  the  Pagans 
need  not  taunt  the  Christians  for  worshiping  the  Logos,  which  “ was 
with  God,  and  was  God,”  as  they  were  also  guilty  of  the  same  act. 

“ If  we  (Christians)  hold,”  says  he,  “ some  opinions  near  of  kin  to  the  poets 
and  philosophers,  in  great  repute  among  you,  why  are  we  thus  unjustly  hated?  ” 
“There’s  Mercury,  Jove’s  interpreter,  in  imitation  of  the  Logos,  in  worship 
among  you,”  and  “ as  to  the  Son  of  God,  called  Jesus,  should  we  allow  him  to  be 
nothing  more  than  man,  yet  the  title  of  the  ‘ Son  of  God’  is  very  justifiable,  upon 
the  account  of  his  wisdom,  considering  you  have  your  Mercury,  (also  called  the 
‘ Son  of  God  ’)  in  worship  under  the  title  of  the  Word  and  Messenger  of  God.”7 

We  see,  then,  that  the  title  “Word”  or  “Logos,”  being  ap- 
plied to  Jesus,  is  another  piece  of  Pagan  amalgamation  with  Chns- 


1 See  Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  iv.  p.  332,  and  6 The  first  that  we  know  of  this  gospel  for 
Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  189.  certain  is  during  the  time  of  Ireneeus,  the  great 

* See  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Orpheus.”  Christian  forger, 

* Ibid.,  art.  “Plato.”  « See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  185. 

4 John,  i.  1.  7 Apol.  1.  ch.  xx.-xxii. 


376 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


tianity.  It  did  not  receive  its  authorized  Christian  form  until  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  after  Christ.1 

The  ancient  Pagan  Romans  worshiped  a Trinity.  An  oracle  is 
said  to  have  declared  that  there  was,  “ first  God,  then  the  Word, 
and  with  them  the  Spirit.”2 

Here  we  see  distinctly  enumerated,  God,  the  Logos,  and  the 
Spirit  or  Holy  Ghost,  in  ancient  Home,  where  the  most  celebrated 
temple  of  this  capital  — that  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  — was  dedicated 
to  three  deities,  which  three  deities  were  honored  with  joint  wor- 
ship.3 

The  ancient  Persians  worshiped  a Trinity.4  This  trinity  con- 
sisted of  Oromasdes,  Mithras,  and  Ahriman.5  It  was  virtually  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Hindoos  : Oromasdes  was  the  Creator,  Mithras 
was  the  “ Son  of  God,”  the  “ Saviour,”  the  u Mediator  ” or  “ Inter- 
cessor,” and  Ahriman  was  the  Destroyer.  In  the  oracles  of  Zoro- 
aster the  Persian  lawgiver,  is  to  be  found  the  following  sentence : 

“A  Triad  of  Deity  shines  forth  through  the  whole  world,  of  which  a Monad 
(an  invisible  thing)  is  the  head.”6 

Plutarch,  “ De  Iside  et  Osiride,”  says  : 

“Zoroaster  is  said  to  have  made  a threefold  distribution  of  things  : to  have 
assigned  the  first  and  highest  rank  to  Oromasdes,  who,  in  the  Oracles,  is  called 
the  Father  ; the  lowest  to  Ahrimanes  ; and  the  middle  to  Mithras  ; who,  in  the 
same  Oracles,  is  called  the  second  Mind.” 

The  Assyrians  and  Phenicians  worshiped  a Trinity.7 

“ It  is  a curious  and  instructive  fact,  that  the  Jews  had  symbols 
of  the  divine  Unity  in  Trinity  as  well  as  the  Pagans.”8  The  Cabbala 
had  its  Trinity : “ the  Ancient , whose  name  is  sanctified,  is  with 
three  heads,  which  make  but  one.”* 

Rabbi  Simeon  Ben  Jochai  says: 

“Come  and  see  the  mystery  of  the  word  Elohim : there  are  three  degrees,  and 
each  degree  by  itself  alone,  and  yet,  notwithstanding,  they  are  all  One , and. 
joined  together  in  One,  and  cannot  be  divided  from  each  other.” 

According  to  Dr.  Parldiurst : 

“ The  Vandals^  had  a god  called  Triglaff.  One  of  these  was  found  at  Her- 


1 See  Fiske  : Myths  and  Myth-makers,  p. 
205.  Celsus  charges  the  Christians  with  a re- 
coinage of  the  misunderstood  doctrine  of  the 
Logos. 

2 See  Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  105. 

9 See  Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  iii.  p.  158. 

4 See  Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  346. 

Monumental  Christianity,  p.  65.  and  Ancient 

Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  819.  6 Ibid. 


6 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  iv.  p.  259. 

7 See  Monumental  Christianity,  p.  65,  and 
Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  819. 

8 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  923.  See  also, 
Maurice’s  Indian  Antiquities. 

9 Idra  Suta,  Sohar,  iii.  288.  B.  Franck,  138. 
Son  of  the  Man,  p.  78. 

10  Vandals— a race  of  European  barbarians,, 
either  of  Germanic  or  Slavonic  origin. 


THE  TRINITY. 


37? 


tungerberg,  near  Brandenburg  (in  Prussia).  He  was  represented  with  three 
heads.  This  was  apparently  the  Trinity  of  Paganism''1 

The  ancient  Scandinavians  worshiped  a triple  deity  who  was 
yet  one  god.  It  consisted  of  Odin,  Thor,  and  Frey.  A triune 
statue  representing  this  Trinity  in  Unity  was  found  at  Upsal  in 
Sweden.2  The  three  principal  nations  of  Scandinavia  (Sweden, 
Denmark,  and  Norway)  vied  with  each  other  in  erecting  temples, 
but  none  were  more  famous  than  the  temple  at  Upsal  in  Sweden. 
It  glittered  on  all  sides  with  gold.  It  seemed  to  be  particularly 
consecrated  to  the  Three  Superior  Deities , Odin,  Thor  and  Frey. 
The  statues  of  these  gods  were  placed  in  this  temple  on  three 
thrones,  one  above  the  other.  Odin  was  represented  holding  a 
sword  in  his  hand : Thor  stood  at  the  left  hand  of  Odin,  with  a 
crown  upon  his  head,  and  a scepter  in  his  hand ; Frey  stood  at  the 
left  hand  of  Thor,  and  was  represented  of  both  sexes.  Odin  was 
the  supreme  God,  the  Alfader  / Thor  was  the  first-begotten  son 
of  this  god,  and  Frey  was  the  bestower  of  fertility,  peace  and  riches. 
King  Gylfi  of  Sweden  is  supposed  to  have  gone  at  one  time  to  As- 
gard  (the  abode  of  the  gods),  where  he  beheld  three  thrones  raised 
one  above  another,  with  a man  sitting  on  each  of  them.  Upon  his 
asking  what  the  names  of  these  lords  might  be,  his  guide  answered  : 
“ He  who  sitteth  on  the  lowest  throne  is  the  Lofty  One  ; the  second 
is  the  equal  to  the  Lofty  One  • and  he  who  sitteth  on  the  highest 
throne  is  called  the  Third .”3 

The  ancient  Druids  also  worshiped  : “ Ain  Treidhe  Dia  ainm 
Taulac , Fan,  Mollac / ” which  is  to  say  : “ Ain  triple  God,  of  name 
Taulac,  Fan,  Mollac.”4 

The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Siberia  worshiped  a triune  God.  In 
remote  ages,  wanderers  from  India  directed  their  eyes  northward, 
and  crossing  the  vast  Tartarian  deserts,  finally  settled  in  Siberia, 
bringing  with  them  the  worship  of  a triune  God.  This  is  clearly 
shown  from  the  fact  stated  by  Thomas  Maurice,  that  : 

‘ * The  first  Christian  missionaries  who  arrived  in  those  regions,  found  the 
people  already  in  possession  of  that  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  true  religion, 
which,  among  others,  they  came  to  impress  upon  their  minds,  and  universally 
adored  an  idol  fabricated  to  resemble,  as  near  as  possible,  a Trinity  in  Unity." 

This  triune  God  consisted  of,  first  “ the  Creator  of  all  things,” 
second,  “ the  God  of  Armies,”  third,  “ the  Spirit  of  Heavenly  Love,” 
and  yet  these  three  were  but  one  indivisible  God.5 


1 Parkhurst : Hebrew  Lexicon,  Quoted  in 
Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  216. 

2 See  Knight:  Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  169. 

Maurice : Indian  Antiq.,  vol.  v.  p.  14,  and 

Gross  : The  Heathen  Religion,  p.  210. 


3 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities. 

4 Celtic  Druids,  p.  171;  Anacalypsis,  vol^ 
i.  p.  123;  and  Myths  of  the  British  Druids,  pi 
448. 

6 Indian  Antiquit'es,  vol.  v.  pp.  8,  9. 


378 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  Tartars  also  worshiped  God  as  a Trinity  in  Unity.  On  one 
of  their  medals,  which  is  now  in  the  St.  Petersburg!}  Museum,  may 
be  seen  a representation  of  the  triple  God  seated  on  the  lotus.1 

Even  in  the  remote  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  the  supreme 
deities  are  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  and  God  the  Spirit,  the 
latter  of  which  is  symbolized  as  a bird.2 

The  ancient  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  had  their  Trinity.  The 
supreme  God  of  the  Mexicans  ( Tezcatlijpoca ),  who  had,  as  Lord 
Kingsborough  says,  “ all  the  attributes  and  powers  which  were  as- 
signed to  Jehovah  by  the  Hebrews,”  had  associated  with  him  two 
other  gods,  Huitzlijpochtli  and  Tlaloc  ; one  occupied  a place  upon 
his  left  hand,  the  other  on  his  right.  This  was  the  Trinity  of  the 
Mexicans.3 4 

When  the  bishop  Don  Bartholomew  de  las  Casas  proceeded  to 
his  bishopric,  which  was  in  1545,  he  commissioned  an  ecclesiastic, 
whose  name  was  Francis  Hernandez,  who  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  language  of  the  Indians  (as  the  natives  were  called),  to  visit 
them,  carrying  with  him  a sort  of  catechism  of  what  he  was  about 
to  preach.  In  about  one  year  from  the  time  that  Francis  Hernan- 
dez was  sent  out,  he  wrote  to  Bishop  las  Casas,  stating  that : 

“ The  Indians  believed  in  the  God  who  was  in  heaven;  that  this  God  was  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  the  Father  was  named  Tzona,  the  Son 
Bacab,  who  was  born  of  a Virgin,  and  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  called  Ec- 
hiah”A 

The  Bev.  Father  Acosta  says,  in  speaking  of  the  Peruvians : 

“It  is  strange  that  the  devil  after  his  manner  hath  brought  a Trinity  into 
idolatry,  for  the  three  images  of  the  Sun  called  Apomti,  Ghurunti,  and  lntiquaoqui, 
signifieth  Father  and  Lord  Sun,  the  Son  Sun,  and  the  Brother  Sun. 

“ Being  in  Chuquisaca,  an  honorable  priest  showed  mean  information,  which 
I had  long  in  my  hands,  where  it  was  proved  that  there  was  a certain  oratory, 
whereat  the  Indians  did  worship  an  idol  called  Tangatanga , which  they  said  was 
‘ One  in  Three,  and  Three  in  One.’  And  as  this  priest  stood  amazed  thereat,  I 
said  that  the  devil  by  his  infernal  and  obstinate  pride  (whereby  he  always  pre- 
tends to  make  himself  God)  did  steal  all  that  he  could  from  the  truth,  to  employ 
it  in  his  lying  and  deceits.”5 

The  doctrine  was  recognized  among  the  Indians  of  the  Cali- 
fornian peninsula.  The  statue  of  the  principal  deity  of  the  New 
Granadian  Indians  had  “ three  heads  on  one  body,”  and  was  under- 
stood to  be  “ three  persons  with  one  heart  and  one  will.”0 


1 Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  48.  vi.  p.  164. 

2 Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  p.  169.  6 Acosta  : Hist.  Indies,  vol.  ii.  p.  373.  See 

• Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  pp.  179,  180.  also,  Indian  Antiq.,  vol.  v.  p.  26,  and  Squire’s 

Mexican  Ant.,  vol.  vi.  p.  164.  Serpent  Symbol,  p.  181. 

4 Kingsborough  : Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  6 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  181. 


THE  TRINITY. 


379 


The  result  of  our  investigations  then,  is  that,  for  ages  before 
the  time  of  Christ  Jesus  or  Christianity,  God  was  worshiped  in  the 
form  of  a Triad,  and  that  this  doctrine  was  extensively  diffused 
through  all  nations.  That  it  was  established  in  regions  as  far  dis- 
tant as  China  and  Mexico,  and  immemorially  acknowledged  through 
the  whole  extent  of  Egypt  and  India.  That  it  flourished  with  equal 
vigor  among  the  snowy  mountains  of  Thibet,  and  the  vast  deserts 
of  Siberia.  That  the  barbarians  of  central  Europe,  the  Scandinavi- 
ans, and  the  Druids  of  Britain  and  Ireland,  bent  their  knee  to  an 
idol  of  a Triune  God.  What  then  becomes  of  u the  Ever-Blessed 
Trinity  ” of  Christianity  ? It  must  fall,  together  with  all  the  rest 
of  its  dogmas,  and  be  buried  with  the  Pagan  debris. 

The  learned  Thomas  Maurice  imagined  that  this  mysterious 
doctrine  must  have  been  revealed  by  God  to  Adam,  or  to  Noah,  or 
to  Abraham,  or  to  somebody  else.  Notice  with  what  caution  he 
wrote  (a.  d.  1794)  on  this  subject.  He  says  : 

‘ ‘ In  the  course  of  the  wide  range  which  I have  been  compelled  to  take  in  the 
field  of  Asiatic  mythology,  certain  topics  have  arisen  for  discussion,  equally  deli- 
cate and  perplexing.  Among  them,  in  particular,  a species  of  Trinity  forms  a 
constant  and  prominent  feature  in  nearly  all  the  systems  of  Oriental  theology.” 

After  saying,  u 1 venture  with  a trembling  step”  and  that,  “ It 
was  not  from  choice , but  from  necessity , that  I entered  thus  upon 
this  subject,”  he  concludes  : 

“ This  extensive  and  interesting  subject  engrosses  a considerable  portion  of 
this  work,  and  my  anxiety  to  prepare  the  public  mind  to  receive  it,  my  efforts  to 
elucidate  so  mysterious  a point  of  theology,  induces  me  to  remind  the  candid 
reader,  that  visible  traces  of  this  doctrine  are  discovered,  not  only  in  the  three 
principals  of  the  Clialdaic  theology  ; in  the  Triplasios  Mithra  of  Persia  ; in  the 
Triad,  Brahma,  Yishnu,  and  Siva,  of  India — where  it  was  evidently  promul- 
gated in  the  Geeta,  fifteen  hundred  years  before  the  birth  of  Plato-,1  but  in  the  Nu- 
men  Triplex  of  Japan  ; in  the  inscription  upon  the  famous  medal  found  in  the 
deserts  of  Siberia,  “ To  the  Triune  God,”  to  be  seen  at  this  day  in  the  valuable 
cabinet  of  the  Empress,  at  St.  Petersburgh  ; in  the  Tanga-Tanga,  or  Three 
in  One,  of  the  South  Americans  ; and,  finally,  without  mentioning  the  vestiges  of 
it  in  Greece,  in  the  Symbol  of  the  Wing,  the  Globe,  and  the  Serpent,  conspicu- 
ous on  most  of  the  ancient  temples  of  Upper  Egypt.”2 

It  was  a long  time  after  the  followers  of  Christ  Jesus  had  made 
him  a God,  before  they  ventured  to  declare  that  he  was  “ God  him- 


1 The  ideas  entertained  concerning  the 
antiquity  of  the  Geeta,  at  the  time  Mr.  Maurice 
wrote  his  Indian  Antiquities,  were  erroneous. 
This  work,  as  we  have  elsewhere  seen,  is  not 
as  old  as  he  supposed.  The  doctrine  of  the 

Trimurti  in  India,  however,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Veda,  and  epic  poems,  which  are  of  an  an- 
tiquity long  anterior  to  the  rise  of  Christianity, 
preceding  it  by  many  centuries.  (See  Monier 


Williams’  Indian  Wisdom,  p.  324,  and  Hindu- 
ism, pp.  109,  110-115.) 

“The  grand  cavern  pagoda  of  Elephanta, 
the  oldest  and  most  magnificent  temple  in  the 
world,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a superb 
temple  of  a Triune  God.”  (Maurice  : Indian 
Antiquities,  vol.  iii.  p.  ix.) 

2 Indian  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  pp.  125-127. 


380 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


self  in  human  form ,”  and,  “ the  second  jperson  in  the  Ever -Blessed 
Trinity”  It  was  Justin  Martyr,  a Christian  convert  from  the  Pla- 
tonic school j who,  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century,  first 
promulgated  the  opinion,  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  “ Son  of  God,” 
was  the  second  principle  in  the  Deity,  and  the  Creator  of  all  mate- 
rial things.  He  is  the  earliest  writer  to  whom  the  opinion  can  be 
traced.  This  knowledge,  he  does  not  ascribe  to  the  Scriptures, 
but  to  the  special  favor  of  God.1 2 3 * * 

The  passage  in  I.  John,  v.  7,  which  reads  thus  : “For  there  are 
three  that  bear  record  in  heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  these  three  are  one,”  is  one  of  the  numerous  inter- 
polations which  were  inserted  into  the  hooks  of  the  New  Testament , 
many  years  after  these  hooks  were  written .8  These  passages  are 
retained  and  circulated  as  the  word  of  God , or  as  of  equal  authority 
with  the  rest,  though  known  and  admitted  by  the  learned  on  all 
hands,  to  be  forgeries,  willful  and  wicked  interpolations. 

The  subtle  and  profound  questions  concerning  the  nature,  gen- 
eration, the  distinction,  and  the  quality  of  the  three  divine  persons 
of  the  mysterious  triad,  or  Trinity,  were  agitated  in  the  philosophical 
and  in  the  Christian  schools  of  Alexandria  in  Egypt*  but  it  was 
not  a part  of  the  established  Christian  faith  until  as  late  as  a.  d.  327, 
when  the  question  was  settled  at  the  Councils  of  Nice  and  Constan- 
tinople. Up  to  this  time  there  was  no  understood  and  recognized 
doctrine  on  this  high  subject.  The  Christians  were  for  the  most 
part  accustomed  to  us  escriptural  expressions  in  speaking  of  the 
Father,  and  the  Son,  and  the  Spirit,  without  defining  articulately 
their  relation  to  one  another.6 * 

In  these  trinitarian  controversies,  which  first  broke  out  in  Egypt 
— Egypt,  the  land  of  Trinities  — the  chief  point  in  the  discussion 
was  to  define  the  position  of  “ the  Son.” 

There  lived  in  Alexandria  a presbyter  of  the  name  of  Arius , 
a disappointed  candidate  for  the  office  of  bishop.  He  took  the 


1 We  have  already  seen  that  Plato  and  his 
followers  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
centuries  before  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus. 

2 Israel  Worsley’s  Enquiry,  p.  54.  Quoted 
in  Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  116. 

3 “ The  memorable  text  (I.  John  v.  7)  which 

asserts  the  unity  of  the  three  which  bear  wit- 
ness in  heaven,  is  condemned  by  the  universal 

silence  of  the  orthodox  Fathers,  ancient  ver- 

sions, and  authentic  manuscripts.  It  was  first 
alleged  by  the  Catholic  Bishop  whom  Hunneric 

summoned  to  the  Conference  of  Carthage  (a.d. 
254),  or,  more  properly,  by  the  four  bishops 

who  composed  and  published  the  profession  of 
faith  in  the  name  of  their  brethren.”  (Gib- 


bon’s Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  556,  and  note  117.) 
None  of  the  ancient  manuscripts  now  extant, 
above  four-score  in  number,  contain  this  pas- 
sage. (Ibid,  note  116.)  In  the  eleventh  ano 
twelfth  centuries,  the  Bible  was  corrected. 
Yet,  notwithstanding  these  corrections,  the  pas- 
sage is  still  wanting  in  twenty-five  Latin  man- 
uscripts. (Ibid,  note  116.  See  also.  Dr.  Giles’ 
Hebrew  and  Christian  Records,  vol.  ii.  p.  12. 
Dr.  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  886. 
Rev.  Robert  Taylor’s  Diegesis.  p.  421,  and 
Reber’s  Christ  of  Paul.) 

* See  Gibbon’s  Rome,  ii.  309. 

6 Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art.  “ Trinity.” 


THE  TRINITY. 


381 


ground  that  there  was  a time  when,  from  the  very  nature  of  Son- 
ship,  the  Son  did  not  exist,  and  a time  at  which  he  commenced  to 
be,  asserting  that  it  is  the  necessary  condition  of  the  filial  relation 
that  a father  must  be  older  than  his  son.  But  this  assertion  evi- 
dently denied  the  co-eternity  of  the  three  persons  of  the  Trinity,  it 
suggested  a subordination  or  inequality  among  them,  and  indeed 
implied  a time  when  the  Trinity  did  not  exist.  Hereupon,  the 
bishop,  who  had  been  the  successful  competitor  against  Arius,  dis- 
played his  rhetorical  powers  in  public  debates  on  the  question,  and, 
the  strife  spreading,  the  Jews  and  Pagans,  who  formed  a very  large 
portion  of  the  population  of  Alexandria,  amused  themselves  with 
theatrical  representations  of  the  contest  on  the  stage  — the  point  of 
their  burlesques  being  the  - equality  of  age  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son.  Such  was  the  violence  the  controversy  at  length  assumed, 
that  the  matter  had  to  be  referred  to  the  emperor  (Constantine). 

At  first  he  looked  upon  the  dispute  as  altogether  frivolous,  and 
perhaps  in  truth  inclined  to  the  assertion  of  Arius,  that  in  the  very 
nature  of  the  thing  a father  must  be  older  than  his  son.  So  great, 
however,  was  the  pressure  laid  upon  him,  that  he  was  eventually 
compelled  to  summon  the  Council  of  Nicea,  which,  to  dispose  of 
the  conflict,  set  forth  a formulary  or  creed,  and  attached  to  it  this 
anathema : 

“The  Holy  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church  anathematizes  those  who  say  that 
there  was  a time  when  the  Son  of  God  was  not,  and  that,  before  he  was  begot- 
ten, he  was  not,  and  that,  he  was  made  out  of  nothing,  or  out  of  another  sub- 
stance or  essence,  and  is  created,  or  changeable,  or  alterable.” 

Constantine  at  once  enforced  the  decision  of  the  council  by  the 
civil  power.1 

Even  after  this  “subtle  and  profound  question”  had  been 
settled  at  the  Council  of  Nice,  those  who  settled  it  did  not  under- 
stand the  question  they  had  settled.  Athanasius,  who  was  a mem- 
ber of  the  first  general  council,  and  who  is  said  to  have  written  the 
creed  which  bears  his  name,  which  asserts  that  the  true  Catholic 
faith  is  this  : 

“That  we  worship  One  God  as  Trinity,  and  Trinity  in  Unity — neither  con- 
founding the  persons  nor  dividing  the  substance — for  there  is  one  person  of  the 
Father,  another  of  the  Son,  and  another  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  the  Godhead  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  all  one,  the  glory  equal,  the 
majesty  co-eternal,” 

— also  confessed  that  whenever  he  forced  his  understanding  to 


Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  pp.  53,  54. 


382 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


meditate  on  the  divinity  of  the  Logos,  his  toilsome  and  unavailing 
efforts  recoiled  on  themselves ; that  the  more  he  thought  the  less  he 
comprehended ; and  the  more  he  wrote  the  less  capable  was  he  of 
expressing  his  thoughts.1 

We  see,  then,  that  this  great  question  was  settled,  not  by  the 
consent  of  all  members  of  the  council,  but  simply  because  the 
majority  were  in  favor  of  it.  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  “ God  himself 
in  human  form  ;”  “ one  of  the  persons  of  the  Ever-Blessed  Trinity,” 
who  “ had  no  beginning,  and  will  have  no  end,”  because  the  major- 
' ity  of  the  members  of  this  council  said  so.  Hereafter — so  it  was 
decreed — all  must  believe  it  / if  not,  they  must  not  oppose  it,  but 
forever  hold  their  peace. 

The  Emperor  Theodosius  declared  his  resolution  of  expelling 
from  all  the  churches  of  his  dominions,  the  bishops  and  their  clergy 
who  should  obstinately  refuse  to  believe,  or  at  least  to  profess , the 
doctrine  of  the  Council  of  Nice.  His  lieutenant,  Sapor,  was  armed 
with  the  ample  powers  of  a general  law,  a special  commission,  and 
a military  force ; and  this  ecclesiastical  resolution  was  conducted 
with  so  much  discretion  and  vigor , that  the  religion  of  the  Emperor 
was  established .2 

Here  we  have  the  historical  fact,  that  bishops  of  the  Christian 
church,  and  their  clergy,  were  forced  to  profess  their  belief  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 

We  also  find  that : 

“This  orthodox  Emperor  (Theodosius)  considered  every  heretic  (as  he  called 
those  who  did  not  believe  as  he  and  his  ecclesiastics  professed)  as  a rebel  against 
the  supreme  powers  of  heaven  and  of  earth  (he  being  one  of  the  supreme 
powers  of  earth)  and  each  of  the  powers  might  exercise  their  peculiar  jurisdiction 
over  the  soul  and  body  of  the  guilty . 

“ The  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Constantinople  had  ascertained  the  true 
standard  of  the  faith,  and  the  ecclesiastics,  who  governed  the  conscience  of  Theodo- 
sius, suggested  the  most  effectual  methods  of  persecution.  In  the  space  of  fifteen 
years  he  promulgated  at  least  fifteen  severe  edicts  against  the  heretics,  more  es- 
pecially against  those  who  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  ”3 

Thus  we  see  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  the  “ most  holy 
Christian  religion  ” spread  so  rapidly. 

Arius — who  declared  that  in  the  nature  of  things  a father  must 
be  older  than  his  son — was  excommunicated  for  his  so-called  heret- 
ical notions  concerning  the  Trinity.  His  followers,  who  were  very 


1 Athanasius,  tom.  i.  p.  808.  Quoted  in  frankly  pronounced  it  to  be  the  work  of  a 

Gibbon’s  Rome.  vol.  ii.  p.  310.  drunken  man.  (Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  555, 

Gennadius,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  was  note  114.) 
so  much  amazed  by  the  extraordinary  compo-  2 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  87. 

Bition  called  “ Athanasius’  Creed,”  that  he  3 Ibid.  pp.  91,  92. 


THE  TRINITY. 


383 


numerous,  were  called  Arians.  Their  writings,  if  they  had  been  per- 
mitted to  exist,1  would  undoubtedly  contain  the  lamentable  story  of 
the  persecution  which  affected  the  church  under  the  reign  of  the 
impious  Emperor  Theodosius. 


1 Ail  their  writings  were  ordered  to  be  destroyed,  and  any  one  found  to  have  them  in  hie 
possession  was  severely  punished. 


CHAPTEE  XXXY1. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


Our  assertion  that  that  which  is  called  Christianity  is  nothing 
more  than  the  religion  of  Paganism,  we  consider  to  have  been  fully 
verified.  We  have  found  among  the  heathen,  centuries  before  the 
time  of  Christ  Jesus,  the  belief  in  an  incarnate  God  born  of  a vir- 
gin ; his  previous  existence  in  heaven ; the  celestial  signs  at  the 
time  of  his  birth ; the  rejoicing  in  heaven  ; the  adoration  by  the 
magi  and  shepherds ; the  offerings  of  precious  substances  to  the 
divine  child ; the  slaughter  of  the  innocents  ; the  presentation  at 
the  temple ; the  temptation  by  the  devil ; the  performing  of  mira- 
cles ; the  crucifixion  by  enemies ; and  the  death,  resurrection,  and 
ascension  into  heaven.  We  have  also  found  the  belief  that  this 
incarnate  God  was  from  all  eternity  ; that  he  was  the  Creator  of  the 
world,  and  that  he  is  to  be  Judge  of  the  dead  at  the  last  day.  We 
have  also  seen  the  practice  of  Baptism,  and  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord’s  Supper  or  Eucharist,  added  to  the  belief  in  a Triune  God, 
consisting  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  Let  us  now  compare 
the  Christian  creed  with  ancient  Pagan  belief. 


Christian  Creed. 

1.  I believe  in  God  the  Father  Al- 
mighty, maker  of  heaven  and  earth  : 

2.  And  in  Jesus  Christ,  his  only 
Son,  Our  Lord. 

3.  Who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 

4.  Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate, 
was  crucified,  dead  and  buried. 


Ancient  Pagan  Belief. 

1.  I believe  in  God  the  Father  Al- 
mighty, maker  of  heaven  and  earth  r1 

2.  And  in  his  only  Son,  our  Lord.2 

3.  Who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary.3 

4.  Suffered  under  (whom  it  might 
be),  was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried.4 


1 “ Before  the  separation  of  the  Aryan  race,  a See  Chap.  XII.  and  Chap.  XX.,  for  Only- 
before  the  existence  of  Sanscrit,  Greek,  or  begotten  Sons. 

Latin,  before  the  gods  of  the  Veda  had  been  3 See  Chap.  XII.  and  Chap.  XXXII.,  where 
worshiped,  one  supreme  deity  had  been  we  have  shown  that  many  other  virgin-born 

found,  had  been  named,  and  had  been  invoked  gods  were  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 

by  the  ancestors  of  our  race.”  (Prof.  Max  that  the  name  Mary  is  the  same  as  Maia, 
Muller  : The  Science  of  Religion,  p.  67.)  Maya,  Myrra,  &c. 

4 See  Chap.  XX.,  for  Crucified  Saviours. 


[384] 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY, 


385 


5.  He  descended  into  Hell ; 

6.  The  third  day  he  rose  again  from 
the  dead  ; 

7.  He  ascended  into  Heaven,  and 
sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the 
Father  Almighty  ; 

8.  From  thence  he  shall  come  to 
judge  the  quick  and  the  dead. 

9.  I believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost  ; 

10.  The  Holy  Catholic  Church,  the 
Communion  of  Saints  ; 

11.  The  forgiveness  of  sins  ; 

12.  The  resurrection  of  the  body  ; 
and  the  life  everlasting. 


5.  He  descended  into  Hell 

6.  The  third  day  he  rose  again  from 
the  dead  ;1 2 

7.  He  ascended  into  Heaven,  and 
sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the 
Father  Almighty  ;3 

8.  From  thence  he  shall  come  to 
judge  the  quick  and  the  dead.4 

9.  I believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost  ;5 

10.  The  Holy  Catholic  Church,6  the 
Communion  of  Saints ; 

11.  The  forgiveness  of  sins  ;7 

12.  The  resurrection  of  the  body  ; 
and  the  life  everlasting.8 


The  above  is  the  so-called  “ Apostles ’ Creed”  as  it  now  stands 
in  the  book  of  common  prayer  of  the  United  Church  of  England 
and  Ireland,  as  by  law  established. 

It  is  affirmed  by  Ambrose,  that : 

‘ ‘ The  twelve  apostles,  as  skilled  artificers,  assembled  together,  and  made  a 
key  by  their  common  advice,  that  is,  the  Creed,  by  which  the  darkness  of  the 
devil  is  disclosed,  that  the  light  of  Christ  may  appear.” 


Others  fable  that  every  Apostle  inserted  an  article,  by  which 
the  Creed  is  divided  into  twelve  articles. 

The  earliest  account  of  its  origin  we  have  from  Ruffinus,  an 
historical  compiler  and  traditionist  of  th z fourth  century,  but  not 
in  the  form  in  which  it  is  known  at  present,  it  having  been  added 
to  since  that  time.  The  most  important  addition  is  that  which 
affirms  that  Jesus  descended  into  hell,  which  has  been  added  since 
a.d.  600.9 


1 See  Chap.  XXII. 

2 See  Chaps.  XXII.  and  XXXIX.,  for  Resur- 

rected Saviours. 

8 See  Ibid. 

< See  Chap.  XXIV.,  and  Chap.  XXV. 

6  See  Chap.  XII.,  and  Chap.  XXXV. 

6 That  is,  the  holy  true  Church.  All  peoples 
who  have  had  a religion  believe  that  theirs 
was  the  Catholic  faith. 

7 There  w as  no  nation  of  antiquity  who  did 
not  believe  in  “the  forgiveness  of  sins,” 
especially  if  some  innocent  creature  redeemed 
them  by  the  shedding  of  his  blood  (see  Chap. 
IV.,  and  Chap.  XX.),  and  as  far  as  confession 
of  6ins  is  concerned,  and  thereby  being  for- 
given, this  too  is  almost  as  old  as  humanity. 
Father  Acosta  found  it  even  among  the  Mex- 
icans, and  said  that  “the  father  of  lies  (the 
Devil)  counterfeited  the  sacrament  of  con- 
fession, so  that  he  might  be  honored  with 
ceremonies  very  like  the  Christians.”  (See 
Acosta,  vol.  ii.  p.  360.) 

8 “ No  doctrine  except  that  of  a supreme 

25 


and  subtly-pervading  deity,  is  so  extended, 
and  has  retained  its  primitive  form  so  dis- 
tinctly, as  a belief  in  immortality,  and  a future 
state  of  rewards  and  punishments.  Among 
the  most  savage  races,  the  idea  of  a future 
existence  in  a place  of  delight  is  found.” 
(Kenneth  R.  H.  Mackenzie.) 

“Go  back  far  as  we  may  in  the  history 
of  the  Indo-European  race,  of  which  the 
Greeks  and  Italians  are  branches,  and  we  do 
not  find  that  this  race  has  ever  thought  that 
after  this  short  life  all  was  finished  for  man. 
The  most  ancient  generations,  long  before 
there  were  philosophers,  believed  in  a second 
existence  after  the  present.  They  looked  upon 
death  not  as  a dissolution  of  our  being,  but 
simply  as  a change  of  life.”  (M.  De  Coulanges: 
The  Ancient  City,  p.  15.) 

9 For  full  information  on  this  subject  see 
Archbishop  Wake’s  Apostolic  Fathers,  p.  103, 
Justice  Bailey’s  Common  Prayer,  Taylor’s 
Diegesis,  p.  10,  and  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art. 
“ Creeds.” 


386 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Beside  what  we  have  already  seen,  the  ancient  Pagans  had 
many  beliefs  and  ceremonies  which  are  to  be  found  among  the 
Christians.  One  of  these  is  the  story  of  “ The  War  in  Heaven .” 

The  New  Testament  version  is  as  follows  : 

“There  was  a war  in  heaven  : Michael  and  his  angels  fought  against  the 
dragon,  and  the  dragon  fought,  and  his  angels,  and  prevailed  not,  neither  was 
their  place  found  any  more  in  heaven.  And  the  great  dragon  was  cast  out,  that 
old  serpent,  called  the  devil,  and  Satan,  which  deceiveth  the  whole  world,  he  was 
cast  out  into  the  earth,  and  his  angels  were  cast  out  with  him.”1 

The  cause  of  the  revolt,  it  is  said,  was  that  Satan,  who  was  then 
an  angel,  desired  to  be  as  great  as  God.  The  writer  of  Isaiah,  xiv. 
13,  14,  is  supposed  to  refer  to  it  when  he  says  : 

“ Thou  hast  said  in  thine  heart,  I will  ascend  into  heaven,  I will  exalt  my 
throne  above  the  stars  of  God  ; I will  sit  also  upon  the  mount  of  the  congrega- 
tion in  the  sides  of  the  North  ; I will  ascend  before  the  heights  of  the  clouds  ; 
I will  be  like  the  Most  High.” 

The  Catholic  theory  of  the  fall  of  the  angels  is  as  follows : 

“In  the  beginning,  before  the  creation  of  heaven  and  earth,  God  made  the 
angels,  free  intelligences,  and  free  wills,  out  of  his  love  He  made  them,  that  they 
might  be  eternally  happy.  And  that  their  happiness  might  be  complete,  he  gave 
them  the  perfection  of  a created  nature,  that  is,  he  gave  them  freedom.  But 
happiness  is  only  attained  by  the  freewill  agreeing  in  its  freedom  to  accord  with 
the  will  of  God.  Some  of  the  angels  by  an  act  of  free  will  obeyed  the  will  of 
God,  and  in  such  obedience  found  perfect  happiness.  Other  angels,  by  an  act  of 
free  will,  rebelled  against  the  will  of  God,  and  in  such  disobedience  found 
misery.”2 

They  were  driven  out  of  heaven,  after  having  a combat  with 
the  obedient  angels,  and  cast  into  hell.  The  writer  of  second  Peter 
alludes  to  it  in  saying  that  God  spared  not  the  angels  that  sinned, 
but  cast  them  down  into  hell.3 

The  writer  of  Jude  also  alludes  to  it  in  saying : 

“ The  angels  which  kept  not  their  first  estate,  but  left  their  own  habitation, 
he  hath  reserved  in  everlasting  chains  under  darkness  unto  the  judgment  of  the 
great  day.”4 * 

According  to  the  Talmudists , Satan,  whose  proper  name  is 
Sammael,  was  one  of  the  Seraphim  of  heaven,  with  six  wings. 

‘ ' He  was  not  driven  out  of  heaven  until  after  he  had  led  Adam  and  Eve  into  sin; 
then  Sammael  and  his  host  were  precipitated  out  of  the  place  of  bliss,  with  God’s 
curse  to  weigh  them  down.  In  the  struggle  between  Michael  and  Sammael,  the 
falling  Seraph  caught  the  wings  of  Michael,  and  tried  to  drag  him  down  with 
him,  but  God  saved  him,  when  Michael  derived  his  name,— the  Rescued.”6 


1 Key.  xi.  7-9.  < Jude,  6. 

3 S.  Baring-Gould  : Legends  of  Patriarchs,  6 S.  Baring-Gould  : Legends  of  Patriarchs, 

P 25.  p.  16. 

* U.  Peter,  ii.  4. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


387 


Sammael  was  formerly  chief  among  the  angels  of  God,  and  now 
he  is  prince  among  devils.  His  name  is  derived  from  Simme, 
which  means,  to  blind  and  deceive.  He  stands  on  the  left  side  of 
men.  He  goes  by  various  names  ; such  as  “ The  Old  Serpent,” 
“ The  Unclean  Spirit,”  “ Satan,”  “ Leviathan,”  and  sometimes  also 
“ Asael.”1 

According  to  Hindoo  mythology,  there  is  a legion  of  evil 
spirits  called  Pakshasas , who  are  governed  by  a prince  named 
Havana.  These  Rakshasas  are  continually  aiming  to  do  injury  to 
mankind,  and  are  the  same  who  fought  desperate  battles  with 
Indra , and  his  Spirits  of  Light.  They  would  have  taken  his  para- 
dise by  storm,  and  subverted  the  whole  order  of  the  universe,  if 
Brahma  had  not  sent  Vishnou  to  circumvent  their  plans. 

In  the  Aitareya-brahmaaia  (Hindoo)  written,  according  to  Prof. 
Monier  Williams,  seven  or  eight  centuries  b.  c.,  we  have  the 
following  legend: 

“ The  gods  and  demons  were  engaged  in  warfare. 

The  evil  demons,  like  to  mighty  kings, 

Made  these  worlds  castles  ; then  they  formed  the  earth 

Into  an  iron  citadel,  the  air 

Into  a silver  fortress,  and  the  sky 

Into  a fort  of  gold.  Whereat  the  gods 

Said  to  each  other,  ‘ Frame  me  other  worlds 

In  opposition  to  these  fortresses.’ 

Then  they  constructed  sacrificial  places, 

Where  they  performed  a triple  burnt  oblation. 

By  the  first  sacrifice  they  drove  the  demons 
Out  of  their  earthly  fortress,  by  the  second 
Out  of  the  air,  and  by  the  third  oblation 
Out  of  the  sky.  Thus  were  the  evil  spirits 
Chased  by  the  gods  in  triumph  from  the  worlds.”2 * 

The  ancient  Egyptians  were  familiar  with  the  tale  of  the  war 
in  heaven ; and  the  legend  of  the  revolt  against  the  god  Ra,  the 
Heavenly  Father,  and  his  destruction  of  the  revolters,  was  discov- 
ered by  M.  Naville  in  one  of  the  tombs  at  Biban-el-moluk.* 

The  same  story  is  to  be  found  among  the  ancient  Persian 
legends,  and  is  related  as  follows  : 

“ Ahriman,  the  devil,  was  not  created  evil  by  the  eternal  one,  but  he  became 
evil  by  revolting  against  his  will.  This  revolt  resulted  in  a ‘ war  in  heaven.’  In 
this  war  the  Iveds  (good  angels)  fought  against  the  Dim  (rebellious  ones)  headed 
by  Ahriman , and  flung  the  conquered  into  Douzahk  or  hell.”4 


1 S.  Baring-Gould  : Legends  of  Patriarchs,  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Relig.  Beliefs,  p.  73,  and 

P-  17.  Baring-Gould’s  Legends  of  the  Prophets,  p.  19. 

2 Indian  Wisdom,  p.  32.  4 s.  Baring-Gould’s  Legends  of  Patriarchs, 

* See  Renouf’s  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  105.  p.  19. 


388 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


An  extract  from  the  Persian  Zend-mesta  reads  as  follows  : 

“ Ahriman  interrupted  the  order  of  the  universe,  raised  an  army  against  Or- 
muzd,  and  having  maintained  a fight  against  him  during  ninety  days,  was  at 
length  vanquished  by  Honover,  the  divine  Word.”1 2 

The  Assyrians  had  an  account  of  a war  in  heaven,  which  was 
like  that  described  in  the  book  of  Enoch  and  the  Revelation.8 

This  legend  was  also  to  be  found  among  the  ancient  Greeks,  in 
the  struggle  of  the  Titans  against  Jupiter.  Titan  and  all  his  rebel- 
lious host  were  cast  out  of  heaven,  and  imprisoned  in  the  dark 
abyss. 3 

Anong  the  legends  of  the  ancient  Mexicans  was  found  this  same 
story  of  the  war  in  heaven,  and  the  downfall  of  the  rebellious 
angels.4 * 

“ The  natives  of  the  Caroline  Islands  (in  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean),  related  that  one  of  the  inferior  gods,  named  Merogrog , was 
driven  by  the  other  gods  out  of  heaven.555 

We  see,  therefore,  that  this  also  was  an  almost  universal  legend. 

The  belief  in  a future  life  was  almost  universal  among  nations 
of  antiquity.  The  Hindoos  have  believed  from  time  immemorial 
that  man  has  an  invisible  body  within  the  material  body ; that  is,  a 
soul.  % 

Among  the  ancient  Egyptians  the  same  belief  was  to  be  found. 
All  the  dead,  both  men  and  women,  were  spoken  of  as  “ Osiricma y55 
by  which  they  intended  to  signify  “ gone  to  Osiris.55 

Their  belief  in  One  Supreme  Being,  and  the  immortality  of 
the  soul,  must  have  been  very  ancient ; for  on  a monument,  which 
dates  ages  before  Abraham  is  said  to  have  lived,  is  found  this 
epitaph : “ May  thy  soul  attain  to  the  Creator  of  all  mankind.55 
Sculptures  and  paintings  in  these  grand  receptacles  of  the  dead,  as 
translated  by  Champollion,  represent  the  deceased  ushered  into  the 
world  of  spirits  by  funeral  deities,  who  announce,  “ A soul  arrived 
in  Amenti.556 

The  Hindoo  idea  of  a subtile  invisible  body  within  the  material 
body,  reappeared  in  the  description  of  Greek  poets.  They  repre- 
sented the  constitution  of  man  as  consisting  of  three  principles : 
the  soul,  the  invisible  body,  and  the  material  body.  The  invisible 
body  they  called  the  ghost  or  shade,  and  considered  it  as  the  ma- 
terial portion  of  the  soul.  At  death,  the  soul,  clothed  in  this  sub- 

1 Priestley,  p.  35.  4 See  Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  31. 

2 See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  411.  6 S.  Baring-Gould’s  Legends  of  Patriarchs, 

8 See  Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  819.  p.  20. 

Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  215,  and  Dupuis  : Origin  6 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  159,  and 

of  Relig.  Beliefs,  p.  73.  Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


389 


tile  body,  went  to  enjoy  paradise  for  a season,  or  suffer  in  hell  till 
its  sins  were  expiated.  This  paradise  was  called  the  “ Elysian 
Fields,”  and  the  hell  was  called  Tartarus. 

The  paradise,  some  supposed  to  be  a part  of  the  lower  world, 
some  placed  them  in  a middle  zone  in  the  air,  some  in  the  moon, 
and  others  in  far-off  isles  in  the  ocean.  There  shone  more  glorious 
sun  and  stars  than  illuminated  this  world.  The  day  was  always 
serene,  the  air  forever  pure,  and  a soft,  celestial  light  clothed  all 
things  in  transfigured  beauty.  Majestic  groves,  verdant  meadows, 
and  blooming  gardens  varied  the  landscape.  The  river  Eridanus 
flowed  through  winding  banks  fringed  with  laurel.  On  its  borders 
lived  heroes  who  had  died  for  their  country,  priests  who  had  led  a 
pure  life,  artists  who  had  embodied  genuine  beauty  in  their  work, 
and  poets  who  had  never  degraded  their  muse  with  subjects  un- 
worthy of  Apollo.  There  each  one  renewed  the  pleasures  in  which 
he  formerly  delighted.  Orpheus,  in  long  white  robes,  made  en- 
rapturing music  on  his  lyre,  while  others  danced  and  sang.  The 
husband  rejoined  his  beloved  wife ; old  friendships  were  renewed, 
the  poet  repeated  his  verses,  and  the  charioteer  managed  his  horses. 

Some  souls  wandered  in  vast  forests  between  Tartarus  and 
Elysium,  not  good  enough  for  one,  or  bad  enough  for  the  other. 
Some  were  purified  from  their  sins  by  exposure  to  searching  winds, 
others  by  being  submerged  in  deep  waters,  others  by  passing  through 
intense  fires.  After  along  period  of  probation  and  suffering,  many 
of  them  gained  the  Elysian  Fields.  This  belief  is  handed  down  to 
our  day  in  the  Roman  Catholic  idea  of  Purgatory. 

A belief  in  the  existence  of  the  soul  after  death  was  indicated 
in  all  periods  of  history  of  the  world,  by  the  fact  that  man  was 
always  accustomed  to  address  prayers  to  the  spirits  of  their  an- 
cestors.1 

These  heavens  and  hells  where  men  abode  after  death,  vary, 
in  different  countries,  according  to  the  likes  and  dislikes  of  each 
nation. 

All  the  Teutonic  nations  held  to  a fixed  Elysium  and  a hell, 
where  the  valiant  and  the  just  were  rewarded,  and  where  the 
cowardly  and  the  wicked  suffered  punishment.  As  all  nations  have 
made  a god,  and  that  god  has  resembled  the  persons  who  made  it, 
so  have  all  nations  made  a heaven,  and  that  heaven  corresponds  to 
the  fancies  of  the  people  who  have  created  it. 

In  the  prose  Edda  there  is  a description  of  the  joys  of  Valhalla 

1 This  subject  is  most  fully  entered  into  by  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  in  vol.  i.  of  “ Principle* 
of  Sociology.” 


390 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


(the  Hall  of  the  Chosen),  which  states  that : “ All  men  who  have 
fallen  in  fight  since  the  beginning  of  the  world  are  gone  to  Odin 
(the  Supreme  God),  in  Yalhalla.”  A mighty  band  of  men  are 
there,  “ and  every  day,  as  soon  as  they  have  dressed  themselves, 
they  ride  out  into  the  court  (or  field),  and  there  fight  until  they  cut 
each  other  into  pieces.  This  is  their  pastime,  but  when  the  meal- 
tide  approaches,  they  remount  their  steeds,  and  return  to  drink  in 
Valhalla . As  it  is  said  (in  Yafthrudnis-mal) : 

‘ The  Einherjar  all 
On  Odin’s  plain 
Hew  daily  each  other, 

While  chosen  the  slain  are. 

From  the  frey  they  then  ride, 

And  drink  ale  with  the  ^Esir.’  ”1 

This  description  of  the  palace  of  Odin  is  a natural  picture  of  the 
manners  of  the  ancient  Scandinavians  and  Germans.  Prompted 
by  the  wants  of  their  climate,  and  the  impulse  of  their  own  temper- 
ament, they  formed  to  themselves  a delicious  paradise  in  their  own 
way  ; where  they  were  to  eat  and  drink,  and  fight.  The  women, 
to  whom  they  assigned  a place  there,  were  introduced  for  no  other 
purpose  but  to  fill  their  cups. 

The  Mohammedan  paradise  differs  from  this.  Women  there , 
are  for  man’s  pleasure.  The  day  is  always  serene,  the  air  forever 
pure,  and  a soft  celestial  light  clothes  all  things  in  transfigured 
beauty.  Majestic  groves,  verdant  meadows,  and  blooming  gardens 
vary  the  landscape.  There,  in  radiant  halls,  dwell  the  departed, 
ever  blooming  and  beautiful,  ever  laughing  and  gay. 

The  American  Indian  calculates  upon  finding  successful  chases 
after  wild  animals,  verdant  plains,  and  no  winter,  as  the  character- 
istics of  his  “ future  life.” 

The  red  Indian,  when  told  by  a missionary  that  in  the  “ promised 
land  ” they  would  neither  eat,  drink,  hunt,  nor  marry  a wife,  con- 
temptuously replied,  that  instead  of  wishing  to  go  there,  he  should 
deem  his  residence  in  such  a place  as  the  greatest  possible  calamity. 
Many  not  only  rejected  such  a destiny  for  themselves,  but  were 
indignant  at  the  attempt  to  decoy  their  children  into  such  a com- 
fortless region. 

All  nations  of  the  earth  have  had  their  heavens.  As  Moore 
observes : 

“ A heaven,  too,  ye  must  have,  ye  lords  of  dust — 

A splendid  paradise,  poor  souls,  ye  must : 


See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquit'es,  p.  429. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


391 


That  prophet  ill  sustains  his  holy  call 
Who  finds  not  heavens  to  suit  the  tastes  of  all. 

Vain  things  ! as  lust  or  vanity  inspires, 

The  heaven  of  each  is  but  what  each  desires.” 

Heaven  was  born  of  the  sky,1  and  nurtured  by  cunning  priests, 
who  made  man  a coward  and  a slave. 

Hell  was  built  by  priests,  and  nurtured  by  the  fears  and  servile 
fancies  of  man  during  the  ages  when  dungeons  of  torture  were  a 
recognized  part  of  every  government,  and  when  God  was  supposed 
to  be  an  infinite  tyrant,  with  infinite  resources  of  vengeance. 

The  devil  is  an  imaginary  being,  invented  by  primitive  man  to 
account  for  the  existence  of  evil,  and  relieve  God  of  his  responsi- 
bility. The  famous  Hindoo  Rakshasas  of  our  Aryan  ancestors — 
the  dark  and  evil  clouds  personified — are  the  originals  of  all  devils. 
The  cloudy  shape  has  assumed  a thousand  different  forms,  horrible 
or  grotesque  and  ludicrous,  to  suit  the  changing  fancies  of  the  ages. 

But  strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  god  of  one  nation  became  the 
devil  of  another. 

The  rock  of  Behistun,  the  sculptured  chronicle  of  the  glories 
of  Darius,  king  of  Persia,  situated  on  the  western  frontier  of  Me- 
dia, on  the  high-road  from  Babylon  to  the  eastward,  was  used  as  a 
“ holy  of  holies.”  It  was  named  Bagistane  — “ the  place  of  the 
Baga  ” — referring  to  Ormuzd,  chief  of  the  Bagas.  When  exam- 
ined with  the  lenses  of  linguistic  science,  the  “ Bogie  ” or  “ Bug-a- 
boo”  or  “ Bugbear ” of  nursery  lore,  turns  out  to  be  identical  with 
the  Slavonic  “ Bog  ” and  the  “ Baga  ” of  the  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tions, both  of  which  are  names  of  the  Supreme  Being.  It  is  found 
also  in  the  old  Aryan  “ Bhaga ,”  who  is  described  in  a commentary 
of  the  Rig-  Veda  as  the  lord  of  life,  the  giver  of  bread,  and  the 
bringer  of  happiness.  Thus,  the  same  name  which,  to  the  Vedic 
poet,  to  the  Persian  of  the  time  of  Xerxes,  and  to  the  modern  Kus- 
sian,  suggests  the  supreme  majesty  of  deity,  is  in  English  associated 
with  an  ugly  and  ludicrous  fiend.  Another  striking  illustration  is 
to  be  found  in  the  word  devil  itself.  When  traced  back  to  its 
primitive  source,  it  is  found  to  be  a name  of  the  Supreme  Being.2 

The  ancients  had  a great  number  of  festival  days,  many  of  which 
are  handed  down  to  the  present  time,  and  are  to  be  found  in  Christi- 
anity. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  25th  of  December  was  almost  a 
universal  festival  among  the  ancients ; so  it  is  the  same  with  the 
spring  festivals,  when  days  of  fasting  are  observed. 


1 See  Appendix  C. 


3 See  Fiske,  pp.  104-107. 


392 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  Hindoos  hold  a festival,  called  Siva-rabri , in  honor  of  Swa, 
about  the  middle  or  end  of  February.  A strict  fast  is  observed 
during  the  day.  They  have  also  a festival  in  April,  when  a strict 
fast  is  kept  by  some.1 * 

At  the  spring  equinox  most  nations  of  antiquity  set  apart  a day 
to  implore  the  blessings  of  their  god,  or  gods,  on  the  fruits  of  the 
earth.  At  the  autumnal  equinox,  they  offered  the  fruits  of  the  har- 
vest, and  returned  thanks.  In  China,  these  religious  solemnities 
are  called  “Festivals  of  gratitude  to  Tien.”9  The  last  named  cor- 
responds to  our  “ Thanksgiving  ” celebration. 

One  of  the  most  considerable  festivals  held  by  the  ancient  Scan- 
dinavians was  the  spring  celebration.  This  was  held  in  honor  of 
Odin,  at  the  beginning  of  spring,  in  order  to  welcome  in  that  pleas- 
ant season,  and  to  obtain  of  their  god  happy  success  in  their  pro- 
jected expeditions. 

Another  festival  was  held  toward  the  autumn  equinox,  when 
they  were  accustomed  to  kill  all  their  cattle  in  good  condition,  and 
lay  in  a store  of  provision  for  the  winter.  This  festival  was  also 
attended  with  religious  ceremonies,  when  Odin,  the  supreme  god, 
was  thanked  for  what  he  had  given  them,  by  having  his  altar  loaded 
with  the  fruits  of  their  crops,  and  the  choicest  products  of  the 
earth.8 

There  was  a grand  celebration  in  Egypt,  called  the  u Feast  of 
Lamps,”  held  at  Sais,  in  honor  of  the  goddess  Neith.  Those  who 
did  not  attend  the  ceremony,  as  well  as  those  who  did,  burned  lamps 
before  their  houses  all  night,  filled  with  oil  and  salt : thus  all  Egypt 
was  illuminated.  It  was  deemed  a great  irreverence  to  the  goddess 
for  any  one  to  omit  this  ceremony.4 

The  Hindoos  also  held  a festival  in  honor  of  the  goddesses  Laksh- 
mi  and  Bhavanti,  called  “ The  feast  of  Lamps .”6  This  festival  has 
been  handed  down  to  the  present  time  in  what  is  called  “ Candlemas 
day,”  or  the  purification  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 

The  most  celebrated  Pagan  festival  held  by  modern  Christians 
is  that  known  as  “ Sunday ,”  or  the  “ Lord’s  day.” 

All  the  principal  nations  of  antiquity  kept  the  seventh  day  of  the 
week  as  a “ holy  day,”  just  as  the  ancient  Israelites  did.  This  was 
owing  to  the  fact  that  they  consecrated  the  days  of  the  week  to  the 
Sun,  the  Moon,  and  the  five  planets,  Mercury,  Venus,  Mars,  Jupiter, 
and  Saturn.  The  seventh  day  was  sacred  to  Saturn  from  time  im- 


1 Williams’  Hinduism,  pp.  182,  183. 

9 See  Prog  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  216. 


8 See  Mailet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  Ill 
* See  Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  466. 

8 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  184. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


393 


memorial.  Homer  and  Hesiod  call  it  the  “Holy  Day.”1 *  The 
people  generally  visited  the  temples  of  the  gods,  on  that  day,  and 
offered  up  their  prayers  and  supplications.8  The  Acadians,  thou- 
sands of  years  ago,  kept  holy  the  7th,  14th,  21st,  and  28th  of  each 
month  as  Solum  (rest),  on  which  certain  works  were  forbidden.3 
The  Arabs  anciently  worshiped  Saturn  under  the  name  of  Hobal. 
In  his  hands  he  held  seven  arrows,  symbols  of  the  planets  that  pre- 
side over  the  seven  days  of  the  week.4  The  Egyptians  assigned  a 
day  of  the  week  to  the  sun,  moon,  and  five  planets,  and  the  number 
seven  was  held  there  in  great  reverence.5 

The  planet  Saturn  very  early  became  the  chief  deity  of  Semitic 
religion.  Moses  consecrated  the  number  seven  to  him.6 

In  the  old  conception,  which  finds  expression  in  the  Decalogue 
in  Deuteronomy  (v.  15),  the  Sabbath  has  a purely  theocratic  signifi- 
cance, and  is  intended  to  remind  the  Hebrews  of  their  miraculous 
deliverance  from  the  land  of  Egypt  and  bondage.  When  the  story 
of  Creation  was  borrowed  from  the  Babylonians , the  celebration 
of  the  Sabbath  was  established  on  entirely  new  grounds  (Ex.  xx.  11), 
for  we  find  it  is  because  the  “ Creator,”  after  his  six  days  of  work, 
rested  on  the  seventh,  that  the  day  should  be  kept  holy. 

The  Assyrians  kept  this  day  holy.  Mr.  George  Smith  says  : 

“ In  the  year  1869, 1 discovered  among  other  things  a curious  religious  calen- 
dar of  the  Assyrians,  in  which  every  month  is  divided  into  four  weeks,  and  the 
seventh  days  or  ‘Sabbaths,*  are  marked  out  as  days  on  which  no  work  should 
he  undertaken.7 

The  ancient  Scandinavians  consecrated  one  day  in  the  week  to 
their  Supreme  God,  Odin  or  Wodin*  Even  at  the  present  time 
we  call  this  day  Odin’s-day .9 

The  question  now  arises,  how  was  the  great  festival  day  changed 


1 “ The  Seventh  day  was  sacred  to  Saturn 
throughout  the  East.”  (Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist., 
pp.  35,  36. 

“ Saturn’s  day  was  made  sacred  to  God, 
and  the  planet  is  now  called  cochab  shabbath, 

‘The  Sabbath  Star.’ 

“ The  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath  is  clearly 
connected  with  the  word  Shabua  or  Sheba, 
i.  e.,  seven.''1  (Inman’s  Anct.  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p. 

504.)  “ The  Babylonians,  Egyptians,  Chinese, 

and  the  natives  of  India,  were  acquainted  with 

the  seven  days’  division  of  time,  as  were  the 
ancient  Druids . ’ ’ (Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Bel  ief , 
p.  412.)  “ With  the  Egyptians  the  Seventh 

day  was  consecrated  to  God  the  Father.” 

(Ibid.)  “ Hesiod,  Herodotus,  Philostratus,  &c., 
mention  that  day.  Homer,  Callimachus,  and 
other  ancient  writers  call  the  Seventh  day  the 
Holy  One.  Eusebius  confesses  its  observance 


by  almost  all  philosophers  and  poets.”  (Ibid.) 

2 Ibid. 

s Ibid.  p.  413. 

* Pococke  Specimen : Hist.  Arab.,  p.  97. 
Quoted  in  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  p.  274.  “ Some 
of  the  families  of  the  Israelites  worshiped 
Saturn  under  the  name  of  Kiwan,  which  may 
have  given  rise  to  the  religious  observance  of 
the  Seventh  day.”  (Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i. 
p.  317.) 

6 Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  283. 

0 Mover’s  Phtjnizier,  vol.  i.  p.  313.  Quoted 
in  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist.,  p.  36. 

7 Assyrian  Discoveries. 

8 Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  92. 

9 Old  Norse,  Odinsdagr  ; Swe.  and  Danish, 
Onsdag ; Ang.  Sax.,  Wodensdeg ; Dutch, 
Woensdag ; Eng.,  Wednesday. 


394 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


from  the  seventh  — Saturn’s  day  — to  th q first — Sun-fay  — among 
the  Christians  ? 

“If  we  go  back  to  the  founding  of  the  church,  we  find  that  the 
most  marked  feature  of  that  age,  so  far  as  the  church  itself  is  con- 
cerned, is  the  grand  division  between  the  6 Jewish  faction,’  as  it 
was  called,  and  the  followers  of  Paul.  This  division  was  so  deep, 
so  marked,  so  characteristic,  that  it  has  left  its  traces  all  through 
the  New  Testament  itself.  It  was  one  of  the  grand  aspects  of  the 
time,  and  the  point  on  which  they  were  divided  was  simply  this: 
the  followers  of  Peter,  those  who  adhered  to  the  teachings  of  the 
central  church  in  Jerusalem,  held  that  all  Christians,  both  converted 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  were  under  obligation  to  keep  the  Mosaic  law, 
ordinances,  and  traditions.  That  is,  a Christian,  according  to  their 
definition,  was  first  a Jew ; Christianity  was  something  added  to 
that,  not  something  taking  the  place  of  it. 

“ We  find  this  controversy  raging  violently  all  through  the  early 
churches,  and  splitting  them  into  factions,  so  that  they  were  the 
occasion  of  prayer  and  counsel.  Paul  took  the  ground  distinctly 
that  Christianity,  while  it  might  be  spiritually  the  lineal  successor 
of  Judaism,  was  not  Judaism  ; and  that  he  who  became  a Christian, 
whether  a converted  Jew  or  Gentile,  was  under  no  obligation  what- 
ever to  keep  the  Jewish  law,  so  far  as  it  was  separate  from  practical 
matters  of  life  and  character.  We  find  this  intimated  in  the  writ- 
ings of  Paul ; for  we  have  to  go  to  the  New  Testament  for  the  ori- 
gin of  that  which,  we  find,  existed  immediately  after  the  New 
Testament  was  written.  Paul  says  : ‘ One  man  esteemeth  one  day 
above  another  : another  man  esteemeth  every  day  alike  ’ (Rom.  xiv. 
5-9).  He  leaves  it  an  open  question  ; they  can  do  as  they  please. 
Then  : ‘Ye  observe  days,  and  months,  and  times,  and  years.  I am 
afraid  of  you,  lest  I have  bestowed  upon  you  labor  in  vain  ’ (Gal.  iv. 
10,  11).  And  if  you  will  note  this  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Gala- 
tians, you  will  find  that  the  whole  purpose  of  his  writing  it  was  to 
protest  against  what  he  believed  to  be  the  viciousness  of  the  Juda- 
izing  infiuences.  That  is,  he  says  : i I have  come  to  preach  to  you 
the  perfect  truth,  that  Christ  hath  made  us  free ; and  you  are  going 
back  and  taking  upon  yourselves  this  yoke  of  bondage.  My  labor 
is  being  thrown  away  ; my  efforts  have  been  in  vain.’  Then  he  says, 
in  his  celebrated  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  that  has  never  yet  been  ex- 
plained away  or  met : ‘ Let  no  man  therefore  judge  you  any  more  in 
meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  an  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon, 
or  of  the  Sabbath  days  ’ (Col.  ii.  16,  17),  distinctl}7  abrogating  the 
binding  authority  of  the  Sabbath  on  the  Christian  church.  So  that, 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


395 


if  Paul’s  word  anywhere  means  anything — if  his  authority  is  to 
be  taken  as  of  binding  force  on  any  point  whatever  — then  Paul  is 
to  be  regarded  as  authoritatively  and  distinctly  abrogating  the 
Sabbath,  and  declaring  that  it  is  no  longer  binding  on  the  Chris- 
tian church.”1 

This  breach  in  the  early  church,  this  controversy,  resulted  at 
last  in  Paul’s  going  up  to  Jerusalem  “ to  meet  James  and  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Jerusalem  church,  to  see  if  they  could  find  any 
common  platform  of  agreement — if  they  could  come  together  so 
that  they  could  work  with  mutual  respect  and  without  any  further 
bickering.  What  is  the  platform  that  they  met  upon  ? It  was 
distinctly  understood  that  those  who  wished  to  keep  up  the  observ- 
ance of  Judaism  should  do  so  ; and  the  church  at  Jerusalem  gave 
Paul  this  grand  freedom,  substantially  saying  to  him  : i Go  back  to 
your  missionary  work,  found  churches,  and  teach  them  that  they 
are  perfectly  free  in  regard  to  all  Mosaic  and  Jewish  observances, 
save  only  these  four  : Abstain  from  pollutions  of  idols,  from  forni- 
cation, from  things  strangled,  and  from  blood.’  ”a 

The  point  to  which  our  attention  is  forcibly  drawn  is,  that  the 
question  of  Sabbath-keeping  is  one  of  those  that  is  left  out.  The 
point  that  Paul  had  been  fighting  for  was  conceded  by  the  central 
church  at  Jerusalem,  and  he  was  to  go  out  thenceforth  free,  so 
far  as  that  was  concerned,  in  his  teaching  of  the  churches  that  he 
should  found. 

There  is  no  mention  of  the  Sabbath,  or  the  Lord’s  day,  as  bind- 
ing in  the  New  Testament.  What,  then,  was  the  actual  condition 
of  affairs?  What  did  the  churches  do  in  the  first  three  hundred 
years  of  their  existence  ? Why,  they  did  just  what  Paul  and  the 
Jerusalem  church  had  agreed  upon.  Those  who  wished  to  keep 
th<5  Jewish  Sabbath  did  so  ; and  those  who  did  not  wish  to,  did  not 
do  so.  This  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  Justin  Martyr,  a Christian 
Father  who  flourished  about  a.d.  140,  did  not  observe  the  day.  In 
his  “ Dialogue  ” with  Typho,  the  Jew  reproaches  the  Christians 
for  not  keeping  the  “ Sabbath.”  Justin  admits  the  charge  by 
saying : 

“ Do  you  not  see  that  the  Elements  keep  no  Sabbaths,  and  are  never  idle?  Con- 
tinue as  you  were  created.  If  there  was  no  need  of  circumcision  before  Abraham’s 
time,  and  no  need  of  the  Sabbath,  of  festivals  and  oblations,  before  the  time  of 
Moses,  neither  of  them  are  necessary  after  the  coming  of  Christ . If  any  among  you 
is  guilty  of  perjury,  fraud,  or  other  crimes,  let  him  cease  from  them  and  repent, 
and  he  will  have  kept  the  kind  of  Sabbath  pleasing  to  God.” 


1 Rev.  M.  J.  Savage. 


8 Acts,  xv.  20. 


396 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


There  was  no  binding  authority  then,  among  the  Christians,  as 
to  whether  they  should  keep  the  first  or  the  seventh  day  of  tae 
week  holy,  or  not,  until  the  time  of  the  first  Christian  Roman 
Emperor.  “ Constantine , a Sun  worshiper , who  had , as  other 

Heathen , kept  the  Sun-day , publicly  ordered  this  to  supplant  the 
Jewish  Sabbath.”1 *  He  commanded  that  this  day  should  be  kept 
holy,  throughout  the  whole  Roman  empire,  and  sent  an  edict  to  all 
governors  of  provinces  to  this  effect.3  Thus  we  see  how  the  great 
Pagan  festival , in  honor  of  Sol  the  invincible , was  transformed 
into  a Christian  holy-day. 

Hot  only  were  Pagan  festival  days  changed  into  Christian  holy- 
days,  but  Pagan  idols  were  converted  into  Christian  saints,  and  Pa- 
gan temples  into  Christian  churches. 

A Pagan  temple  at  Rome,  formerly  sacred  to  the  uBona  Dea  ” 
(the  “ Good  Goddess”),  was  Christianized  and  dedicated  to  the  Vir- 
gin Mary.  In  a place  formerly  sacred  to  Apollo,  there  now  stands 
the  church  of  Saint  Apollinaris.  Where  there  anciently  stood  the 
temple  of  Mars,  may  now  be  seen  the  church  of  Saint  Martine.3  A 
Pagan  temple,  originally  dedicated  to  “ Coelestis  Dea”  (the  “Hea- 
venly Goddess  ”),  by  one  Aurelius,  a Pagan  high-priest,  was  con- 
verted into  a Christian  church  by  another  Aurelius,  created  Bishop 
of  Carthage  in  the  year  390  of  Christ.  He  placed  his  episcopal 
chair  in  the  very  place  where  the  statue  of  the  Heavenly  Goddess 
had  stood.4 

The  noblest  heathen  temple  now  remaining  in  the  world,  is  the 
Pantheon  or  Potunda , which,  as  the  inscription  over  the  portico 
informs  us,  having  been  impiously  dedicated  of  old  by  Agrippa  to 
“ Jove  and  all  the  gods,”  was  piously  reconsecrated  by  Pope  Boni- 
face the  Fourth,  to  “The  Mother  of  God  and  all  the  Saints.”5 

The  church  of  Saint  Reparatae,  at  Florence,  was  formerly  a 
Pagan  temple.  An  inscription  was  found  in  the  foundation  of  this 
church,  of  these  words : “ To  the  Great  Goddess  Nutria.”6  The 
church  of  St.  Stephen,  at  Bologna,  was  formed  from  heathen  tem- 
ples, one  of  which  was  a temple  of  Isis.7 

At  the  southern  extremity  of  the  present  Forum  at  Rome,  and 
just  under  the  Palatine  hill  — where  the  noble  babes,  who,  miracu- 
lously preserved,  became  the  founders  of  a state  that  was  to  com- 
mand the  world,  were  exposed — stands  the  church  of  St.  Theodore. 

1 Bonwick:  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  182.  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  pp.  142,  143. 

3 See  Eusebius’  Life  of  Constantine,  lib.  iv.  6 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  22d,  and  Gib 

chs.  xviii.  and  xxiii.  bon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  pp.  142,  143 

• See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  237.  * Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  137. 

4 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  187,  and  7 Ibid.  p.  307. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


397 


This  temple  was  built  in  honor  of  Romulus,  and  the  brazen  wolf — 
commemorating  the  curious  manner  in  which  the  founders  of  Rome 
were  nurtured  — occupied  a place  here  till  the  sixteenth  century. 
And,  as  the  Roman  matrons  of  old  used  to  carry  their  children, 
when  ill,  to  the  temple  of  Romulus,  so  too,  the  women  still  carry 
their  children  to  St.  Theodore  on  the  same  occasions. 

In  Christianizing  these  Pagan  temples,  free  use  was  made  of 
the  sculptured  and  painted  stones  of  heathen  monuments.  In  some 
cases  they  evidently  painted  over  one  name,  and  inserted  another. 
This  may  be  seen  from  the  following 


Inscriptions  Formerly  in  Pagan  and  Inscriptions  now  in  Christian 


Temples. 

1. 

To  Mercury  and  Minerva,  Tutelary 
Gods. 

2. 

To  tlie  Gods  who  preside  over  this 
Temple. 

3. 

To  the  Divinity  of  Mercury  the  Avail- 
ing, the  Powerful,  the  Uncon- 
quered. 

4. 

Sacred  to  the  Gods  and  Goddesses, 
with 

Jove  the  best  and  greatest. 

5. 

Venus’  Pigeon. 

6. 

The  Mystical  Letters 
I.  H.  S.1 


Churches. 

1. 

To  St.  Mary  and  St.  Francis,  My 
Tutelaries. 

2. 

To  the  Divine  Eustrogius,  who  pre- 
sides over  this  Temple. 

3. 

To  the  Divinity  of  St.  George  the 
Availing,  the  Powerful,  the  Un- 
conquered. 

4. 

Sacred  to  the  presiding  helpers,  St. 
George  and  St.  Stephen,  with 
God  the  best  and  greatest. 

5. 

The  Holy  Ghost  represented  as  a 
Pigeon. 

6. 

The  Mystical  Letters 
I.  H.  S.2 


In  many  cases  the  Images  of  the  Pagan  gods  were  allowed  to 
remain  in  these  temples,  and,  after  being  Christianized , continued 
to  receive  divine  honors.3 

“In  St.  Peter’s,  Rome,  is  a statue  of  Jupiter , deprived  of  his 
thunderbolt,  which  is  replaced  by  the  emblematic  keys.  In  like 
manner,  much  of  the  religion  of  the  lower  orders,  which  we  regard 
as  essentially  Christian , is  ancient  heathenism , refitted  with  Chris- 
tian symbols.”4  We  find  that  as  early  as  the  time  of  St.  Gregory, 
Bishop  of  ISTeo-Cesarea  (a.  d.  243),  the  “simple”  and  “unskilled  ” 


1 Grater's  Inscriptions.  Quoted  in  Taylor’s  lor’s  Diegesis,  p.  48,  and  Middleton’s  Letters 

Diegesis,  p.  237.  from  Rome. 

2 Boldonius’  Epigraphs.  Quoted  in  Ibid.  4 Baring-Gould’s  Curious  Myths,  p.  426. 

* See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  p.  237.  Tay- 


398 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


multitudes  of  Christians  were  allowed  to  pay  divine  honors  to  these 
images,  hoping  that  in  the  process  of  time  they  would  learn  better.1 
In  fact,  as  Prof.  Draper  says  : 

“Olympus  was  restored,  but  the  divinities  passed  under  other  names.  The 
more  powerful  provinces  insisted  upon  the  adoption  of  their  time-honored  con- 
ceptions. . . . Not  only  was  the  adoration  of  ISIS  under  a new  name  restored, 
but  even  her  image,  standing  on  the  crescent  moon,  reappeared.  The  well-known 
effigy  of  that  goddess  with  the  infant  Horus  in  her  arms,  has  descended  to  our 
days  in  the  beautiful,  artistic  creations  of  the  Madonna  and  child.  Such  resto- 
rations of  old  conceptions  under  novel  forms  were  everywhere  received  with  de- 
light. When  it  was  announced  to  the  Ephesians,  that  the  Council  of  that  place, 
headed  by  Cyril,  had  declared  that  the  Virgin  (Mary)  should  be  called  the 
‘ Mother  of  God,’  with  tears  of  joy  they  embraced  the  knees  of  their  bishop  ; it 
was  the  old  instinct  cropping  out ; their  ancestors  would  have  done  the  same 
for  Diana.”2 

‘ ‘ O bright  goddess  ; once  again 
Fix  on  earth  thy  heav’nly  reign  ; 

Be  thy  sacred  name  ador’d, 

Altars  rais’d,  and  rites  restor’d.” 

Nestorius,  Bishop  of  Constantinople  from  428  a.  d.,  refused  to 
call  Mary  “ the  mother  of  God  ” on  the  ground  that  she  could  be 
the  mother  of  the  human  nature  only,  which  the  divine  Logos  used 
as  its  organ.  Cyril,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  did  all  in  his  power  to 
stir  up  the  minds  of  the  people  against  Nestorius  ; the  consequence 
was  that,  both  at  Borne  and  at  Alexandria,  Nestorius  was  accused 
of  heresy.  The  dispute  grew  more  bitter,  and  Theodosius  II. 
thought  it  necessary  to  convoke  an  (Ecumenical  Council  at  Ephesus 
in  431.  On  this,  as  on  former  occasions,  the  affirmative  party  over- 
ruled the  negative.  The  person  of  Mary  began  to  rise  in  the  new 
empyrean.  The  paradoxical  name  of  “ Mother  of  God  ” pleased  the 
popular  piety.  Nestorius  was  condemned,  and  died  in  exile. 

The  shrine  of  many  an  old  hero  was  tilled  by  the  statue  of  some 
imaginary  saint. 

“They  have  not  always  ” (says  Dr.  Conyers  Middleton),  “ as  1 am  well  in- 
formed, given  themselves  the  trouble  of  making  even  this  change,  but  have  been 
contented  sometimes  to  take  up  with  the  old  image,  just  as  they  found  it  ; after 
baptizing  it  only,  as  it  were,  or  consecrating  it  anew,  by  the  imposition  of  a 
Christian  name.  This  their  antiquaries  do  not  scruple  to  put  strangers  in  mind 
of,  in  showing  their  churches,  as  it  was,  I think,  in  that  of  St.  Agnes,  where 
they  showed  me  an  antique  statue  of  a young  BACCHUS,  which,  with  a new 
name,  and  some  little  change  of  drapery,  stands  now  worshiped  under  the  title 
of  a female  saint.”3 

In  many  parts  of  Italy  are  to  be  seen  pictures  of  the  “ Holy 
Family,”  of  extreme  antiquity,  the  grounds  of  them  often  of  gold. 


1 Mosheim,  Cent.  ii.  p.  202.  Quoted  in  Tay- 

lor’s Diegesis,  p 48. 


a Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  pp.  48,  49. 
8 Middleton’s  Letters  from  Rome,  p.  84. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


399 


These  pictures  represent  the  mother  with  a child  on  her  knee,  and 
a little  boy  standing  close  by  her  side ; the  Lamb  is  generally  seen 
in  the  picture.  They  are  inscribed  “ Deo  Soli”  and  are  simply 
ancient  representations  of  Isis  and  Homs.  The  Lamb  is  “ The 
Lamb  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,”  which,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  was  believed  on  in  the  Pagan  world  centuries  before 
the  time  of  Christ  Jesus.1  Some  half-pagan  Christian  went  so  far 
as  to  forge  a book,  which  he  attributed  to  Christ  Jesus  himself, 
which  was  loi  the  purpose  of  showing  that  he — Christ  Jesus  — 
was  in  no  way  against  these  heathen  gods.2 3 

The  Lcelcvnders  were  induced  to  embrace  Christianity,  with  its 
legends  and  miracles,  and  sainted  divinities,  as  the  Christian  monks 
were  ready  to  substitute  for  Thor,  their  warrior-god,  Michael,  the 
warrior-angel;  for  Freyja,  their  goddess,  the  Virgin  Mary  ; and  for 
the  god  Vila,  a St.  Valentine  — probably  manufactured  for  the  oc- 
casion. 


“ The  statues  of  Jupiter,  Apollo,  Mercury,  Orpheus,  did  duty 
for  The  Christ?  The  Thames  River  god  officates  at  the  baptism 
of  Jesus  in  the  Jordan.  Peter  holds  the  keys  of  Janus.4  Moses 
wears  the  horns  of  Jove.  Ceres,  Cybele,  Demeter  assume  new 
names,  as  4 Queen  of  Heaven]  4 Star  of  the  Sea]  4 Maria  lllumin- 
atrix  f Dionysius  is  St.  Denis;  Cosmos  is  St.  Cosmo;  Pluto  and 
Proserpine  resign  their  seats  in  the  hall  of  final  judgment  to  the 
Christ  and  his  mother.  The  Parcse  depute  one  of  their  number, 
Lachesis,  the  disposer  of  lots,  to  set  the  stamp  of  destiny  upon  the 
deaths  of  Christian  believers.  The  aura  jplacida  of  the  poets,  the 
gentle  breeze,  is  personified  as  Aura  and  Placida.  The  perpetua 
felieitas  of  the  devotee  becomes  a lovely  presence  in  the  forms  of 
St.  Perpetua  and  St.  Felieitas,  guardian  angels  of  the  pious  soul. 
Ho  relic  of  Paganism  was  permitted  to  remain  in  its  casket.  The 
depositories  were  all  ransacked.  The  shadowy  hands  of  Egyptian 
priests  placed  the  urn  of  holy  water  at  the  porch  of  the  basilica, 
which  stood  ready  to  be  converted  into  a temple.  Priests  of  the 


1 See  Higgins’  Anacalypsis. 

2 Jones  on  the  Canon,  vol.  i.  p.  11. 

Diegesis,  p.  49. 

3 Compare  “Apollo  among  the  Muses,”  and 

“ The  Vine  and  its  Branches  ” (that  is,  Christ 
Jesus  and  his  Disciples),  in  Lundy’s  Monumen- 
tal Christianity , pp.  141-143.  As  Mr.  Lundy 
says,  there  is  so  striking  a resemblance  be- 
tween the  two,  that  one  looks  very  much  like 
a copy  of  the  other.  Apollo  is  also  represented 
as  the  “ Good  Shepherd ,”  with  a lamb  upon 
his  back,  just  exactly  as  Christ  Jesus  is  rep- 
resented in  Christian  Art.  (See  Lundy’s  Mon- 


umental Christianity,  and  Jameson’s  Hist,  of 
Our  Lord  in  Art.) 

4  The  Roman  god  Jonas,  or  Janus,  with  his 
keys,  was  changed  into  Peter,  who  was  sur- 
named  Bar-Jonas.  Many  years  ago  a statue 
of  the  god  Janus,  in  bronze,  being  found  in 
Rome,  he  was  perched  up  in  St.  Peter’s  with 
his  keys  in  his  hand  : the  very  identical  god, 
in  all  his  native  ugliness.  This  statue  sits  as 
St.  Peter,  under  the  cupola  of  the  church  of 
St.  Peter.  It  is  looked  upon  with  the  most 
profound  veneration  : the  toes  are  nearly  kissed 
away  by  devotees 


400 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


most  ancient  faiths  of  Palestine,  Assyria,  Babylon,  Thebes,  Persia, 
were  permitted  to  erect  the  altar  at  the  point  where  the  transverse 
beam  of  the  cross  meets  the  main  stem.  The  hands  that  constructed 
the  temple  in  cruciform  shape  had  long  become  too  attenuated  to 
cast  the  faintest  shadow.  There  Devaki  with  the  infant  Crishna, 
Maya  with  the  babe  Buddha,  Juno  with  the  child  Mars,  represent 
Mary  with  Jesus  in  her  arms.  Coarse  emblems  are  not  rejected  ; 
the  Assyrian  dove  is  a tender  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  rag- 
bags  and  toy  boxes  were  explored.  A bauble  which  the  Roman 
schoolboy  had  thrown  away  was  picked  up,  and  called  an  ‘ agnus 
dei .’  The  musty  wardrobes  of  forgotten  hierarchies  furnished  cos- 

tumes for  the  officers  of  the  new  prince.  Alb  and  chasuble  recalled 
the  fashions  of  Numa’s  day.  The  cast-off  purple  habits  and  shoes 
of  Pagan  emperors  beautified  the  august  persons  of  Christian  popes. 
The  cardinals  must  be  contented  with  the  robes  once  worn  by  sen- 
ators. Zoroaster  bound  about  the  monks  the  girdle  he  invented  as 
a protection  against  evil  spirits,  and  clothed  them  in  the  frocks  he 
had  found  convenient  for  his  ritual.  The  pope  thrust  out  his  foot 
to  be  kissed,  as  Caligula,  Heliogabalus,  and  Julius  Cesar  had  thrust 
out  theirs.  Nothing  came  amiss  to  the  faith  that  was  to  discharge 
henceforth  the  offices  of  spiritual  impression.”1 

The  ascetic  and  monastic  life  practiced  by  some  Christians  of 
the  present  day,  is  of  great  antiquity.  Among  the  Buddhists  there 
are  priests  who  are  ordained,  tonsured,  live  in  monasteries,  and 
make  vows  of  celibacy.  There  are  also  nuns  among  them,  whose 
vows  and  discipline  are  the  same  as  the  priests.2 * 

The  close  resemblance  between  the  ancient  religion  of  Thibet  and 
Nejpaul — where  the  worship  of  a crucified  God  was  found  — and 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion  of  the  present  day,  is  very  striking. 
In  Thibet  was  found  the  pope,  or  head  of  the  religion,  whom  they 
called  the  “ Dalai  Lama  ; 5,3  they  use  holy  water,  they  celebrate  a 
sacrifice  with  bread  and  wine ; they  give  extreme  unction,  pray  for 
the  sick ; they  have  monasteries,  and  convents  for  women ; they 
chant  in  their  services,  have  fasts ; they  worship  one  God  in  a trin- 
ity, believe  in  a hell,  heaven,  and  a half-way  place  or  purgatory ; 
they  make  prayers  and  sacrifices  for  the  dead,  have  confession,  adore 
the  cross ; have  chaplets,  or  strings  of  beads  to  count  their  prayers, 
and  many  other  practices  common  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.4 

1 Frothingham  : The  Cradle  of  the  Christ,  office  is  not  hereditary,  but,  like  the  Pope  of 

p.  179,  Rome,  he  is  elected  by  the  priests.  (Inman’s 

2 See  Hardy’s  Eastern  Monachism.  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  203.  See  also,  Bell’s 

8 The  “ Grand  Lama  ” is  the  head  of  a Pantheon,  vol.  ii.  pp.  32-34.) 

priestly  order  in  Thibet  and  Tartary.  The  4 See  Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  233, 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


401 


The  resemblance  between  Buddhism  and  Christianity  has  been  re- 
marked by  many  travelers  in  the  eastern  countries.  Sir  John 
Francis  Davis,  in  his  “ History  of  China,”  speaking  of  Buddhism 
in  that  country,  says  : 

“ Certain  it  is — and  the  observance  may  be  daily  made  even  at  Canton — that 
they  (the  Buddhist  priests)  practice  the  ordinances  of  celibacy,  fasting,  and 
prayers  for  the  dead  ; they  have  holy  water,  rosaries  of  beads,  which  they  count 
with  their  prayers,  the  worship  of  relics,  and  a monastic  habit  resembling  that 
of  the  Franciscans  ” (an  order  of  Roman  Catholic  monks). 

Pere  Premere,  a Jesuit  missionary  to  China,  was  driven  to  con- 
clude that  the  devil  had  practiced  a trick  to  perplex  his  friends, 
the  Jesuits.  To  others,  however,  it  is  not  so  difficult  to  account  for 
these  things  as  it  seemed  for  the  good  Father.  Sir  John  continues 
his  account  as  follows : 

* These  priests  are  associated  in  monasteries  attached  to  the  temples  of  Fo. 
They  are  in  China  precisely  a society  of  mendicants,  and  go  about,  like  monks 
of  that  description  in  the  Romish  Church,  asking  alms  for  the  support  of  their 
establishment.  Their  tonsure  extends  to  the  hair  of  the  whole  head.  There  is 
a regular  gradation  among  the  priesthood  ; and  according  to  his  reputation  for 
sanctity,  his  length  of  service  and  other  claims,  each  priest  may  rise  from  the 
lowest  rank  of  servitor — whose  duty  it  is  to  perform  the  menial  offices  of  the 
temple — to  that  of  officiating  priest — and  ultimately  of  ‘Tae  Hoepang,’  Abbot  or 
head  of  the  establishment.  ” 

The  five  principal  precepts,  or  rather  interdicts,  addressed  to 
the  Buddhist  priests  are  : 

1.  Do  not  kill. 

2.  Do  not  steal. 

3.  Do  not  marry. 

4.  Speak  not  falsely. 

5.  Drink  no  wine. 

Poo-ta-la  is  the  name  of  a monastery,  described  in  Lord  Macart- 
ney’s mission,  and  is  an  extensive  establishment,  which  was  found 
in  Manchow-Tartary,  beyond  the  great  wall.  This  building  offered 
shelter  to  no  less  than  eight  hundred  Chinese  Buddhist  priests.1 

The  Bev.  Mr.  Gutzlaff,  in  his  “ Journal  of  Voyages  along  the 
coast  of  China,”  tells  us  that  he  found  the  Buddhist  “ Monasteries, 
nuns,  and  friars  very  numerous  ;”  and  adds  that : “ their  priests  are 
generally  very  ignorant.”2 

This  reminds  us  of  the  fact  that,  for  centuries  during  the  “ dark 
ages  ” of  Christianity,  Christian  bishops  and  prelates,  the  teachers, 
spiritual  pastors  and  masters,  were  mostly  marksmen , that  is,  they 


Inman’s  Ancient  Faiths,  vol.  ii.  p.  203,  and  1 Davis  : Hist.  China,  vol.  ii.  pp.  105,  106. 
Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  i\  p.  211.  a Gutzlaff’s  Voyages,  p.  309. 

26 


402 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


supplied,  by  the  feign  of  the  cross,  their  inability  to  write  their  own 
name.1  Many  oi  the  bishops  in  the  Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chal- 
cedon,  it  is  said,  could  not  write  their  names.  Ignorance  was  not 
considered  a disqualification  for  ordination.  A cloud  of  ignorance 
overspread  the  whole  face  of  the  Church,  hardly  broken  by  a few 
glimmering  lights,  who  owe  almost  the  whole  of  their  distinction  to 
the  surrounding  darkness.2 

One  of  the  principal  objects  of  curiosity  to  the  Europeans  who 
first  went  to  China,  was  a large  monastery  at  Canton.  This  mon- 
astery, which  was  dedicated  to  Fo,  or  Buddha,  and  which  is  on  a 
very  large  scale,  is  situated  upon  the  southern  side  of  the  river. 
There  are  extensive  grounds  surrounding  the  building,  planted  with 
trees,  in  the  center  of  which  is  a broad  pavement  of  granite,  which 
is  kept  very  clean.  An  English  gentleman,  Mr.  Bennett,  entered 
this  establishment,  which  he  fully  describes.  He  says  that  after 
walking  along  this  granite  pavement,  they  entered  a temple,  where 
the  priesthood  happened  to  be  assembled,  worshiping.  They  were 
arranged  in  rows,  chanting,  striking  gongs,  &c.  These  priests,  with 
their  shaven  crowns,  and  arrayed  in  the  yellow  robes  of  the  religion, 
appeared  to  go  through  the  mummery  with  devotion*  As  spon  as 
the  mummery  had  ceased,  the  priests  all  flocked  out  of  the  temple, 
adjourned  to  their  respective  rooms,  divested  themselves  of  their 
official  robes,  and  the  images  — among  which  were  evidently  repre- 
sentations of  Shin-moo,  the  “Holy  Mother,”  and  “ Queen  of  Hea- 
ven,” and  “ The  Three  Pure  Ones,”  — were  left  to  themselves,  with 
lamps  burning  before  them. 

To  expiate  sin,  offerings  made  to  these  priests  are  — according  to 
the  Buddhist  idea  — sufficient.  To  facilitate  the  release  of  some 
unfortunate  from  purgatory,  they  said  masses.  Their  prayers  are 
counted  by  means  of  a rosary,  and  they  live  in  a state  of  celibacy. 

Mr.  Gutzlaff,  in  describing  a temple  dedicated  to  Buddha,  situ- 
ated on  the  island  of  Poo-ta-la,  says  : 

“ We  were  present  at  the  vespers  of  the  priests,  which  they  chanted  in  the 
Pali  language,  not  unlike  the  Latin  service  of  the  Romish  church.  They  held 
their  rosaries  in  their  hands,  which  rested  folded  upon  their  breasts.  One  of 
them  had  a small  bell,  by  the  tingling  of  which  the  service  was  regulated.” 

The  Buddhists  in  India  have  similar  institutions.  The  French 
missionary,  M.  L’ Abbe  Hue,  says  of  them : 

“ The  Buddhist  ascetic  not  aspiring  to  elevate  himself  only,  he  practiced  vir- 
tue and  applied  himself  to  perfection  to  make  other  men  share  in  its  belief  ; and 


1 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  34. 


a See  Hallam’s  Middle  Ages. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


403 


by  the  institution  of  an  order  of  religious  mendicants,  which  increased  to  an  im- 
mense extent,  he  attached  towards  him,  and  restored  to  society,  the  poor  and  un- 
fortunate. It  was,  indeed,  precisely  because  Buddha  received  among  his  dis- 
ciples miserable  creatures  who  were  outcasts  from  the  respectable  class  of  India, 
that  he  became  an  object  of  mockery  to  the  Brahmins.  But  he  merely  replied  to 
their  taunts,  ‘ My  law  is  a law  of  mercy  for  all.’ 

In  the  words  of  Yiscount  Amberly,  we  can  say  that,  “ Monas- 
ticism,  in  countries  -where  Buddhism  reigns  supreme,  is  a vast  and 
powerful  institution.” 

The  j Essenes,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  more  fully  anon,  were  an 
order  of  ascetics,  dwelling  in  monasteries.  Among  the  order  of 
Pythagoras,  which  was  very  similar  to  the  Essenes,  there  was  an 
order  of  nuns.1 2  The  ancient  Druids  admitted  females  into  their 
sacred  order,  and  initiated  them  into  the  mysteries  of  their  religion.3 
The  priestesses  of  the  Saxon  Frigga  devoted  themselves  to  perpetual 
virginity.4 *  The  vestal  virgins6  were  bound  by  a solemn  vow  to  pre- 
serve their  chastity  for  a space  of  thirty  years.* 

The  Egyptian  priests  of  Isis  were  obliged  to  observe  perpetual 
chastity.7  They  were  also  tonsured  like  the  Buddhist  priests.8  The 
Assyrian,  Arabian,  Persian  and  Egyptian  priests  wore  white  sur- 
plices,9 and  so  did  the  ancient  Druids.  The  Corinthian  Aphrodite 
had  her  Hierodoulio,  the  pure  Gerairai  ministered  to  the  goddess  of 
the  Parthenon,  the  altar  of  the  Latin  Yesta  was  tended  by  her  chosen 
virgins,  and  the  Romish  “ Queen  of  Heaven  ” has  her  nuns. 

When  the  Spaniards  had  established  themselves  in  Mexico  and 
Peru,  they  were  astonished  to  find,  among  other  things  which  closely 
resembled  their  religion,  monastic  institutions  on  a large  scale. 

The  Rev.  Father  Acosta,  in  his  “ Natural  and  Moral  History  of 
the  Indies,”  says  : 

“ There  is  one  thing  worthy  of  special  regard,  the  which  is,  how  the  Devil,  by 
his  pride,  hath  opposed  himself  to  God  ; and  that  which  God,  by  his  wisdom, 
hath  decreed  for  his  honor  and  service,  and  for  the  good  and  health  of  man,  the 
devil  strives  to  imitate  and  pervert,  to  be  honored,  and  to  cause  men  to  be 
damned : for  as  we  see  the  great  God  hath  Sacrifices,  Priests,  Sacraments,  Re- 
ligious Prophets,  and  Ministers,  dedicated  to  his  divine  service  and  holy  ceremo- 
monies,  so  likewise  the  devil  hath  his  Sacrifices,  Priests,  his  kinds  of  Sacra- 
ments, his  Ministers  appointed,  his  secluded  and  feigned  holiness,  with  a thou- 
sand sorts  of  false  prophets.”10 

“We  find  among  all  the  nations  of  the  world,  men  especially  dedicated  to 
the  service  of  the  true  God,  or  to  the  false,  which  serve  in  sacrifices,  and  declare 


1 Hue’s  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  329. 

2 See  Hardy’s  Eastern  Monachism,  p.  163. 

» Ibid. 

* Ibid. 

6 “Vestal  Virgins,”  an  order  of  virgins 

consecrated  to  the  goddess  Vesta. 


6 Hardy  : Eastern  Monachism,  p.  163. 
i Ibid.  p.  48. 

8 See  Herodotus,  b.  ii.  ch.  36. 

9 Dunlap  : Son  of  the  Man,  p.  x. 

10  Acosta,  vol.  ii.  p.  324. 


404 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


unto  the  people  what  their  gods  command  them.  There  was  in  Mexico  a 
strange  curiosity  upon  this  point.  And  the  devil,  counterfeiting  the  use  of  the 
church  of  God,  hath  placed  in  the  order  of  his  Priests,  some  greater  or  superi- 
ors, and  some  less,  the  one  as  Acolites,  the  other  as  Levites,  and  that  which  hath 
made  most  to  wonder,  was,  that  the  devil  would  usurp  to  himself  the  service  of 
God  ; yea,  and  use  the  same  name  : for  the  Mexicans  in  their  ancient  tongue  call 
their  high  priests  Papes,  as  they  should  say  sovereign  bishops,  as  it  appears 
now  by  their  histories.”1 

In  Mexico,  within  the  circuit  of  the  great  temple,  there  were 
two  monasteries,  one  for  virgins,  the  other  for  men,  which  they 
called  religious.  These  men  lived  poorly  and  chastely,  and  did  the 
office  of  Levites.2 

“ These  priests  and  religious  men  used  great  fastings,  of  five  or  ten  days  to- 
gether, before  any  of  their  great  feasts,  and  they  were  unto  them  as  our  four 
ember  week  ; they  were  so  strict  in  continence  that  some  of  them  (not  to  fall 
into  any  sensuality)  slit  their  members  in  the  midst,  and  did  a thousand  things 
to  make  themselves  unable,  lest  they  should  offend  their  gods.”3 

“ There  were  in  Peru  many  monasteries  of  virgins  (for  there  are  no  other  ad- 
mitted), at  the  least  one  in  every  province.  In  these  monasteries  there  were  two 
sorts  of  women,  one  ancient,  which  they  called  Mamacomas  (mothers),  for  the 
instruction  of  the  young,  and  the  other  was  of  young  maidens  placed  there  for  a 
certain  time,  and  after  they  were  drawn  forth,  either  for  their  gods  or  for  the 
Inca.”  “If  any  of  the  Mamacomas  or  Acllas  were  found  to  have  trespassed 
against  their  honor,  it  was  an  inevitable  chastisement  to  bury  them  alive  or 
to  put  them  to  death  by  some  other  kind  of  cruel  torment.  ”4 

The  Rev.  Father  concludes  by  saying  : 

“In  truth  it  is  very  strange  to  see  that  this  false  opinion  of  religion  hath  so 
great  force  among  these  young  men  and  maidens  of  Mexico,  that  they  will  serve 
the  devil  with  so  great  rigor  and  austerity,  which  many  of  us  do  not  in  the  service 
of  the  most  high  God,  the  which  is  a great  shame  and  confusion.”5 

The  religious  orders  of  the  ancient  Mexicans  and  Peruvians  are 
described  at  length  in  Lord  Kingsborough’s  “ Mexican  Antiquities,” 
and  by  most  every  writer  on  ancient  Mexico.  Differing  in  minor 
details,  the  grand  features  of  self-consecration  are  everywhere  the 
same,  whether  we  look  to  the  saintly  Rishis  of  ancient  India,  to  the 
wearers  of  the  yellow  robe  in  China  or  Ceylon,  to  the  Essenes 
among  the  Jews,  to  the  devotees  of  Vitziliputzli  in  pagan  Mexico, 
or  to  the  monks  and  nuns  of  Christian  times  in  Africa,  in  Asia,  and 
in  Europe.  Throughout  the  various  creeds  of  these  distant  lands 
there  runs  the  same  unconquerable  impulse,  producing  the  same  re- 
markable effects. 

The  “ Sacred  Heart”  was  a great  mystery  with  the  ancients. 


1 Acosta,  vol.  ii.  p.  330. 

2 Ibid.  p.  336. 

• Ibid.  p.  338. 


* Ibid.  pp.  332,  833. 
» Ibid.  p.  337 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


405 


j Horus,  the  Egyptian  virgin-born  Saviour,  was  represented  carrying 
the  sacred  heart  outside  on  his  breast.  Vishnu , the  Mediator  and 

Preserver  of  the  Hindoos,  was  also  represented  in  that  manner.  So 
was  it  with  Bel  of  Babylon.1 *  In  like  manner,  Christ  Jesus,  the 
Christian  Saviour,  is  represented  at  the  present  day. 

The  amulets  or  charms  which  the  Roman  Christians  wear,  to 
drive  away  diseases,  and  to  protect  them  from  harm,  are  other  relics 
of  paganism.  The  ancient  pagans  wore  these  charms  for  the  same 
purpose.  The  name  of  their  favorite  god  was  generally  inscribed 
upon  them,  and  we  learn  by  a quotation  from  Chrysostom  that  the 
Christians  at  Antioch  used  to  bind  brass  coins  of  Alexander  the 
Great  about  their  heads,  to  keep  off  or  drive  away  diseases.3  The 
Christians  also  used  amulets  with  the  name  or  monogram  of  the 
god  Serapis  engraved  thereon,  which  show  that  it  made  no  differ- 
ence whether  the  god  was  their  own  or  that  of  another.  Even  the 
ch^rm  which  is  worn  by  the  Christians  at  the  present  day,  has 
none  other  than  the  monogram  of  Bacchus  engraved  thereon,  i . e ., 
I.  H.  S.3 

The  ancient  Roman  children  carried  around  their  necks  a small 
ornament  in  the  form  of  a heart,  called  Bulla.  This  was  imitated 
by  the  early  Christians.  Upon  their  ancient  monuments  in  the 
Vatican,  the  heart  is  very  common,  and  it  may  be  seen  in  numbers 
of  old  pictures.  After  some  time  it  was  succeeded  by  the  Agnus 
Dei , which,  like  the  ancient  Bulla , was  supposed  to  avert  dangers 
from  the  children  and  the  wearers  of  them.  Cardinal  Baronias  (an 
eminent  Roman  Catholic  ecclesiastical  historian,  born  at  Sora,  in 
Naples,  a.  d.  1538)  says,  that  those  who  have  been  baptized  carry 
pendent  from  their  neck  an  Agnus  Dei , in  imitation  of  a devotion 
of  the  Pagans,  who  hung  to  the  neck  of  their  children  little  bottles 
in  the  form  of  a heart,  which  served  as  preservatives  against  charms 
and  enchantments.  Says  Mr.  Cox  : 

“ That  ornaments  in  the  shape  of  a vesica  have  been  popular  in  all  countries 
as  preservatives  against  dangers,  and  especially  from  evil  spirits,  can  as  little  be 
questioned  as  the  fact  that  they  still  retain  some  measure  of  their  ancient  popu- 
larity in  England,  where  horse-shoes  are  nailed  to  walls  as  a safeguard  against 
unknown  perils,  where  a shoe  is  thrown  by  way  of  good-luck  after  newly-mar- 
ried couples,  and  where  the  villagers  have  not  yet  ceased  to  dance  round  the 
May-pole  on  the  green.”4 

All  of  these  are  emblems  of  either  the  Lingha  or  Yoni. 

The  use  of  amulets  was  carried  to  the  most  extravagant  excess 


1 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  241. 

3 See  Lardner’s  Works,  vol.  viii.  pp.  375,  376. 


3 See  Chap.  XXXIII. 

* Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  127. 


406 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


in  ancient  Egypt,  and  tlieir  Sacred  Book  of  the  Dead,  even  in  its 
earliest  form,  shows  the  importance  attached  to  such  things.1 

We  can  say  with  M.  Henan  that : 

“Almost  all  our  superstitions  are  the  remains  of  a religion  anterior  to  Chris* 
tianity,  and  which  Christianity  has  not  been  able  entirely  to  root  out.”2 3 

Baptismal  fonts  were  used  by  the  pagans,  as  well  as  the  little 
cisterns  which  are  to  be  seen  at  the  entrance  of  Catholic  churches. 
In  the  temple  of  Apollo,  at  Delphi,  there  were  two  of  these  ; one 
of  silver,  and  the  other  of  gold.8 

Temples  always  faced  the  east,  to  receive  the  rays  of  the  rising 
sun.  They  contained  an  outer  court  for  the  public,  and  an  inner 
sanctuary  for  the  priests,  called  the  “ Adytum .”  Near  the  entrance 
was  a large  vessel,  of  stone  or  brass,  filled  with  water,  made  holy  by 
plunging  into  it  a burning  torch  from  the  altar.  All  who  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  sacrifices  were  sprinkled  with  this  water,  and  none 
but  the  unpolluted  were  allowed  to  pass  beyond  it.  In  the  center 
of  the  building  stood  the  statue  of  the  god,  on  a pedestal  raised 
above  the  altar  and  enclosed  by  a railing.  On  festival  occasions, 
the  people  brought  laurel,  olive,  or  ivy,  to  decorate  the  pillars  and 
walls.  Before  they  entered  they  always  washed  their  hands,  as  a, 
type  of  purification  from  sin.4 *  A story  is  told  of  a man  who  was 
struck  dead  by  a thunderbolt  because  he  omitted  this  ceremony 
when  entering  a temple  of  Jupiter.  Sometimes  they  crawled  up 
the  steps  on  their  knees,  and  bowing  their  heads  to  the  ground, 
kissed  the  threshold.  Always  when  they  passed  one  of  these 
sacred  edifices  they  kissed  their  right  hand  to  it,  in  token  of  ven- 
eration. 

In  all  the  temples  of  Vishnu,  Crishna,  Hama,  Durga,  and  Kali, 
in  India,  there  are  to  be  seen  idols  before  which  lights  and  incense 
are  burned.  Moreover,  the  idols  of  these  gods  are  constantly  dec- 
orated with  flowers  and  costly  ornaments,  especially  on  festive  occa- 
sions.6 The  ancient  Egyptian  worship  had  a great  splendor  of 
ritual.  There  was  a morning  service,  a kind  of  mass,  celebrated  by 
a priest,  shorn  and  beardless  ; there  were  sprinklings  of  holy  water, 
&c.,  &c.6  All  of  this  kind  of  worship  was  finally  adopted  by  the 
Christians. 

The  sublime  and  simple  theology  of  the  primitive  Christians 


1 Renouf  : Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  191. 

2 Renan  : Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  32. 

3 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  232. 

4 “ At  their  entrance,  purifying  themselves 

by  washing  their  hands  in  holy  water , they 

were  at  the  same  time  admonished  to  present 


themselves  with  pure  minds,  without  which 
the  external  cleanness  of  the  body  would  by 
no  means  be  accepted.”  (Bell’s  Pantheon, 
vol.  ii.  p.  282.) 

6 See  Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  99. 

8 See  Renan’s  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  36. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


407 


was  gradually  corrupted  and  degraded  by  the  introduction  of  a 
popular  mythology,  which  tended  to  restore  the  reign  of  poly 
theism. 

As  the  objects  of  religion  were  gradually  reduced  to  the  stand- 
ard of  the  imagination,  the  rites  and  ceremonies  were  introduced 
that  seemed  most  powerfully  to  affect  the  senses  of  the  vulgar.  If, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  Tertullian,  or  Lactantius,  had 
been  suddenly  raised  from  the  dead,  to  assist  at  the  festival  of  some 
popular  saint  or  martyr,  they  would  have  gazed  with  astonishment 
and  indignation  on  the  profane  spectacle,  which  had  succeeded  to 
the  pure  and  spiritual  worship  of  a Christian  congregation.1 

Dr.  Draper,  in  speaking  of  the  early  Christian  Church,  says : 

“ Great  is  the  difference  between  Christianity  under  Severus  (born  146)  and 
Christianit}^  under  Constantine  (born  274).  Many  of  the  doctrines  which  at  the 
latter  period  were  pre-eminent,  in  the  former  were  unknown.  Two  causes  led  to 
the  amalgamation  of  Christianity  with  Paganism.  1.  The  political  necessities 
of  the  new  dynasty  : 2.  The  policy  adopted  by  the  new  religion  to  insure  its 
spread. 

'*  Though  the  Christian  party  had  proved  itself  sufficiently  strong  to  give  a 
master  to  the  empire,  it  was  never  sufficiently  strong  to  destroy  its  antagonist, 
Paganism.  The  issue  of  the  struggle  between  them  was  an  amalgamation  of  the 
) principles  of  both.  In  this,  Christianity  differed  from  Mohammedanism,  which 
absolutely  annihilated  its  antagonist,  and  spread  its  own  doctrines  without  adul- 
teration. 

“ Constantine  continually  showed  by  his  acts  that  he  felt  he  must  be  the  im- 
partial sovereign  of  all  his  people,  not  merely  the  representative  of  a successful 
faction.  Hence,  if  he  built  Christian  churches,  he  also  restored  Pagan  temples  ; 
if  he  listened  to  the  clergy,  he  also  consulted  the  haruspices  ; if  he  summoned 
the  Council  of  Nicea,  he  also  honored  the  statue  of  Fortune  ; if  he  accepted  the 
rite  of  Baptism,  he  also  struck  a medal  bearing  his  title  of  ‘ God.’  His  statue, 
on  top  of  the  great  porphyry  pillar  at  Constantinople,  consisted  of  an  ancient 
image  of  Apollo,  whose  features  were  replaced  by  those  of  the  emperor,  and  its 
head  surrounded  by  the  nails  feigned  to  have  been  used  at  the  crucifixion  of 
Christ,  arranged  so  as  to  form  a crown  of  glory. 

‘ ‘ Feeling  that  there  must  be  concessions  to  the  defeated  Pagan  party,  in  ac- 
cordance with  its  ideas,  he  looked  with  favor  on  the  idolatrous  movements  of 
his  court.  In  fact,  the  leaders  of  these  movements  were  persons  of  his  own 
family. 

To  the  emperor, — a mere  worldling— a man  without  any  religious  convictions, 
doubtless  it  appeared  best  for  himself,  best  for  the  empire,  and  best  for  the  con- 
tending parties,  Christian  and  Pagan,  to  promote  their  union  or  amalgamation  as 
much  as  possible.  Even  sincere  Christians  do  not  seem  to  have  been  averse  to 
this;  perhaps  they  believed  that  the  new  doctrines  would  diffuse  most  thoroughly 
by  incorporating  in  themselves  ideas  borrowed  from  the  old;  that  Truth  would 
assert  herself  in  the  end,  and  the  impurities  be  cast  off.  In  accomplishing  this 
amalgamation,  Helen,  the  Empress-mother,  aided  by  the  court  ladies,  led  the 
way. 


1 Edward  Gibbon  : Decline  and  Fall,  vol.  iii.  p.  161. 


408 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ As  years  passed  on,  the  faith  described  by  Tertullian  (a.d.  150-195)  was 
transformed  into  one  more  fashionable  and  more  debased.  It  was  incorporated 
with  the  old  Greek  mythology.  Olympus  was  restored,  but  the  divinities  passed 
under  new  names 

“Heathen  rites  were  adopted,  a pompous  and  splendid  ritual,  gorgeous  robes, 
mitres,  tiaras,  wax-tapers,  processional  services,  lustrations,  gold  and  silver 
vases,  were  introduced. 

“The  festival  of  the  Purification  of  the  Virgin  was  invented  to  remove  the  un- 
easiness of  heathen  converts  on  account  of  the  loss  of  their  Lupercalia,  or  feasts 
of  Pan. 

“ The  apotheosis  of  the  old  Roman  times  was  replaced  by  canonization  ; tute- 
lary saints  succeeded  to  local  mythological  divinities.  Then  came  the  mystery 
of  transubstantiation,  or  the  conversion  of  bread  and  wine  by  the  priest  into  the 
flesh  and  blood  of  Christ.  As  centuries  passed,  the  paganization  became  more 
and  more  complete.”1 

The  early  Christian  saints,  bishops,  and  fathers,  confessedly 
adopted  the  liturgies,  rites,  ceremonies,  and  terms  of  heathenism ; 
making  it  their  boast,  that  the  pagan  religion,  properly  explained, 
really  was  nothing  else  than  Christianity ; that  the  best  and  wisest 
of  its  professors,  in  all  ages,  had  been  Christians  all  along ; that 
Christianity  was  but  a name  more  recently  acquired  to  a religion 
which  had  previously  existed,  and  had  been  known  to  the  Greek 
philosophers,  to  Plato,  Socrates,  and  Heraclitus  ; and  that  “ if  the 
writings  of  Cicero  had  been  read  as  they  ought  to  have  been,  there 
would  have  been  no  occasion  for  the  Christian  Scriptures.” 

And  our  Protestant,  and  most  orthodox  Christian  divines,  the 
best  learned  on  ecclesiastical  antiquity,  and  most  entirely  persuaded 
of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  unable  to  resist  or  to  conflict 
with  the  constraining  demonstration  of  the  data  that  prove  the 
absolute  sameness  and  identity  of  Paganism  and  Christianity,  and 
unable  to  point  out  so  much  as  one  single  idea  or  notion,  of  which 
they  could  show  that  it  was  peculiar  to  Christianity,  or  that  Christi- 
anity had  it,  and  Paganism  had  it  not,  have  invented  the  apology 
of  an  hypothesis,  that  the  Pagan  religion  was  typical , and  that 
Crishna,  Buddha,  Bacchus,  Hercules,  Adonis,  Osiris,  Horus,  &c., 
were  all  of  them  types  and  forerunners  of  the  true  and  real  Saviour, 
Christ  Jesus.  Those  who  are  satisfied  with  this  kind  of  reasoning 
are  certainly  welcome  to  it. 

That  Christianity  is  nothing  more  than  Paganism  under  a new 
name,  has,  as  we  said  above,  been  admitted  over  and  over  again  by 
the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  and  others.  Aringhus  (in  his  account 
of  subterraneous  Pome)  acknowledges  the  conformity  between  the 
Pagan  and  Christian  form  of  worship,  and  defends  the  admission 


Draper  : Science  and  Religion,  pp.  46-49. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


409 


of  the  ceremonies  of  heathenism  into  the  service  of  the  Church,  by 
the  authority  of  the  wisest  prelates  and  governors,  whom,  he  says, 
found  it  necessary,  in  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  to  dissemble, 
and  wink  at  many  things,  and  yield  to  the  times ; and  not  to  use 
force  against  customs  which  the  people  were  so  obstinately  fond  of.1 

Melito  (a  Christian  bishop  of  Sardis),  in  an  apology  delivered  to 
the  Emperor  Marcus  Antoninus,  in  the  year  170,  claims  the  patron- 
age of  the  emperor,  for  the  now  called  Christian  religion,  which  he 
calls  “ our  philosophy”  “on  account  of  its  high  antiquity,  as  hav- 
ing been  imported  from  countries  lying  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Roman  empire,  in  the  region  of  his  ancestor  Augustus,  who  found 
its  importation  ominous  of  good  fortune  to  his  government.”* * 
This  is  an  absolute  demonstration  that  Christianity  did  not  origi- 
nate in  Judea,  which  was  a Roman  province,  but  really  was  an  ex- 
otic oriental  fable,  imported  from  India,  and  that  Paul  was  doing 
as  he  claimed,  viz.:  preaching  a God  manifest  in  the  flesh  who  had 
been  “believed  on  in  the  world”  centuries  before  his  time,  and  a 
doctrine  which  had  already  been  preached  “ unto  every  creature 
under  heaven.” 

Baron ius  (an  eminent  Catholic  ecclesiastical  historian)  says : 

“It  is  permitted  to  the  Church  to  use,  for  the  purpose  of  piety,  the  ceremonies 
which  the  pagans  used/<?r  the  purpose  of  impiety  in  a superstitious  religion,  after 
having  first  expiated  them  by  consecration — to  the  end,  that  the  devil  might  re- 
ceive a greater  affront  from  employing,  in  honor  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  which  his 
enemy  had  destined  for  his  own  service.”3 

Clarke,  in  his  “ Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion,”  says  : 

“ Some  of  the  ancient  writers  of  the  church  have  not  scrupled  expressly  to 
call  the  Athenian  Socrates,  and  some  others  of  the  best  of  the  heathen  moralists, 
by  the  name  of  Christians,  and  to  affirm,  as  the  law  was  as  it  were  a schoolmaster, 
to  bring  the  Jews  unto  Christ,  sc  true  moral  philosophy  was  to  the  Gentiles  a 
preparative  to  receive  the  gospel.”4 

Clemens  Alexandrinus  says : 

“Those  who  lived  according  to  the  Logos  were  really  Christians,  though  they 
have  been  thought  to  be  atheists  ; as  Socrates  and  Heraclitus  were  among  the 
Greeks,  and  such  as  resembled  them.”5 

And  St.  Augustine  says  : 

‘ ‘ That,  in  our  times,  is  the  Christian  religion,  which  to  know  and  follow  is 
the  most  sure  and  certain  health,  called  according  to  that  name,  but  not  accord- 


1 See  Taylor’s  Diegcsis,  p.  237.  4 Quoted  by  Rev.  R.  Taylor,  Diegesis. 

a Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  249.  See  p.  41. 

also,  Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  book  iv.  ch.  xxvi.  6 Strom,  bk.  i.  ch.  xix. 
who  alludes  to  it. 

* Baronius’  Annals,  An.  36. 


410 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


ing  to  the  thing  itself,  of  which  it  is  the  name  ; for  the  thing  itself  which  is  now 
called  the  Christian  religion , really  was  known  to  the  ancients,  nor  was  wanting 
at  any  time  from  the  beginning  of  the  human  race,  until  the  time  when  Christ 
came  in  the  flesh,  from  whence  the  true  religion,  which  had  previously  existed , be- 
gan to  be  called  Christian  ; and  this  in  our  days  is  the  Christian  religion,  not  as 
having  been  wanting  in  former  times,  but  as  having  in  later  times  received  this 
name.”1 * 

Eusebius,  the  great  champion  of  Christianity,  admits  that  that 
which  is  called  the  Christian  religion,  is  neither  new  nor  strange, 
but— if  it  be  lawful  to  testify  the  truth — was  known  to  the  ancients .a 

How  the  common  people  were  Christianized,  we  gather  from  a 
remarkable  passage  which  Mosheim,  the  ecclesiastical  historian, 
has  preserved  for  us,  in  the  life  of  Gregory,  surnamed  “ Thauma- 
turgus ,”  that  is,  “ the  wonder  worker.”  The  passage  is  as  follows  : 

“ When  Gregory  perceived  that  the  simple  and  unskilled  multitude  persisted 
in  their  worship  of  images,  on  account  of  the  pleasures  and  sensual  gratifications 
which  they  enjoyed  at  the  Pagan  festivals,  he  granted  them  a permission  to  in- 
dulge themselves  in  the  like  pleasures , in  celebrating  the  memory  of  the  holy  mar- 
tyrs, hoping  that  in  process  of  time,  they  would  return  of  their  own  accord,  to  a 
more  virtuous  and  regular  course  of  life.  ”3 

The  historian  remarks  that  there  is  no  sort  of  doubt,  that  by  this 
permission,  Gregory  allowed  the  Christians  to  dance,  sport,  and 
feast  at  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  upon  their  respective  festivals, 
and  to  do  everything  which  the  Pagans  were  accustomed  to  do  in 
their  temples,  during  the  feasts  celebrated  in  honor  of  their  gods. 

The  learned  Christian  advocate,  M.  Turretin,  in  describing  the 
state  of  Christianity  in  the  fourth  century,  has  a well-turned  rlietor- 
icism,  the  point  of  which  is,  that  “ it  was  not  so  much  the  empire 
that  was  brought  over  to  the  faith,  as  the  faith  that  was  brought 
over  to  the  empire  ; not  the  Pagans  who  were  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity, but  Christianity  that  was  converted  to  Paganism.”4 * * * 8 

Edward  Gibbon  says : 


1 “ Ea  est  nostris  temporibus  Christiana 
religio,  quam  cognoscere  ac  sequi  securissima 
et  certissima  ealus  est : secundum  hoc  nomen 

dictum  est  non  secundum  ipsam  rem  cujus 

hoc  nomen  est : nam  res  ipsa  quae  nunc  Chris- 

tiana religio  nuncupatur  erat  et  apud  antiquos, 

nec  defuit  ab  initio  generis  humani,  quousque 
ipse  Christus  veniret  in  came,  unde  vera  religio 

quae  jam  erat  caepit  appellari  Christiana.  Haec 
est  nostris  temporibus  Christiana  religio,  non 

quia  prioribus  temporibus  non  fuit,  sed  quia 
posterioribus  hoc  nomen  accepit.”  (Opera  Au- 
gustini,  vol.  i.  p.  12.  Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Die- 
gesis,  p.  42.) 

8 See  Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  2,  ch.  v. 

8 “Cum  animadvertisset  Gregorius  quod  ob 


corporeas  delectationes  et  voluptates,  simplex  et 
imperitum  vulgus  in  simulacrorum  cultus  errore 
permaneret— permisit  eis,  ut  in  memoriam  et 
recordationem  sanctorum  martyium  sese  ob- 
lectarent,  et  in  laetitiam  effunderentur,  quod 
successu  temporis  aliquando  futurum  esset,  ut 
sua  sponte,  ad  honestiorem  et  accuratiorem 
vitae  rationem,  transireut.”  (Mosheim,  vol.  i. 
cent.  2,  p.  202. 

4 “ Non  imperio  ad  fidern  adducto,  6ed 
et  imperii  pompa  ecclesiam  inficiente. 
Non  ethnicis  ad  Christum  conversis,  sed  et 
Christi  religione  ad  Ethnicae  formam  de- 
pravata.”  (Orat.  Academ.  De  Variis  Christ. 
Rel.  fatis.) 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


411 


“ It  must  be  confessed  that  the  ministers  of  the  Catholic  church  imitated  the 
profane  model  which  they  were  impatient  to  destroy.  The  most  respectable 
bishops  had  persuaded  themselves,  that  the  ignorant  rusties  would  more  cheer- 
fully renounce  the  superstitions  of  Paganism,  if  they  found  some  resemblance, 
some  compensation,  in  the  bosom  of  Christianity.  The  religion  of  Constantine 
achieved,  in  less  than  a century,  the  final  conquest  of  the  Roman  empire  : but 
the  victors  themselves  were  insensibly  subdued  by  the  arts  of  their  vanquished  rivals”1 

Faustus,  writing  to  St.  Augustine,  says : 

“You  have  substituted  your  agapse  for  the  sacrifices  of  the  Pagans  ; for  their 
idols  your  martyrs,  whom  you  serve  with  the  very  same  honors.  You  appease 
the  shades  of  the  dead  with  wine  and  feasts  ; you  celebrate  the  solemn  festivities 
of  the  Gentiles,  their  calends,  and  their  solstices  ; and,  as  to  their  manners,  those 
you  have  retained  without  any  alteration.  Nothing  distinguishes  you  fr<m  the 
Pagans,  except  that  you  hold  your  assemblies  apart  from  them 

Ammonius  Saccus  (a  Greek  philosopher,  founder  of  the  Neo- 
platonic school)  taught  that : 

“Christianity  and  Paganism,  when  rightly  understood,  differ  in  no  es- 
sential points,  but  had  a common  origin,  and  are  really  one  and  the  same 
thing”* 3 

Justin  explains  the  thing  in  the  following  manner : 

'“It  having  reached  the  devil’s  ears  that  the  prophets  had  foretold  that  Christ 
would  come  ...  he  (the  devil)  set  the  heathen  poets  to  bring  forward  a great 
many  who  should  be  called  sons  of  Jove,  (i.e.,“  The  Sons  of  God.”)  The  devil  lay- 
ing his  scheme  in  this,  to  get  men  to  imagine  that  the  true  history  of  Christ  was 
of  the  same  character  as  the  prodigious  fables  and  poetic  stories.  ”4 

Caecilius,  in  the  Octavius  of  Minucius  Felix,  says : 

“All  these  fragments  of  crack-brained  opiniatry  and  silly  solaces  played  off 
in  the  sweetness  of  song  by  (the)  deceitful  (Pagan)  poets,  by  you  too  credulous 
creatures  ( i.e .,  the  Christians)  have  been  shamefully  reformed  and  made  over  to 
your  own  god.”5 

Celsus,  the  Epicurean  philosopher,  wrote  that : 

“The  Christian  religion  contains  nothing  but  what  Christians  hold  lr  com- 
mon with  heathens  ; nothing  new,  or  truly  great.”6 

This  assertion  is  fully  verified  by  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  apology 
to  the  Emperor  Adrian,  which  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ad- 
missions ever  made  by  a Christian  writer.  He  says : 

“ In  saying  that  all  things  were  made  in  this  beautiful  order  by  God,  what 
do  we  seem  to  say  more  than  Plato  ? When  we  teach  a general  conflagration, 
what  do  we  teach  more  than  the  Stoics  ? By  opposing  the  worship  of  the  works 
of  men’s  hands,  we  concur  with  Menander,  the  comedian  ; and  by  declaring  the 


1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  163.  4 Justin:  Apol.  1,  ch.  lix. 

3 Quoted  by  Draper  : Science  and  Religion,  5 Octavius,  ch.  xi. 

p.  48.  6 See  Origen : Contra  Celsus. 

* See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  329. 


412 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Logos,  the  first  begotten  of  God,  our  master  Jesus  Christ,  to  be  born  of  a v rgin, 
without  any  human  mixture,  to  be  crucified  and  dead,  and  to  have  rose  again, 
and  ascended  into  heaven  : we  say  no  more  in  this,  than  what  you  say  of  those 
whom  you  style  the  Sons  of  Jove.  For  you  need  not  be  told  what  a parcel  of  sons, 
the  writers  most  in  vogue  among  you,  assign  to  Jove  ; there’s  Mercury,  Jove’s 
interpreter,  in  imitation  of  the  Logos,  in  worship  among  you.  There’s  iEscula- 
pius,  the  physician,  smitten  by  a thunderbolt,  and  after  that  ascending  into 
heaven.  There’s  Bacchus,  torn  to  pieces  ; and  Hercules,  . burnt  to  get  rid  of  his 
pains.  There’s  Pollux  and  Castor,  the  sons  of  Jove  by  Leda,  and  Perseus  by 
Dauae  ; and  not  to  mention  others,  I would  fain  know  why  you  always  deify  the 
departed  emperors  and  have  a fellow  at  hand  to  make  affidavit  that  he  saw  Caesar 
mount  to  heaven  from  the  funeral  pile? 

“ As  to  the  son  of  God,  called  Jesus,  should  we  allow  him  to  be  nothing  more 
than  man,  yet  the  title  of  the  son  of  God  is  very  justifiable,  upon  the  account  of 
his  wisdom,  considering  that  you  have  your  Mercury  in  worship,  under  the  title 
of  the  Word  and  Messenger  of  God. 

“ As  to  the  objection  of  our  Jesus’s  being  crucified,  I say,  that  suffering  was  com- 
mon to  all  the  forementioned  sons  of  Jove,  but  only  they  suffered  another  kind  of 
death.  As  to  his  being  born  of  a virgin,  you  have  your  Perseus  to  balance  that. 
As  to  his  curing  the  lame,  and  the  paralytic,  and  such  as  wTere  cripples  from 
birth,  this  is  little  more  than  what  you  say  of  your  iEsculapius.”1 

The  most  celebrated  Fathers  of  the  Christian  church,  the  most 
frequently  quoted,  and  those  whose  names  stand  the  highest  were 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  Pagans,  being  born  and  educated  Pagans. 
Pantaenus  (a.  d.  193)  was  one  of  these  half-Pagan,  half-Christian, 
Fathers.  He  at  one  time  presided  in  the  school  of  the  faithful  in 
Alexandria  in  Egypt,  and  was  celebrated  on  account  of  his  learn- 
ing. He  was  brought  up  in  the  Stoic  philosophy.2 

Clemens  Alexandrinus  (a.  d.  194)  or  St-  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria, was  another  Christian  Father  of  the  same  sort,  being  originally 
a Pagan.  He  succeeded  Pantaenus  as  president  of  the  monhisK 
university  at  Alexandria.  His  works  are  very  extensive,  and  his 
authority  very  high  in  the  church.3 

Tertullian  (a.  d.  200)  may  next  be  mentioned.  He  also  was 
originally  a Pagan,  and  at  one  time  Presbyter  of  the  Christian 
church  of  Carthage,  in  Africa.  The  following  is  a specimen  of  his 
manner  of  reasoning  on  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  He  says  : 

“ I find  no  other  means  to  prove  myself  to  be  impudent  with  success,  and 
happily  a fool,  than  by  my  contempt  of  shame  ; as,  for  instance— I maintain 
that  the  Son  of  God  was  born  ; why  am  I not  ashamed  of  maintaining  such  a 
thing?  Why  ! but  because  it  is  itself  a shameful  thing.  I maintain  that  the 
Son  of  God  died : well,  that  is  wholly  credible  because  it  is  monstrously  absurd. 

I maintain  that  after  having  been  buried,  he  rose  again  : and  that  I take  to  be 
absolutely  true,  because  it  was  manifestly  impossible.”4 


1 Apol.  1,  ch.  xx,  xxi,  xxii 

2 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p 533. 


» See  Ibid.  p.  324. 

* On  the  Flesh  of  Christ,  ch.  V. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


413 


Origen  (a.  d.  230),  one  of  the  shining  lights  of  the  Christian 
church,  was  another  Father  of  this  class.  Porphyry  (a  Neo-platonist 
philosopher)  objects  to  him  on  this  account.1 

He  also  was  born  in  the  great  cradle  and  nursery  of  superstition 
— Egypt — and  studied  under  that  celebrated  philosopher,  Ainmo- 
nius  Saccus,  who  taught  that  “ Christianity  and  Paganism,  when 
rightly  understood,  differed  in  no  essential  point,  but  had  a common 
origin.”  This  man  was  so  sincere  in  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
monkery,  or  Essenism,  that  he  made  himself  an  eunuch  “ for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven’s  sake.”2  The  writer  of  the  twelfth  verse  of 
the  nineteenth  chapter  of  Matthew,  was  without  doubt  an  Egyp- 
tian monk.  The  words  are  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  Jewish  Jesus, 
which  is  simply  ridiculous,  when  it  is  considered  that  the  Jews  did 
not  allow  an  eunuch  so  much  as  to  enter  the  congregation  of  the 
Lord.3 

St.  Gregory  (a.  d.  240),  bishop  of  Xeo-Csesarea  in  Pontus,  was 
another  celebrated  Christian  Father,  born  of  Pagan  parents  and  ed- 
ucated a Pagan.  He  is  called  Thaumaturgus,  or  the  wonder- 
worker, and  is  said  to  have  performed  miracles  when  still  a Pagan.4 
He,  too,  was  an  Alexandrian  student.  This  is  the  Gregory  who 
was  commended  by  his  namesake  of  Nyssa  for  changing  the  Pagan 
festivals  into  Christian  holidays,  the  better  to  draw  the  heathen  to 
the  religion  of  Christ.5 

Mosheim,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  in  speaking  of  the 
Christian  church  during  the  second  century,  says  : 

“The  profound  respect  that  was  paid  to  the  Greek  and  Roman  mysteries,  and 
the  extraordinary  sanctity  that  was  attributed  to  them,  induced  the  Christians 
to  give  their  religion  a mystic  air,  in  order  to  put  it  upon  an  equal  footing,  in 
point  of  dignity,  with  that  of  the  Pagans.  For  this  purpose  they  gave  the  name 
of  mysteries  to  the  institutions  of  the  gospel,  and  decorated,  particularly  the 
holy  sacrament,  with  that  solemn  title.  They  used,  in  that  sacred  institution, 
as  also  in  that  of  baptism,  several  of  the  terms  employed  in  the  heathen  myste- 
ries, and  proceeded  so  far  at  length,  as  even  to  adopt  some  of  the  rites  and  cere- 
monies of  which  those  renowned  mysteries  consisted.  ” 6 

We  have  seen,  then,  that  the  only  difference  between  Christi- 
anity and  Paganism  is  that  Brahma,  Ormuzd,  Osiris,  Zeus,  Jupiter, 
etc.,  are  called  by  another  name;  Crishna,  Buddha,  Bacchus, 
Adonis,  Mithras,  etc.,  have  been  turned  into  Christ  Jesus:  Venus’ 
pigeon  into  the  Holy  Ghost ; Diana,  Isis,  Devaki,  etc.,  into  the 


1 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  328. 

2 Matt.  xix.  12. 

8 Deut.  xxiii.  1. 

4 See  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  339. 


6 See  Middletou’s  Letters  from  Rome,  p. 

236  ; Mosheim,  vol.  i.  cent.  2,  pt.  2,  ch.  4. 

6 Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  1.  p.  199. 


414 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Virgin  Mary  ; and  the  demi-gods  and  heroes  into  saints.  The  ex- 
ploits of  the  one  were  represented  as  the  miracles  of  the  other. 
Pagan  festivals  became  Christian  holidays,  and  Pagan  temples  be- 
came Christian  churches. 

Mr.  Mahaffy,  Fellow  and  Tutor  in  Trinity  College,  and  Lecturer 
on  Ancient  History  in  the  University  of  Dublin,  ends  his  “ Prole- 
gomena to  Ancient  History  ” in  the  following  manner : 

“There  is  indeed,  hardly  a great  or  fruitful  idea  in  the  Jewish  or  Christian 
systems,  which  has  not  its  analogy  in  the  (ancient)  Egyptian  faith.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  one  God  into  a trinity ; the  incarnation  of  the  mediating  deity  in  a 
Virgin,  and  without  a father;  his  conflict  and  his  momentary  defeat  by  the  powers 
of  darkness  ; his  partial  victory  (for  the  enemy  is  not  destroyed) ; his  resurrec- 
tion and  reign  over  an  eternal  kingdom  with  his  justified  saints  ; his  distinction 
from,  and  yet  identity  with,  the  uncreate  incomprehensible  Father,  whose  form 
is  unknown,  and  who  dwelleth  not  in  temples  made  with  hands — all  these  theo- 
logical conceptions  pervade  the  oldest  religion  of  Egypt.  So,  too,  the  contrast  and 
even  the  apparent  inconsistencies  between  our  moral  and  theological  beliefs — 
the  vacillating  attribution  of  sin  and  guilt  partly  to  moral  weakness,  partly  to 
the  interference  of  evil  spirits,  and  likewise  of  righteousness  to  moral  worth, 
and  again  to  the  help  of  good  genii  or  angels  ; the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  its 
final  judgment — all  these  things  have  met  us  in  the  Egyptian  ritual  and  moral 
treatises.  So,  too,  the  purely  human  side  of  morals,  and  the  catalogue  of  vir- 
tues and  vices,  are  by  natural  consequences  as  like  as  are  the  theological  systems. 
But  I recoil  from  opening  this  great  subject  now  ; it  is  enough  to  have  lifted  the  veil 
Sind  shown  the  scene  of  many  a future  contest.”1 

In  regard  to  the  moral  sentiments  expressed  in  the  books  of 
the  Hew  Testament,  and  believed  by  the  majority  of  Christians  to 
be  peculiar  to  Christianity,  we  shall  touch  them  but  lightly,  as  this 
has  already  been  done  so  frequently  by  many  able  scholars. 

The  moral  doctrines  that  appear  in  the  Hew  Testament,  even  the 
sayings  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  are 
found  with  slight  variation,  among  the  Rabbins,  who  have  certainly 
borrowed  nothing  out  of  the  Hew  Testament. 

Christian  teachers  have  delighted  to  exhibit  the  essential  superior- 
ity of  Christianity  to  Judaism,  have  quoted  with  triumph  the  maxims 
that  are  said  to  have  fallen  from  the  lips  of  Jesus,  and  which,  they 
surmised,  could  not  be  paralleled  in  the  elder  Scriptures,  and  have 
put  the  least  favorable  construction  on  such  passages  in  the  ancient 
books  as  seemed  to  contain  the  thoughts  of  evangelists  and  apostles. 
A more  ingenious  study  of  the  Hebrew  law,  according  to  the  oldest 
traditions,  as  well  as  its  later  interpretations  by  the  prophets,  re- 
duces these  differences  materially  by  bringing  into  relief  sentiments 
and  precepts  whereof  the  Hew  Testament  morality  is  but  an  echo. 


1 Prolegomena  to  Ancient  History,  pp.  416,  417. 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


415 


There  are  passages  in  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Deuteronomy,  even  ten- 
derer in  their  humanity  than  anything  in  the  Gospels.  The 
preacher  from  the  Mount,  the  prophet  of  the  Beatitudes,  does 
but  repeat  with  persuasive  lips  what  the  law-givers  of  his  race  pro- 
claimed in  mighty  tones  of  command.  Such  an  acquaintance  with 
the  later  literature  of  the  Jews  as  is  really  obtained  now  from  pop- 
ular sources,  will  convince  the  ordinarily  fair  mind  that  the  origi- 
nality of  the  New  Testament  has  been  greatly  over-estimated. 

“ To  feed  the  hungry,  give  drink  to  the  thirsty,  clothe  the  naked,  bury  the  dead, 
loyally  serve  the  king,  forms  the  first  duty  of  a pious  man  and  faithful  subject,” 

is  an  abstract  from  the  Egyptian  “ Book  of  the  Dead,”  tbs  oldest 
Bible  in  the  world. 

Confucius,  the  Chinese  philosopher,  born  551  b.  c.,  said  : 

“Obey  Heaven,  and  follow  the  orders  of  Him  who  governs  it.  Love  your 
neighbor  as  yourself.  Do  to  another  what  you  would  he  should  do  unto  you  ; 
and  do  not  unto  another  what  you  would  should  not  be  done  unto  you  ; thou 
only  needest  this  law  alone,  it  is  the  foundation  and  principle  of  all  the  rest.  Ac- 
knowledge thy  benefits  by  the  return  of  other  benefits,  but  never  revenge  in- 
juries,,”1 


The  following  extracts  from  Manu  and  the  MaJia-l)harata , an 
Indian  epic  poem,  written  many  centuries  before  the  time  of  Christ 
Jesus,2  compared  with  similar  sentiment  contained  in  the  books  of 
the  New  Testament,  are  very  striking. 


“An  evil-minded  man  is  quick  to 
see  his  neighbor’s  faults,  though  small 
as  mustard-seed  ; but  when  he  turns 
his  eyes  towards  his  own,  though  large 
as  Bilva  fruit,  he  none  descries.  ” 
(Maha-bharata.) 

‘ ‘ Conquer  a man  who  never  gives 
by  gifts ; subdue  untruthful  men  by 
truthfulness  ; vanquish  an  angry  man 
by  gentleness  ; and  overcome  the  evil 
man  by  goodness.”  (Ibid.) 

“To  injure  none  by  thought  or  word 
or  deed,  to  give  to  others,  and  be  kind  to 
all — this  is  the  constant  duty  of  the 
good.  High-minded  men  delight  in 
doing  good,  without  a thought  of  their 
own  interest;  when  they  confer  a bene- 
fit on  others,  they  reckon  not  on  favors 
in  return.”  (Ibid.) 

“ Two  persons  will  hereafter  be  ex- 
alted above  the  heavens — the  man  with 


“ And  why  beholdest  thou  the  mote 
that  is  in  thy  brother’s  eye,  but  consid- 
erest  not  the  beam  that  is  in  thine  own 
eye?  ” (Matt.  vii.  3.) 

“ Be  not  overcome  of  evil,  but  over- 
come evil  with  good.”  (Romans,  xii. 
21.) 

“ Love  your  enemies,  and  do  good, 
and  lend,  hoping  for  nothing  again  ; 
and  your  reward  shall  be  great,  and  ye 
shall  be  the  children  of  the  Highest  : 
for  he  is  kind  unto  the  unthankful  and 
to  the  evil.”  (Luke,  vii.  35.) 


“And  Jesus  sat  over  against  the 
treasury,  and  beheld  how  people  cast 


1 Tindal : Christianity  as  Old  as  the  Crea-  sixth  century  b.  c.  (see  Williams’  Indian  Wis- 
tion.  dom,  p.  215),  and  the  Maha-bharata  about  tho 

a Mann’s  works  were  written  during  the  same  time. 


416 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


boundless  power,  who  yet  forbears  to 
use  it  indiscreetly,  and  he  who  is  not 
rich,  and  yet  can  give.”  (Ibid.) 

“Just  heaven  is  not  so  pleased  with 
costly  gifts,  offered  in  hope  of  future 
recompense,  as  with  the  merest  trifle 
set  apart  from  honest  gains,  and  sancti- 
fied by  faith.”  (Ibid.) 


“To  curb  the  tongue  and  moderate 
the  speech,  is  held  to  be  the  hardest  of 
all  tasks.  The  words  of  him  who  talk 
too  volubly  have  neither  substance  nor 
variety.”  (Ibid.) 

“ Even  to  foes  who  visit  us  as  guests 
due  hospitality  should  be  displayed  ; 
the  tree  screens  with  its  leaves,  the  man 
who  fells  it.”  (Ibid.) 

“ In  granting  or  refusing  a request, 
a man  obtains  a proper  rule  of  action 
by  looking  on  his  neighbor  as  himself.  ” 
(Ibid.) 

“Before  infirmities  creep  o’er  thy 
flesh  ; before  decay  impairs  thy 
strength  and  mars  the  beauty  of  thy 
limbs  ; before  the  Ender,  whose  char- 
ioteer is  sickness,  ha  tes  towards  thee, 
breaks  up  thy  fragile  frame  and 
ends  thy  life,  lay  up  the  only  treasure: 
Do  good  deeds  ; practice  sobriety  and 
self-control  ; amass  that  wealth  which 
thieves  cannot  abstract,  nor  tyrants 
seize,  which  follows  thee  at  death, 
which  never  wastes  away,  nor  is  cor- 
rupted.” (Ibid.) 

‘ ‘ This  is  the  sum  of  all  true  right- 
eousness—Treat  others  as  thou  wouldst 
thyself  be  treated.  Do  nothing  to  thy 
neighbor,  which  hereafter  thou 
would’st  not  have  thy  neighbor  do  to 
thee.  In  causing  pleasure,  or  in  giv- 
ing pain,  in  doing  good  or  injury  to 
others,  in  granting  or  refusing  a 
request,  a man  obtains  a proper  rule  of 
action  by  looking  on  his  neighbor  as 
himself.”  (Ibid.) 


money  into  the  treasury  : and  many 
that  were  rich  cast  in  much.  And 
there  came  a certain  poor  widow,  and 
she  threw  in  two  mites,  which  make  a 
farthing.  And  he  called  unto  him  his 
disciples,  and  saith  unto  them,  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  that  this  poor  widow  hath 
cast  more  in,  than  all  they  which  have 
cast  into  the  treasury  : For  all  they  did 
cast  in  of  their  abundance,  but  she  of 
her  want  did  cast  all  that  she  had,  even 
all  her  living.  ” (Mark,  xii.  41-44.) 

“ But  the  tongue  can  no  man  tame  ; 
it  is  an  unruly  evil,  full  of  deadly  poi- 
son. (James,  iii.  8.) 

“ Therefore,  if  thine  enemy  hunger, 
feed  him  ; if  he  thirst,  give  him  drink ; 
for  in  so  doing  thou  shalt  heap  coals  of 
fire  on  his  head.”  (Bom.  xii.  20.) 

4 4 Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.”  (Matt.  xxii.  39.) 

And  as  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  also  to  them  like- 
wise.” (Luke  vi.  31.) 

“ Remember  now  thy  creator  in  the 
days  of  thy  youth,  while  the  evil  days 
come  not,  nor  the  years  draw  nigh, 
when  thou  shalt  say : I have  no  pleas- 
ure in  them.”  (Ecc.  xii.  1.) 

4 4 Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures 
upon  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  doth 
corrupt,  and  where  thieves  break 
through  and  steal : But  lay  up  for  your- 
selves treasures  in  heaven,  where  neither 
moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where 
thieves  do  not  break  through  and  steal.” 
(Matt.  vi.  19-20.) 

“Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath  been 
said  : Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor, 
and  hate  thine  enemy.  But  I say 
unto  you,  love  your  enemies,  bless 
them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them 
that  hate  you,  and  pray  for  them  which 
despitefully  use  you,  and  persecute 
you.”  (Matt.  v.  43-44.) 

“ A new  commandment  I give  unto 
you,  that  ye  love  one  another  : as  I 
have  loved  you,  that  ye  also  love  one 
another.”  (John,  xii.  34.) 

“Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as 
thyself.”  (Matt.  xi.  39.) 


PAGANISM  IN  CHRISTIANITY. 


Think  constantly,  0 Son,  how  thou  mayest  please 
Thy  father,  mother,  teacher, — these  obey. 

By  deep  devotion  seek  thy  debt  to  pay. 

This  is  thy  highest  duty  and  religion.”  (Manu.) 

“ Wound  not  another,  though  by  him  provoked. 

Do  no  one  injury  by  thought  or  deed. 

Utter  no  word  to  pain  thy  fellow-creatures.”  (Ibid.) 

“ Treat  no  one  with  disdain,  with  patience  bear 
Reviling  language  ; with  an  angry  man 

Be  never  angry  ; blessings  give  for  curses.”  (Ibid.) 

“ E’en  as  a driver  checks  his  restive  steeds, 

Do  thou,  if  thou  art  wise,  restrain  thy  passions, 

Which,  running  wild,  will  hurry  thee  away.”  (Ibid.) 

4‘  Pride  not  thyself  on  thy  religious  works. 

Give  to  the  poor,  but  talk  not  of  thy  gifts. 

By  pride  religious  merit  melts  away, 

The  merit  of  thy  alms  by  ostentation.”  (Ibid.) 

■“  Good  words,  good  deeds,  and  beautiful  expressions 
A wise  man  ever  culls  from  every  quarter, 

E’en  as  a gleaner  gathers  ears  of  corn.”  (Maha-bharata.) 

4t  Repeated  sin  destroys  the  understanding, 

And  he  whose  reason  is  impaired,  repeats 

His  sins.  The  constant  practice  of  virtue 

Strengthens  the  mental  faculties,  and  he 

Whose  judgment  stronger  grows,  acts  always  right.  (Ibid.) 

If  thou  art  wise  seek  ease  and  happiness 
In  deeds  of  virtue  and  of  usefulness  ; 

And  ever  act  in  such  a way  by  day 

That  in  the  night  thy  sleep  may  tranquil  be  ; 

And  so  comport  thyself  when  thou  art  young 
That  when  thou  art  grown  old,  thy  age  may  pass 
In  calm  serenity.  So  ply  thy  talk 
Through  thy  life,  that  when  thy  days  are  ended, 

Thou  may’st  enjoy  eternal  bliss  hereafter.”  (Ibid.) 

“ Do  naught  to  others  which  if  done  to  thee 
Would  cause  thee  pain  ; this  is  the  sum  of  duty.”  (Ibid.) 

4t  No  sacred  lore  can  save  the  hypocrite, — 

Though  he  employ  it  craftily, — from  hell  ; 

When  his  end  comes,  his  pious  texts  take  wings, 

Like  fledglings  eager  to  forsake  their  nest.  ” (Ibid.) 

“ Iniquity  once  practiced,  like  a seed, 

Fails  not  to  yield  its  fruit  to  him  who  wrought  it, 

If  not  to  him,  yet  to  his  sons  and  grandsons.” 

27 


(Manu.) 


418 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ Single  is  every  living  creature  born, 

Single  he  passes  to  another  world. 

Single  he  eats  the  fruit  of  evil  deeds, 

Single,  the  fruit  of  good  ; and  when  he  leaves 

His  body  like  a log  or  heap  of  clay 

Upon  the  ground,  his  kinsmen  walk  away  ; 

Virtue  alone  stands  by  him  at  the  tomb, 

And  bears  him  through  the  dreary,  trackless  gloom.  ” 

“ Thou  canst  not  gather  what  thou  dost  not  sow  ; 

As  thou  dost  plant  the  tree  so  will  it  grow.  ” 

“ He  who  pretends  to  be  what  he  is  not, 

Acts  a part,  commits  the  worst  of  crimes, 

For,  thief -like,  he  abstracts  a good  man’s  heart,” 


(Ibid.) 

(Ibid.) 

(Ibid.) 


CHAPTER  XXXYII. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 

We  now  come  to  the  question,  Why  did  Christianity  prosper, 
and  why  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth  believed  to  be  a divine  incarnation 
and  Saviour  ? 

There  were  many  causes  for  this,  but  as  we  can  devote  but  one 
chapter  to  the  subject,  we  must  necessarily  treat  it  briefly. 

For  many  centuries  before  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus  there  lived 
a sect  of  religious  monks  known  as  Essenes , or  Therapeutce  y1  these 
entirely  disappeared  from  history  shortly  after  the  time  assigned 
for  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus.  There  were  thousands  of  them,  and 
their  monasteries  were  to  be  counted  by  the  score.  Many  have 
asked  the  question,  “What  became  of  them?”  We  now  propose 
to  show,  1.  That  they  were  expecting  the  advent  of  an  Angel-Mes- 
siah  y 2.  That  they  considered  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  be  the  Mes- 
siah ; 3.  That  they  came  over  to  Christianity  in  a body ; and,  J. 
That  they  brought  the  legendary  histories  of  the  former  Angel- 
Messiahs  with  them. 

The  origin  of  the  sect  known  as  Essenes  is  enveloped  in  mist, 
and  will  probably  never  be  revealed.  To  speak  of  all  the  different 
ideas  entertained  as  to  their  origin  would  make  a volume  of  itself, 
we  can  therefore  but  glance  at  the  subject.  It  has  been  the  ob- 
ject of  Christian  writers  up  to  a comparatively  recent  date,  to 
claim  that  almost  everything  originated  with  God’s  chosen  people, 
the  Jews , and  that  even  all  languages  can  be  traced  to  the  Hebrew. 
Under  these  circumstances,  then,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
we  find  they  have  also  traced  the  Essenes  to  Hebrew  origin. 

Theophilus  Gale,  who  wrote  a work  called  “ The  Court  of  the 


1 “Numerous  bodies  of  ascetics  (Thera- 
peutae),  especially  near  Lake  Mareotis,  devoted 
themselves  to  discipline  and  study,  abjuring 
society  and  labor,  and  often  forgetting,  it  is 
said,  the  simplest  wants  of  nature,  in  contem- 


plating the  hidden  wisdom  of  the  Scriptures. 
Eusebius  even  claimed  them  as  Chi'istians ; 
and  some  of  the  forms  of  monasticism  were 
evidently  modeled  after  the  Therapeutce .” 
(Smith’s  Bible  Dictionary,  art,  “ Alexandria." 

[419J 


420 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Gentiles  ” (Oxford,  1671),  to  demonstrate  that  “ the  origin  of  all 
human  literature , both  philology  and  philosophy,  is  from  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  Jewish  church,”  undoubtedly  hits  upon  the  truth  when 
he  says : 

“ Now,  the  origination  or  rise  of  these  Essenes  (among  the  Jews)  I conceive 
by  the  best  conjectures  I can  make  from  antiquity,  to  be  in  or  immediately  after 
the  Babylonian  captivity,  though  some  make  them  later.” 

Some  Christian  writers  trace  them  to  Moses  or  some  of  the 
prophets,  but  that  they  originated  in  India , and  were  a sort  of 
Buddhist  sect,  we  believe  is  their  true  history. 

Gfrorer,  who  wrote  concerning  them  in  1835,  and  said  that  “ the 
Essenes  and  the  Therapeutce  are  the  same  sect,  and  hold  the  same 
views”  was  undoubtedly  another  writer  who  was  touching  upon 
historical  ground. 

The  identity  of  many  of  the  precepts  and  practices  of  Essenism 
and  those  of  the  New  Testament  is  unquestionable.  Essenism  urged 
on  its  disciples  to  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteous- 
ness.1 The  Essenes  forbade  the  laying  up  of  treasures  upon  earth.2 
The  Essenes  demanded  of  those  who  wished  to  join  them  to  sell  all 
their  possessions,  and  to  divide  it  among  the  poor  brethren.3  The 
Essenes  had  all  things  in  common,  and  appointed  one  of  the  breth- 
ren as  steward  to  manage  the  common  bag.4 *  Essenism  put  all  its 
members  on  the  same  level,  forbidding  the  exerciser  of  authority  of 
one  over  the  other,  and  enjoining  mutual  service.6  Essenism  com- 
manded its  disciples  to  call  no  man  master  upon  the  earth.6  Essen- 
ism laid  the  greatest  stress  upon  being  meek  and  lowly  in  spirit.7 
The  Essenes  commended  the  poor  in  spirit,  those  who  hunger  and 
thirst  after  righteousness,  the  merciful,  the  pure  in  heart,  and  the 
peacemaker.  They  combined  the  healing  of  the  body  with  that  of 
the  soul.  They  declared  that  the  power  to  cast  out  evil  spirits,  to 
perform  miraculous  cures,  &c.,  should  be  possessed  by  their  disci- 
ples as  signs  of  their  belief.8  The  Essenes  did  not  swear  at  all ; 
their  answer  was  yea,  yea,  and  nay,  nay.9  When  the  Essenes  started 
on  a mission  of  mercy,  they  provided  neither  gold  nor  silver,  neither 
two  coats,  neither  shoes,  but  relied  on  hospitality  for  support.10  The 
Essenes,  though  repudiating  offensive  war,  yet  took  weapons  with 


1 Comp.  Matt.  vi.  33  ; Luke,  xii.  31. 

a Comp.  Matt.  vi.  19-21. 

8 Comp.  Matt.  xix.  21  ; Luke,  xii.  33. 

4 Comp.  Acts,  ii.  44,  45 ; iv.  32-34  ; John, 

xii,  G ; xiii.  29. 

6 Comp.  Matt.  xx.  25-28  ; Mark,  ix.  35-37  ; 

x.  42-45. 


8 Comp.  Matt,  xxiii.  8-10. 

7 Comp.  Matt.  v.  5 ; xi.  29. 

8 Comp.  Mark,  xvi.  17  ; Matt.  x.  8 ; Luke, 
ix.  1,  2 ; x.  9. 

0 Comp.  Matt.  v.  34. 

10  Comp.  Matt.  x.  9,  10. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


421 


them  when  they  went  on  a perilous  journey.1  The  Essenes  abstained 
from  connubial  intercourse.2  The  Essenes  did  not  offer  animal  sac- 
rifices, but  strove  to  present  their  bodies  a living  sacrifice,  holy  and 
acceptable  unto  God,  which  they  regarded  as  a reasonable  service.3 
It  was  the  great  aim  of  the  Essenes  to  live  such  a life  of  purity 
and  holiness  as  to  be  the  temples  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  be  able 
to  prophesy.4 

Many  other  comparisons  might  be  made,  but  these  are  sufficient 
to  show  that  there  is  a great  similarity  between  the  two.5  These 
similarities  have  led  many  Christian  writers  to  believe  that  Jesus 
belonged  to  this  order.  Dr.  Ginsburg,  an  advocate  of  this  theory, 
says  : 

“It  will  hardly  be  doubted  that  our  Saviour  himself  belonged  to  this  holy 
brotherhood.  This  will  especially  he  apparent  when  we  remember  that  the  whole 
Jewish  community,  at  the  advent  of  Christ,  was  divided  into  three  parties,  the 
Pharisees,  the  Sadducees,  and  the  Essenes,  and  that  every  Jew  had  to  belong  to 
one  of  these  sects.  Jesus,  who,  in  all  things,  conformed  to  the  Jewish  law,  and 
who  was  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners,  would  therefore 
naturally  associate  himself  with  that  order  of  Judaism  which  was  most  congenial 
to  his  holy  nature.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  Christ,  with  the  exception  of  once, 
was  not  heard  of  in  public  until  his  thirtieth  year,  implying  that  he  lived  in  se- 
clusion with  this  fraternity,  and  that  though  he  frequently  rebuked  the  scribes.. 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  he  never  denounced  the  Essenes,  strongly  confirms 
this  conclusion.’6 

The  facts  — as  Dr.  Ginsburg  calls  them  — which  confirm  his  con- 
clusions, are  simply  no  facts  at  all.  Jesus  may  or  may  not  have  been 
a member  of  this  order ; but  when  it  is  stated  as  a fact  that  he  never 
rebuked  the  Essenes,  it  is  implying  too  much.  We  know  not 
whether  the  words  said  to  have  been  uttered  by  Jesus  were  ever 
uttered  by  him  or  not,  and  it  is  almost  certain  that  had  he  rebuked 
the  Essenes,  and  had  his  words  been  written  in  the  Gospels,  they 
would  not  remain  there  long.  We  hear  very  little  of  the  Essenes 
after  a.  d.  40, 7 therefore,  when  we  read  of  the  “primitive  Chris- 
tians,”  we  are  reading  of  Essenes , and  others. 

The  statement  that,  with  the  exception  of  once,  Jesus  was  not 
heard  in  public  life  till  his  thirtieth  year,  is  also  uncertain.  One 
of  the  early  Christian  Fathers  (Irengeus)  tells  us  that  he  did  not  begin 


1 Comp.  Luke.  xxii.  36. 

2 Comp.  Matt.  xix.  10-12  ; I.  Cor.  viii. 

3 Comp.  Rom.  xii.  1. 

4 Comp.  I.  Cor.  xiv.  1,  39. 

6 The  above  comparisons  have  been  taken 

from  Ginsburg’s  “Essenes,”  to  which  the 

reader  is  referred  for  a more  lengthy  observation 
on  the  subject. 


6 Ginsburg’s  Essenes,  p.  24. 

7 “We  hear  very  little  of  them  after  a.d. 
40 ; and  there  can  hardly  be  any  doubt  that, 
owing  to  the  great  similarity  existing  between 
their  precepts  and  practices  and  those  of  primi- 
tive Christians,  the  Essenes  as  a body  must  have 
embraced  Christianity.”  (Dr.  Ginsburg,  p. 
27.) 


422 


BIBLB  MYTHS. 


to  teach  until  he  was  forty  years  of  age,  or  thereabout,  and  that  he 
lived  to  be  nearly  fifty  years  old.1  “ The  records  of  his  life  are  very 
scanty  ; and  these  have  been  so  shaped  and  colored  and  modified  by 
the  hands  of  ignorance  and  superstition  and  party  prejudice  and 
ecclesiastical  purpose,  that  it  is  hard  to  be  sure  of  the  original  out- 
lines.” 

The  similarity  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Essenes,  or  Therapeutae, 
to  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  induced  the  learned  Jesuit,  Nico- 
laus Serarius,  to  seek  for  them  an  honorable  origin.  He  contended 
therefore,  that  they  were  Asideans,  and  derived  them  from  the 
Rechabites,  described  so  circumstantially  in  the  thirty-fifth  chapter 
of  Jeremiah;  at  the  same  time,  he  asserted  that  the  first  Christian 
monks  were  Essenes.2 

Mr.  King,  speaking  of  the  Christian  sect  called  Gnostics,  says : 

“ Their  chief  doctrines  had  been  held  for  centuries  before  (their  time)  in  many 
of  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor.  There,  it  is  probable,  they  first  came  into  existence 
as  ‘ Mystae,’  upon  the  establishment  of  a direct  intercourse  with  India  under  the  Se- 
leucidce  and  the  Ptolemies.  The  colleges  of  Essenes  and  Megabyzae  at  Ephesus, 
the  Orphies  of  Thrace,  the  Curetes  of  Crete,  are  all  merely  branches  of  one  an- 
tique and  common  religion,  and  that  originally  Asiatic”* 

Again : 

“ The  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  Egypt  and  Palestine  affords  the  only  true 
solution  of  innumerable  difficulties  in  the  history  of  religion .”4 

Again  : 

“ That  Buddhism  had  actually  been  planted  in  the  dominions  of  the  Seleucidae 
and  Ptolemies  (Palestine  belonging  to  the  former)  before  the  beginning  of  the 
third  century  b.  c.  , is  proved  to  demonstration  by  a passage  in  the  Edicts  of  Asoka, 
grandson  of  the  famous  Chandragupta,  the  Sandracottus  of  the  Greeks.  These 
edicts  are  engraven  on  a rock  at  Girnur,  in  Guzerat.  ”5 

Eusebius,  in  quoting  from  Philo  concerning  the  Essenes,  seems 
to  take  it  for  granted  that  they  and  the  Christians  were  one  and 
the  same,  and  from  the  manner  in  which  he  writes,  it  would  appear 
that  it  was  generally  understood  so.  He  says  that  Philo  called  them 
“Worshipers,”  and  concludes  by  saying  : 

“ But  whether  he  himself  gave  them  this  name,  or  whether  at  the  beginning 
they  were  so  called,  when  as  yet  the  name  of  Christians  was  not  everywhere  pub- 
lished, I think  it  not  needful  curiosity  to  sift  out.”6 


1 This  will  be  alluded  to  in  another  chapter.  period.  (See  Ginsbnrgh’s  Essenes,  and  Hardy’s 

3 It  was  believed  by  some  that  the  order  of  Eastern  Monachism,  p.  358.) 

Essenes  was  instituted  by  Elias,  and  some  writ-  3 King’s  Gnostics  and  their  Remains,  p.  1. 

ors  asserted  that  there  was  a regular  succession  4 Ibid.  p.  6. 

of  hermits  upon  Mount  Carmel  from  the  time  6 King’s  Gnostics,  p.  23. 

of  the  prophets  to  that  of  Christ,  and  that  the  6 Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  2,  ch.  xvii. 

hermits  embraced  Christianity  at  an  early 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


423 


This  celebrated  ecclesiastical  historian  considered  it  very  prob- 
able that  the  writings  of  the  Essenic  Therapeuts  in  Egypt  had  been 
incorporated  into  the  gospels  of  the  New  Testament,  and  into  some 
Pauline  epistles.  His  words  are : 

“ It  is  very  likely  that  the  commentaries  (Scriptures)  which  were  among  them 
(the  Essenes)  were  the  Gospels,  and  the  works  of  the  apostles,  and  certain  expo- 
sitions of  the  ancient  prophets,  such  as  partly  that  epistle  unto  the  Hebrews, 
and  also  the  other  epistles  of  Paul  do  contain.”1 2 

The  principal  doctrines  and  rites  of  the  Essenes  can  be  con- 
nected with  the  East,  with  Parsism,  and  especially  with  Buddhism. 
Among  the  doctrines  which  Essenes  and  Buddhists  had  in  common 
was  that  of  the  Angelr  Messiah? 

Godfrey  Higgins  says : 

“The  Essenes  were  called  physicians  of  the  soul,  or  Therapeuts ; being  resi- 
dent both  in  Judea  and  Egypt,  they  probably  spoke  or  had  their  sacred  books  in 
Chaldee.  They  were  Pythagweans,  as  is  proved  by  all  their  forms,  ceremonies, 
and  doctrines,  and  they  called  themselves  sons  of  Jesse.  If  the  Pythagoreans  or 
Conobitae,  as  they  are  called  by  Jamblicus,  were  Buddhists,  the  Essenes  were 
Buddhists.  The  Essenes  lived  in  Egypt,  on  the  lake  of  Parembole  or  Maria,  in 
monasteries.  These  are  the  very  places  in  which  we  formerly  found  the  Qym- 
nosophists,  or  Samaneans,  or  Buddhist  priests  to  have  lived  ; which  Gymnosophis- 
tae  are  placed  also  by  Ptolemy  in  north-eastern  India.” 

“ Their  (the  Essenes)  parishes,  churches,  bishops,  priests,  deacons,  festivals 
are  all  identically  the  same  (as  the  Christians).  They  had  apostolic  founders  ; 
the  manners  which  distinguished  the  immediate  apostles  of  Christ  ; scriptures 
divinely  inspired  ; the  same  allegorical  mode  of  interpreting  them,  which  has 
since  obtained  among  Christians,  and  the  same  order  of  performing  public  wor- 
ship. They  had  missionary  stations  or  colonies  of  their  community  established 
in  Rome,  Corinth,  Galatia,  Ephesus,  Phillippi,  Colosse,  and  Thessalonica,  pre- 
cisely such,  and  in  the  same  circumstances,  as  were  those  to  whom  St.  Paul  ad- 
dressed his  letters  in  those  places.  All  the  fine  moral  doctrines  which  are  at- 
tributed to  the  Samaritan  Nazarite,  and  I doubt  not  justly  attributed  to  him,  are 
to  be  found  among  the  doctrines  of  these  ascetics.”3 4 

And  Arthur  Lillie  says  : 

“It  is  asserted  by  calm  thinkers  like  Dean  Mansel  that  within  two  genera- 
tions of  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great,  the  missionaries  of  Buddha  made  their 


1 Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  2,  ch.  xvii. 

2 Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  vii.  “ The 
New  Testament  is  the  Essene-Nazarene  Glad 
Tidings  ! Adon,  Adoni,  Adonis,  style  of  wor- 

ship.” (S.  F.  Dunlap  : Son  of  the  Man,  p.  iii.) 

4 Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  747  ; vol.  ii.  p.  34. 

4 “In  this,”  says  Mr.  Lillie,  “he  was  sup- 
ported by  philosophers  of  the  calibre  of  Schil- 
ling and  Schopenhauer,  and  the  great  Sanscrit 
authority,  Lassen.  Renan  also  sees  traces  of 
this  Buddhist  propagandism  in  Palestine  before 


the  Christian  era.  Hilgenfeld,  Mutter,  Bohlen, 
King,  all  admit  the  Buddhist  influence.  Cole- 
brooke  saw  a striking  similarity  between  the 
Buddhist  philosophy  and  that  of  the  Pythago- 
reans. Dean  Milman  was  convinced  that  the 
Therapeuts  sprung  from  the  * contemplative 
and  indolent  fraternities 1 of  India.’  And,  he 
might  have  added,  the  Rev.  Robert  Taylor  in 
his  “ Diegesis,”  and  Godfrey  Higgins  in  his 
“ Anacalypsis,”  have  brought  strong  arguments 
to  bear  in  support  of  this  theory. 


424 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


appearance  at  Alexandria .4  This  theory  is  confirmed — in  the  east  by  the 
Asoka  monuments — in  the  west  by  Philo.  He  expressly  maintains  the  identity 
in  creed  of  the  higher  Judaism  and  that  of  the  Gymnosophists  of  India  who  ab- 
stained from  the  ‘ sacrifice  of  living  animals  ’ — in  a word,  the  Buddhists.  It 
would  follow  from  this  that  the  priestly  religion  of  Babylonia,  Palestine,  Egypt, 
and  Greece  were  undermined  by  certain  kindred  mystical  societies  organized  by 
Buddha’s  missionaries  under  the  various  names  of  Therapeutes,  Essenes,  Neo- 
Pythagoreans,  Neo-Zoroastrians,  &c.  Thus  Buddhism  prepared  the  way  for  Chris- 
tianity.”1 

The  Buddhists  have  the  “ eight-fold  holy  path  ” (Dhammapada),. 
eight  spiritual  states  leading  up  to  Buddhahood.  The  first  state  of 
the  Essenes  resulted  from  baptism,  and  it  seems  to  correspond  with 
the  first  Buddhistic  state,  those  who  have  entered  the  (mystic) 
stream.  Patience,  purity,  and  the  mastery  of  passion  were  aimed 
at  by  both  devotees  in  the  other  stages.  In  the  last,  magical  pow- 
ers, healing  the  sick,  casting  out  evil  spirits,  etc. , were  supposed  to 
be  gained.  Buddhists  and  Essenes  seem  to  have  doubled  up  this 
eight-fold  path  into  four,  for  some  reason  or  other.  Buddhists  and 
Essenes  had  three  orders  of  ascetics  or  monks,  but  this  classification 
is  distinct  from  the  spiritual  classifications.3 

The  doctrine  of  the  “ Anointed  Angel”  of  the  man  from  heaven, 
the  Creator  of  the  world,  the  doctrine  of  the  atoning  sacrificial 
death  of  Jesus  by  the  blood  of  his  cross,  the  doctrine  of  the  Messi- 
anic antetype  of  the  Paschal  lamb  of  the  Paschal  omer,  and  thus  of 
the  resurrection  of  Christ  Jesus,  the  third  day,  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  these  doctrines  of  Paul  can,  with  more  or  less  certainty,, 
be  connected  with  the  Essenes.  It  becomes  almost  a certainty  that 
Eusebius  was  right  in  surmising  that  Essenic  writings  hare  been 
used  by  Paul  and  the  evangelists.  Not  Jesus,  but  Paul,  is  the  cause 
of  the  separation  of  the  Jews  from  the  Christians.8 

The  probability,  then,  that  that  sect  of  vagrant  quack-doctors, 
the  Therapeutge,  who  were  established  in  Egypt  and  its  neighbor- 
hood many  ages  before  the  period  assigned  by  later  theologians  as 
that  of  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus,  were  the  original  fabricators  of  the 
writings  contained  in  the  New  Testament,  becomes  a certainty  on 
the  basis  of  evidence,  than  which  history  has  nothing  more  certain, 
furnished  by  the  unguarded,  but  explicit,  unwary,  but  most  unquali- 
fied and  positive  statement  of  the  historian  Eusebius,  that  “ those 
ancient  Therapeutce  were  Christians , and  that  their  ancient  writ- 
ings were  our  gospels  and  epistles .” 

The  Essenes,  the  Therapeuts,  the  Ascetics,  the  Monks,  the  Ec- 


1 Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism,  p.  vi. 


2 Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  121. 


3 Ibid.  p.  240. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


425 


clesiastics,  and  the  Eclectics,  are  but  different  names  for  one  and  the 
self-same  sect. 

The  word  “ Essene  ” is  nothing  more  than  the  Egyptian  word  for 
that  of  which  Therapeut  is  the  Greek,  each  of  them  signifying 
“ healer  ” or  “ doctor,”  and  designating  the  character  of  the  sect  as 
professing  to  be  endued  with  the  miraculous  gift  of  healing  ; and 
more  especially  so  with  respect  to  diseases  of  the  mind. 

Their  name  of  “Ascetics  ” indicated  the  severe  discipline  and 
exercise  of  self-mortification,  long  fastings,  prayers,  contemplation, 
and  even  making  of  themselves  eunuchs  for  the  kingdom  of 
heaven’s  sake,  as  did  Origen,  Melito,  and  others  who  derived  their 
Christianity  from  the  same  school ; Jesus  himself  is  represented  to 
have  recognized  and  approved  their  practice. 

Their  name  of  “ Monks  ” indicated  their  delight  in  solitude, 
their  contemplative  life,  and  their  entire  segregation  and  abstraction 
from  the  world,  which  Jesus,  in  the  Gospel,  is  in  like  manner  rep- 
resented as  describing,  as  characteristic  of  the  community  of  which 
he  was  a member. 

Their  name  of  “ Ecclesiastics  ” was  of  the  same  sense,  and  indi- 
cated their  being  called  out,  elected,  separated  from  the  general  fra- 
ternity of  mankind,  and  set  apart  to  the  more  immediate  service 
and  honor  of  God. 

They  had  a flourishing  university,  or  corporate  body,  established 
upon  these  principles,  at  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  long  before  the 
period  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus.1 

From  this  body  they  sent  out  missionaries,  and  had  established 
colonies,  auxiliary  branches,  and  affiliated  communities,  in  various 
cities  of  Asia  Minor,  which  colonies  were  in  a flourishing  con- 
dition, before  the  preaching  of  St.  Paul. 

“ The  very  ancient  and  Eastern  doctrme  of  an  Angel-Messiah 
had  been  applied  to  Gautama- Buddha,  and  so  it  was  applied  to 
Jesus  Christ  by  the  Essenes  of  Egypt  and  of  Palestine , who  intro- 
duced' this  new  Messianic  doctrine  into  Essenic  Judaism  and  Es- 
senic  Christianity .”2 

In  the  Pali  and  Sanscrit  texts  the  word  Buddha  is  always  used 
as  a title,  not  as  a name.  It  means  “ The  Enlightened  One.”  Gau- 
tama Buddha  is  represented  to  have  taught  that  he  was  only  one  of 
a long  series  of  Buddhas,  who  appear  at  intervals  in  the  world,  and 
who  all  teach  the  same  system.  After  the  death  of  each  Buddha 
his  religion  flourishes  for  a time,  but  finally  wickedness  and  vice 


* “The  Essenes  abounded  in  Egypt,  espec-  Hist.,  lib.  2,  ch.  xvii. 
ially  about  Alexandria.”  (Eusebius  : Eccl.  3 Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  255. 


426 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


again  rule  over  the  land.  Then  a new  Buddha  appears,  who  again 
preaches  the  lost  Dliarma  or  truth.  The  names  of  twenty-four  of 
these  Buddhas  who  appeared  previous  to  Gautama  have  been  hand- 
ed down  to  us.  The  Buddhavcmsa , or  “ History  of  the  Buddhas,” 
the  last  book  of  the  Khuddaka  Nikaya  in  the  second  Pitca,  gives 
the  lives  of  all  the  previous  Buddhas  before  commencing  its  ac- 
count of  Gautama  himself ; and  the  Pali  commentary  on  the  Jata- 
kas  gives  certain  details  regarding  each  of  the  twenty-four.1 

An  Avatar  was  expected  about  every  six  hundred  years.2  At  the 
time  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  an  Avatar  was  expected,  not  by  some  of 
the  Jews  alone,  but  by  most  every  eastern  nation.3  Many  persons 
were  thought  at  that  time  to  be,  and  undoubtedly  thought  them- 
selves to  be,  the  Christ,  and  the  only  reason  why  the  name  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  succeeded  above  all  others,  is  because  the  Essenes — 
who  were  expecting  an  Angel-Messiah  — espoused  it.  Had  it  ’ not 
been  for  this  almost  indisputable  fact,  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth would  undoubtedly  not  be  known  at  the  present  day. 

Epiplianius,  a Christian  bishop  and  writer  of  the  fourth  century, 
says,  in  speaking  of  the  Essenes  : 

“They  who  believed  on  Christ  were  called  Jessjei  (or  Essenes),  before  they 
were  called  Christians.  These  derived  their  constitution  from  the  signification  of 
the  name  Jesus,  which  in  Hebrew  signifies  the  same  as  Therapeutes,  that  is,  a 
saviour  or  physician.” 

Thus  we  see  that,  according  to  Christian  authority,  the  Essenes 
and  Therapeutes  are  one,  and  that  the  Essenes  espoused  the  cause 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  accepted  him  as  an  Angel-Messiah,  and  be- 


1 Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism,  p.  179. 

3 This  is  clearly  shown  by  Mr.  Higgins  in 
his  Anacalypsis.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
Gautama  Buddha,  the  “Angel-Messiah,”  and 
Cyrus,  the  “ Anointed  ” of  the  Lord,  are  placed 
about  six  hundred  years  before  Jesus,  the 

“ Anointed.”  This  cycle  of  six  hundred  years 
was  called  the  '■'•great  year."  Josephus,  the  Jew- 
ish historian,  alludes  to  it  when  speaking  of  the 
patriarchs  that  lived  to  a great  age.  “ God  af- 
forded them  a longer  time  of  life,”  says  he,  “on 
account  of  their  virtue,  and  the  good  use  they 
made  of  it  in  astronomical  and  geometrical 
discoveries,  which  would  not  have  afforded  the 
time  for  foretelling  (the  periods  of  the  stars), 
unless  they  had  lived  six  hundred  years ; for  the 
great  year  is  completed  in  that  interval.”  (Jo- 
sephus, Antiq.,  bk.  i.  c.  iii.)  “ From  this  cycle  of 
six  hundred"  says  Col.  Vallancey,  “came  the 
name  of  the  bird  Phoenix,  called  by  the  Egyp- 
tians Phenn,  with  the  well-known  story  of  its 
going  to  Egypt  to  burn  itself  on  the  altar  of  the 
Sun  (at  Heliopolis)  and  rise  again  from  its 
ashes,  at  the  end  of  a certain  period.” 


3 “ Philo's  writings  prove  the  probability, 
almost  rising  to  a certainty,  that  already  in  his 
time  the  Essenes  did  expect  an  Angel-Messiah 
as  one  of  a series  of  divine  incarnations. 
Within  about  fifty  years  after  Philo’s  death, 
Elkesai  the  Essene  probably  applied  this  doc- 
trine to  Jesus,  and  it  was  promulgated  in  Rome 
about  the  same  time,  if  not  earlier,  by  the 
Pseudo-Clementines.”  (Bunsen  : The  Angel- 
Messiah,  p.  118.) 

“ There  was,  at  this  time  ( i . e.,  at  the  time 
of  the  birth  of  Jesus),  a prevalent  expectation 
that  some  remarkable  personage  was  about  to 
appear  in  Judea.  The  Jews  were  anxiously 
looking  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  By 
computing  the  time  mentioned  by  Daniel  (ch. 
ix.  25-27),  they  knew  that  the  period  was  ap- 
proaching when  the  Messiah  should  appear. 
This  personage,  they  supposed , would  be  a 
temporal  prince,  and  they  were  expecting  that 
he  would  deliver  them  from  Roman  bondage. 
It  was  natural  that  this  expectation  should 
spread  into  other  countries."  (Barnes’  Notes, 
vol.  i.  p.  27.) 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


427 


came  known  to  history  as  Christians , or  believers  in  the  Anointed 
Angel. 

This  ascetic  Buddhist  sect  called  Essenes  were  therefore  expect- 
ing an  Angel-Messiah,  for  had  not  Gautama  announced  to  his  dis- 
ciples that  another  Buddha,  and  therefore  another  angel  in  human 
form,  another  organ  or  advocate  of  the  wisdom  from  above,  would 
descend  from  heaven  to  earth,  and  would  be  called  the  “Son  of 
Love.” 

The  learned  Thomas  Maurice  says  : 

“ From  the  earliest  post-diluvian  age,  to  that  in  which  the  Messiah  appeared, 
together  with  the  traditions  which  so  expressly  recorded  the  fall  of  the  human 
race  from  a state  of  original  rectitude  and  felicity,  there  appears,  from  an  infi- 
nite variety  of  hieroglyphic  monuments  and  of  written  documents,  to  have  pre- 
vailed, from  generation  to  generation,  throughout  all  the  regions  of  the  higher  Asia, 
an  uniform  belief  that,  in  the  course  of  revolving  ages,  there  should  arise  a sacred 
•personage,  a mighty  deliverer  of  mankind  from  the  thraldom  of  sin  and  of  death.  In 
fact,  the  memory  of  the  grand  original  promise,  that  the  seed  of  the  woman 
should  eventually  crush  the  serpent,  was  carefully  preserved  in  the  breasts  of 
the  Asiatics  ; it  entered  deeply  into  their  symbolic  superstitions,  and  was  engraved 
aloft  amidst  their  mythologic  sculptures.”1 

That  an  Angel-Messiah  was  generally  expected  at  this  time  may 
be  inferred  from  the  following  facts : Some  of  the  Gnostic  sects  of 
Christians,  who  believed  that  Jesus  was  an  emanation  from  God. 
likewise  supposed  that  there  were  several  ^ Bons , or  emanations  from 
the  Eternal  Father.  Among  those  who  taught  this  doctrine  wTas 
Basilides  and  his  followers.2 

Simon  Magus  was  believed  to  be  “ He  who  should  come.” 
Simon  was  worshiped  in  Samaria  and  other  countries,  as  the  ex- 
pected Angel-Messiah,  as  a God. 

Justin  Martyr  says : 

“ After  the  ascension  of  our  Lord  into  heaven,  certain  men  were  suborned  by 
demons  as  their  agents,  who  said  that  they  were  gods  (i.e.,  the  Angel  Messiah). 
Among  these  was  Simon,  a certain  Samaritan,  whom  nearly  all  the  Samaritans 
and  a few  also  of  other  nations,  worshiped,  confessing  him  as  a Supreme  God.”3 

His  miracles  were  notorious,  and  admitted  by  all.  His  follow- 
ers became  so  numerous  that  they  were  to  be  found  in  all  countries. 
In  Home,  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  a statue  was  erected  in  his 
honor.  Clement  of  Home,  speaking  of  Simon  Magus,  says  that : 

“He  wishes  to  be  considered  an  exalted  person,  and  to  be  considered  ‘the 
Christ.  ’ He  claims  that  he  can  never  be  dissolved,  asserting  that  he  will  endure 
to  eternity.” 


1 Hist.  Hindostan,  vol.  ii.  p.  273. 

a See  Lardner’s  Works,  vol.  viii.  p.  353. 


3 Apol.  1,  ch.  xrvi. 


428 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Montanus  was  another  person  who  evidently  believed  himself 
to  be  an  Angel-Messiah.  He  was  called  by  himself  and  his  follow- 
ers the  “ Paraclete,”  or  “ Holy  Spirit.”1 

Socrates,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  tells  us  of  one  Buddha s 
(who  lived  after  Jesus)  : 

“Who  afore  that  time  was  called  Terebynthus,  which  went  to  the  coasts  of 
Babylon,  inhabited  by  Persians,  and  there  published  of  himself  many  false  won- 
ders : that  he  was  bom  of  a virgin,  that  he  was  bred  and  brought  up  in  the 
mountains,  etc.”51 

He  was  evidently  one  of  the  many  fanatics  who  believed  them- 
selves to  be  the  Paraclete  or  Comforter,  the  “Expected  One.” 
Another  one  of  these  Christs  was  Apollonius.  This  remark- 
able man  was  born  a few  years  before  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  era,  and  during  his  career,  sustained  the  role  of  a philoso- 
pher, religious  teacher  and  reformer,  and  a worker  of  miracles.  He 
is  said  to  have  lived  to  be  a hundred  years  old.  From  the  history 
of  his  life,  written  by  the  learned  sophist  and  scholar,  Philostratus, 
we  glean  the  following  : 

Before  his  birth  a god  appeared  to  his  mother  and  informed  her 
that  he  himself  should  be  born  of  her.  At  the  time  of  her  deliv- 
ery, the  most  wonderful  things  happened.  All  the  people  of  the 
country  acknowledged  that  he  was  the  “ Son  of  God.”  As  he  grew 
in  stature,  his  wonderful  powers,  greatness  of  memory,  and  marvel- 
ous beauty  attracted  the  attention  of  all.  A great  part  of  his  time 
was  spent,  when  a youth,  among  the  learned  doctors;  the  disciples 
of  Plato,  Chrysippus  and  Aristotle.  When  he  came  to  man’s  estate, 
he  became  an  enthusiastic  admirer  and  devoted  follower  of  Pythag- 
oras. His  fame  soon  spread  far  and  near,  and  wherever  ho  went 
he  reformed  the  religious  worship  of  the  day.  He  went  to  Ephesus, 
like  Christ  Jesus  to  Jerusalem,  where  the  people  flocked  about  him. 
While  at  Athens,  in  Greece,  he  cast  out  an  evil  spirit  from  a youth. 
As  soon  as  Apollonius  fixed  his  eyes  upon  him,  the  demon  broke 
out  into  the  most  angry  and  horrid  expressions,  and  then  swore  he 
would  depart  out  of  the  youth.  He  put  an  end  to  a plague  which 
was  raging  at  Ephesus,  and  at  Corinth  he  raised  a dead  maiden  to 
life,  by  simply  taking  her  by  the  hand  and  bidding  her  arise.  The 
miracles  of  Apollonius  were  extensively  believed,  by  Christians  as 
well  as  others , for  centuries  after  his  time.  In  the  fourth  century 
Hierocles  drew  a parallel  between  the  two  Christs  — Apollonius 
and  Jesus  — which  was  answered  by  Eusebius,  the  great  champion 


* See  Lardner’s  Works,  vol.  viii.  p.  593. 


* Socrates  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  i.  ch.  xvii. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


429 


of  the  Christian  church.  In  it  he  admits  the  miracles  of  Apollonius, 
but  attributes  them  to  sorcery. 

Apollonius  was  worshiped  as  a god,  in  different  countries,  as 
late  as  the  fourth  century.  A beautiful  temple  was  built  in  honor 
of  him,  and  he  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  many  of  the  Pagan  em- 
perors. Eunapius,  who  wrote  concerning  him  in  the  fifth  century, 
says  that  his  history  should  have  been  entitled  “ The  Descent  of  a 
God  upon  Earth.”  It  is  as  Albert  Reville  says : 

“ The  universal  respect  in  which  Apollonius  was  held  by  the  whole  pagan 
world,  testified  to  the  deep  impression  which  the  life  of  this  Supernatural  Being 
had  left  indelibly  fixed  in  their  minds  ; an  expression  which  caused  one  of  his 
contemporaries  to  exclaim,  ‘ We  have  a God  living  among  us.’  ” 

A Samaritan,  by  name  Menander,  who  was  contemporary  with 
the  apostles  of  Jesus,  Was  another  of  these  fanatics  who  believed 
himself  to  be  the  Christ.  He  went  about  performing  miracles, 
claiming  that  he  was  a Saviour,  “ sent  down  from  above  from  the 
invisible  worlds,  for  the  salvation  of  mankind .”x  He  baptized  his 
followers  in  his  own  name.  His  influence  was  great,  and  continued 
for  several  centuries.  Justin  Martyr  and  other  Christian  Fathers 
wrote  against  him. 

Manes  evidently  believed  himself  to  be  “ the  Christ,”  or  “ he 
who  was  to  come.”  His  followers  also  believed  the  same  concern- 
ing him.  Eusebius,  speaking  of  him,  says  : 

“ He  presumed  to  represent  the  person  of  Christ ; he  proclaimed  himself  to  he 
the  Comforter  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  being  puffed  up  with  this  frantic  pride, 
chose,  as  if  he  were  Christ,  twelve  partners  of  his  new-found  doctrine,  patch- 
ing into  one  heap  false  and  detestable  doctrines  of  old,  rotten,  and  rooted  out 
heresies,  the  which  he  brought  out  of  Persia.” 1  2 

The  word  Manes,  says  Usher  in  his  Annals,  has  the  meaning  of 
Paraclete  or  Comforter  or  Saviour.  This  at  once  lets  us  into  the 
secret  — a new  incarnation,  an  Angel-Messiah,  a Christ — born  from 
the  side  of  his  mother,  and  put  to  a violent  death  — flayed  alive, 
and  hung  up,  or  crucified,  by  a king  of  Persia.3  This  is  the  teacher 
with  his  twelve  apostles  on  the  rock  of  Gualior. 

Du  Perron,  in  his  life  of  Zoroaster,  gives  an  account  of  certain 
prophecies  to  be  found  in  the  sacred  books  of  the  Persians.  One 
of  these  is  to  the  effect  that,  at  successive  periods  of  time,  there  will 
appear  on  earth  certain  “Sons  of  Zoroaster,”  who  are  to  be  the 


1 Eusebius:  Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  3,  ch.  xxiii. 

2 Ibid.  lib.  7,  ch.  xxx. 

3 The  death  of  Manes,  according  to  Socrates, 
was  as  follows : The  King  of  Persia,  hearing 
that  he  was  in  Mesopotamia,  “made  him  to  be 


apprehended,  flayed  him  alive,  took  his  skin, 
filled  it  full  of  chaff,  and  hanged  it  at  the 
gates  of  the  city.”  (Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  1,  ch. 
xv.) 


430 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


result  of  immaculate  conceptions.  These  virgin-horn  gods  will 
come  upon  earth  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  the  law  of  God.  It 
is  also  asserted  that  Zoroaster,  when  on  earth,  declared  that  in  the 
“ latter  days  ” a pure  virgin  would  conceive,  and  bear  a son,  and 
that  as  soon  as  the  child  was  born  a star  would  appear,  blazing  even 
at  noonday,  with  undiminished  splendor.  This  Christ  is  to  be 
called  Sosiosh.  He  will  redeem  mankind,  and  subdue  the  Devs, 
who  have  been  tempting  and  leading  men  astray  ever  since  the  fall 
of  our  first  parents. 

Among  the  Greeks  the  same  prophecy  was  found.  The  Oracle 
of  Delphi  was  the  depository,  according  to  Plato,  of  an  ancient 
and  secret  prophecy  of  the  birth  of  a “Son  of  Apollo,”  who  was  to 
restore  the  reign  of  justice  and  virtue  on  the  earth.1 

Those  who  believed  in  successive  emanations  of  iEons  from  the 
Throne  of  Light,  pointed  to  the  passage  in  the  Gospels  where  Jesus 
is  made  to  say  that  he  will  be  succeeded  by  the  Paraclete  or  Com- 
forter. Mahommed  was  believed  by  many  to  be  this  Paraclete,  and 
it  is  said  that  he  too  told  his  disciples  that  another  Paraclete  would 
succeed  him.  From  present  appearances,  however,  there  is  some 
reason  for  believing  that  the  Mohammedans  are  to  have  their  an- 
cient  prophecy  set  at  naught  by  the  multiplicity  of  those  who  pre- 
tend to  be  divinely  appointed  to  fulfill  it.  The  present  year  was 
designated  as  the  period  at  which  this  great  reformer  was  to  arise, 
who  should  be  almost,  if  not  quite,  the  equal  of  Mahommed.  His 
mission  was  to  be  to  purify  the  religion  from  its  corruptions ; to 
overthrow  those  who  had  usurped  its  control,  and  to  rule,  as  a great 
spiritual  caliph,  over  the  faithful.  According  to  accepted  tradition, 
the  prophet  himself  designated  the  line  of  descent  in  which  his  most 
important  successor  would  be  found,  and  even  indicated  his  personal 
appearance.  The  time  having  arrived,  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
man  is  forthcoming,  only  in  this  instance  there  is  more  than  one 
claimant.  There  is  a “holy  man”  in  Morocco  who  has  allowed  it 
to  be  announced  that  he  is  the  designated  reformer,  while  cable  re- 
ports show  that  a rival  pretender  has  appeared  in  Yemen,  in  south- 
ern Arabia,  and  his  supporters,  sword  in  hand,  are  now  advancing 
upon  Mecca,  for  the  purpose  of  proclaiming  their  leader  as  caliph 
within  the  sacred  city  itself. 

History  then  relates  to  us  the  indisputable  fact  that  at  the  time 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  an  Angel-Messiah  was  expected,  that  many 
persons  claimed,  and  were  believed  to  be,  the  “Expected  One,”  and 


* Plato  in  Apolo/;.  Anac.,  ii.  p.  189. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED, 


431 


that  the  reason  why  Jesus  was  accepted  above  all  others  was  because 
the  Essenes  — a very  numerous  sect  — believed  him  to  be  the  true 
Messiah,  and  came  over  to  his  followers  in  a body.  It  was  because 
there  were  so  many  of  these  Christs  in  existence  that  some  follower 
of  Jesus — but  no  one  knows  who  — wrote  as  follows  : 

44  If  any  man  shall  say  to  you,  Lo,  here  is  Christ,  or,  lo,  ho  is  there ; believe 
him  not ; tor  false  Christs  and  false  prophets  shall  rise,  and  shall  show  signs  and 
wonders  to  seduce,  if  it  were  possible,  even  the  elect.”1 

The  reasons  why  Jesus  was  not  accepted  as  the  Messiah  by  the 
majority  of  the  Jews  was  because  the  majority  expected  a daring 
and  irresistible  warrior  and  conqueror,  who,  armed  with  greater 
power  than  Csssar,  was  to  come  upon  earth  to  rend  the  fetters  in 
which  their  hapless  nation  had  so  long  groaned,  to  avenge  them 
upon  their  haughty  oppressors,  and  to  re-establish  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  ; and  this  Jesus  — although  he  evidently  claimed  to  be  the 
Messiah  — did  not  do. 

Tacitus,  the  Roman  historian,  says  : 

“ The  generality  had  a strong  persuasion  that  it  was  contained  in  the  ancient 
writings  of  the  priests,  that  at  that  very  time  the  east  should  prevail  : and  that 
someone,  who  should  come  out  of  Judea,  should  obtain  the  empire  of  the  world  ; 
which  ambiguities  foretold  Vespasian  and  Titus.  But  the  common  people  (of 
the  Jews),  according  to  the  influence  of  human  wishes,  appropriated  to  them- 
selves, by  their  interpretation,  this  vast  grandeur  foretold  by  the  fates,  nor  could 
be  brought  to  change  their  opinion  for  the  true,  by  all  their  adversities.” 

Suetonius,  another  Roman  historian,  says : 

“ There  had  been  for  a long  time  all  over  the  east  a constant  persuasion  that 
it  was  recorded  in  the  fates  (books  of  the  fates,  or  foretellings),  that  at  that  time 
some  one  who  should  come  out  of  Judea  should  obtain  universal  dominion.  It 
appears  by  the  event,  that  this  prediction  referred  to  the  Roman  emperor  ; but 
the  Jews,  referring  it  to  themselves,  rebelled.” 

This  is  corroborated  by  Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  who 
says : 

“ That  which  chiefly  excited  them  (the  Jews)  to  war,  was  an  ambiguous 
prophecy,  which  was  also  found  in  the  sacred  books,  that  at  that  time  some  one, 
within  their  country,  should  arise,  that  should  obtain  the  empire  of  the  whole 
world..  For  this  they  had  received  by  tradition,  that  it  was  spoken  of  one  of 
their  nation  ; and  many  wise  men  were  deceived  with  the  interpretation.  But, 
in  truth,  Vespasian’s  empire  was  designed  in  this  prophecy,  who  was  created 
emperor  (of  Rome)  in  Judea .” 

As  the  Rev.  Dr.  Geikie  remarks,  the  central  and  dominant  char- 
acteristic of  the  teaching  of  the  rabbis,  was  the  certain  advent  of 


* Mar5,  xiii.  21.  22. 


432 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


a great  national  Deliverer  — tlie  Messiah  — but  not  a God  from 
heaven. 

For  a time  Cyrus  appeared  to  realize  the  promised  Deliverer,  or, 
at  least,  to  be  the  chosen  instrument  to  prepare  the  way  for  him, 
and,  in  his  turn,  Zerubabel  became  the  centre  of  Messianic  hopes. 
In  fact,  the  national  mind  had  become  so  inflammable,  by  constant 
brooding  on  this  one  theme,  that  any  bold  spirit,  rising  in  revolt 
against  the  Roman  power,  could  find  an  army  of  fierce  disciples 
who  trusted  that  it  should  be  he  who  would  redeem  Israel.1 

The  “ taxing  ” which  took  place  under  Cyrenius,  Governor  of 
Syria  (a.  d.  7),  excited  the  wildest  uproar  against  the  Roman  power. 
The  Hebrew  spirit  was  stung  into  exasperation  ; the  puritans  of  the 
nation,  the  enthusiasts,  fanatics,  the  zealots  of  the  law,  the  literal 
constructionists  of  prophecy,  appealed  to  the  national  temper,  re- 
vived the  national  faith,  and  fanned  into  flame  the  combustible  ele- 
ments that  smoldered  in  the  bosom  of  the  race.  The  Messianic 
hope  was  strong  in  these  people;  all  the  stronger  on  account. of 
their  political  degradation.  Born  in  sorrow,  the  anticipation  grew 
keen  in  bitter  hours.  That  Jehovah  would  abandon  them  could 
not  be  believed.  The  thought  would  be  atheism.  The  hope 
kept  the  eastern  Jews  in  a perpetual  state  of  insurrection.  The  cry 
“ Lo  here,  lo  there ! ” was  incessant.  Claimant  after  claimant  of 
the  dangerous  supremacy  of  the  Messiah  appeared,  pitched  a camp 
in  the  wilderness,  raised  the  banner,  gathered  a force,  was  attacked, 
defeated,  banished,  or  crucified ; but  the  frenzy  did  not  abate. 

The  last  insurrection  among  the  Jews,  that  of  Bar-Cochba  — 
u Son  of  the  Star  ” — revealed  an  astonishing  frenzy  of  zeal.  It 
was  purely  a Messianic  uprising.  Judaism  had  excited  the  fears 
of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  and  induced  him  to  inflict  unusual  sever- 
ities on  the  people.  The  effect  of  the  violence  was  to  stimulate 
that  conviction  to  fury.  The  night  of  their  despair  was  once  more 
illumined  by  the  star  of  the  east.  The  banner  of  the  Messiah  was 
raised.  Potehts,  as  of  old,  were  seen  in  the  sky ; the  clouds  were 
watched  for  the  glory  that  should  appear.  Bar-Cochba  seemed  to 
fill  out  the  popular  idea  of  the  deliverer.  Miracles  were  ascribed 
to  him;  flames  issued  from  his  mouth.  The  vulgar  imagination 
made  haste  to  transform  the  audacious  fanatic  into  a child  of  David. 
Multitudes  flocked  to  his  standard.  The  whole  Jewish  race  through- 
out the  world  was  in  commotion.  The  insurrection  gained  head. 
The  heights  about  Jerusalem  ’were  seized  and  occupied,  and  fortifi* 


» Geikle  : Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.  p.  79. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


433 


cations  were  erected ; nothing  but  the  “ host  of  angels  ” was 
needed  to  insure  victory.  The  angels  did  not  appear ; the  Roman 
legions  did.  The  “ Messiah,”  not  proving  himself  a conqueror,  was 
held  to  have  proved  himself  an  impostor,  the  “ son  of  a lie.”1 2 

The  impetuous  zeal  with  which  the  Jews  rushed  to  the  standard 
of  this  Messianic  impostor,  in  the  130th  year  of  the  Christian  era, 
demonstrates  the  true  Jewish  character,  and  shows  how  readily  any 
one  who  made  the  claim,  was  believed  to  be  “ He  who  should 
come.”  Even  the  celebrated  Rabbi  Akiba  sanctioned  this  daring 
fraud.  Akiba  declared  that  the  so-called  prophecy  of  Balaam, — “ a 
star  shall  rise  out  of  Jacob” — was  accomplished.  Hence  the  im- 
postor took  his  title  of  Bar-Cochabas , or  Son  of  the  Star ; and 
Akiba  not  only  publicly  anointed  him  “ King-  of  the  Jews,”  and 
placed  an  imperial  diadem  upon  his  head,  but  followed  him  to  the 
field  at  the  head  of  four-and-twenty  thousand  of  his  disciples,  and 
acted  in  the  capacity  of  master  of  his  horse. 

Those  who  believed  on  the  meek  and  benevolent  Jesus — and 
whose  number  was  very  small  — were  of  that  class  who  believed  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  Angel-Messiah ,a  first  heard  of  among  them 
when  taken  captives  to  Babylon.  These  believed  that  just  as 
Buddha  appeared  at  different  intervals,  and  as  Yishnu  appeared  at 
different  intervals,  the  avatars  appeared  among  the  Jews.  Adam, 
and  Enoch,  and  Noah,  and  Elijah  or  Elias,  might  in  outward  ap- 
pearance be  different  men,  but  they  were  really  the  self-same  divine 
person  successively  animating  various  human  bodies.3  Christ  Jesus 
was  the  avatar  of  the  ninth  age,  Christ  Cyrus  was  the  avatar  of 
the  eighth.  Of  the  hero  of  the  eighth  age  it  is  said  : “ Thus  said 
the  Lord  to  his  Anointed  ( i . e .,  his  Christ ),  his  Messiah,  to  Cyrus, 


1 Frothingham’s  Cradle  of  the  Christ. 

2 “The  prevailing  opinion  of  the  Rabbis 
and  the  people  alike,  in  Christ’s  day,  was,  that 
the  Messiah  would  be  simply  a great  prince, 
who  should  found  a kingdom  of  matchless 
splendor.”  “With  a few,  however,  the  con- 
ception of  the  Messiah’s  kingdom  was  pure  and 
lofty.  . . . Daniel,  and  all  who  wrote  after 
him,  painted  the  ‘ Expected  One  ’ as  a heavenly 
being.  He  was  the  ‘ messenger,’  the  ‘ Elect  of 
God,’  appointed  from  eternity,  to  appear  in 
due  time,  and  redeem  his  people.”  (Geikie’s 
Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.  pp,  80,  81.) 

In  the  book  of  1/aniel,  by  some  supposed 
to  have  been  written  during  the  captivity,  by 
others  as  late  as  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (b.  c. 
175),  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  is  described 
in  tremendous  language,  and  the  Messiah  is 
portrayed  as  a supernatural  personage,  in  close 
relation  with  Jehovah  himself.  In  the  book  of 

28 


Enoch,  supposed  to  have  been  written  at  vari- 
ous intervals  between  144  and  120  (b.  c.)  and  to 
have  been  completed  in  its  present  form  in  the 
first  half  of  the  second  century  that  preceded 
the  advent  of  Jesus,  the  figure  of  the  Messiah 
is  invested  with  superhuman  attributes.  He  is 
called  “The  Son  of  God,”  “ whose  name  was 
spoken  before  the  Sun  was  made  “ who 
existed  from  the  beginning  in  the  presence  of 
God,”  that  is,  was  pre-existent.  At  the  same 
time  his  human  characteristics  are  insisted  on. 
He  is  called  “Son  of  Man,”  even  “Son  of 
Woman,”  “The  Anointed”  or  “ The  Christ,” 
“ The  Righteous  One,”  &c.  (Frothingham  : 
The  Cradle  of  the  Christ,  p.  20.) 

3  This  is  clearly  seen  from  the  statement 
made  by  the  Matthew  narrator  (xvii.  9-13)  that 
the  disciples  of  Christ  Jesus  supposed  John 
the  Baptist  was  Elias. 


434 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


whose  right  hand  I have  holden  to  subdue  nations.”1  The  eighth 
period  began  about  the  Babylonish  captivity,  about  six  hundred  years 
before  Christ  Jesus.  The  ninth  began  with  Christ  Jesus,  making 
in  all  eight  cycles  before  Jesus. 

“ What  was  known  in  Judea  more  than  a century  before  the 
birth  of  Jesus  Christ  cannot  have  been  introduced  among  Budd- 
hists by  Christian  missionaries.  It  will  become  equally  certain  that 
the  bishop  and  church-historian,  Eusebius,  was  right  when  he  wrote, 
that  he  considered  it  highly  probable  that  the  writings  of  the  Es- 
senic  Therapeuts  in  Egypt  had  been  incorporated  into  our  Gospels, 
and  into  some  Pauline  epistles.”3 

For  further  information  on  the  subject  of  the  connection  be- 
tween Essenism  and  Christianity,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Taylor’s 
Diegesis,  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  and  the  works  of  S.  F.  Dunlap. 
We  shall  now  speak  of  another  powerful  lever  which  was  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  promulgation  of  Christianity ; namely,  that  of 

FRAUD. 

It  was  a common  thing  among  the  early  Christian  Fathers  and 
saints  to  lie  and  deceive,  if  their  lies  and  deceits  helped  the  cause 
of  their  Christ.  Lactantius,  an  eminent  Christian  author  who 
flourished  in  the  fourth  century,  has  well  said  : 

‘‘Among  those  who  seek  power  and  gain  from  their  religion,  there  will  never 
be  wanting  an  inclination  to  forge  and  lie  for  it.”3 

Gregory  of  ISTazianzus,  writing  to  St.  Jerome,  says  : 

“ A little  jargon  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  impose  on  the  people.  The  less 
they  comprehend,  the  more  they  admire.  Our  forefathers  and  doctors  have 
often  said,  not  what  they  thought,  but  what  circumstances  and  necessity  dic- 
tated.”4 

The  celebrated  Eusebius , Bishop  of  Caesarea,  and  friend  of 
Constantine  the  Great,  who  is  our  chief  guide  for  the  early  history 
of  the  Church,  confesses  that  he  was  by  no  means  scrupulous  to  re- 
cord the  whole  truth  concerning  the  early  Christians  in  the  various 
works  which  he  has  left  behind  him* *  Edward  Gibbon,  speaking 
of  him,  says : 

“The  gravest  of  the  ecclesiastical  historians,  Eusebius  himself,  indirectly 
confesses  that  he  has  related  what  might  redound  to  the  glory,  and  that  he  has 
suppressed  all  that  could  tend  to  the  disgrace  of  religion.  Such  an  acknowledg- 
ment will  naturally  excite  a suspicion  that  a writer  who  has  so  openly  violated 
one  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  history,  has  not  paid  a very  strict  regard  to  the 


1 Isaiah,  xlv.  1.  4 Hieron  ad  Nep.  Quoted  Volney’s  Ruins, 

* Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  17.  p.  177,  note. 

* Quoted  in  Middleton’s  Letters  from  Rome,  6 See  his  Eccl.  Hist.,  viii.  21. 


"WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


435 


observance  o'  tne  other  ; and  the  suspicion  will  derive  additional  credit  from  the 
character  of  Eusebius,  which  was  less  tinctured  with  credulity,  and  more  prac- 
ticed in  the  arts  of  courts,  than  that  of  almost  any  of  his  contemporaries.'’1 

The  great  theologian,  Beausobre,  in  his  “ Histoire  de  Mani- 
chee,”  says : 

“We  see  in  the  history  which  I have  related,  a sort  of  hypocrisy,  that  has 
been  perhaps,  but  too  common  at  all  times  ; that  churchmen  not  only  do  not 
say  what  they  think,  but  they  do  say  the  direct  contrary  of  what  they  think. 
Philosophers  in  their  cabinets  ; out  of  them  they  are  content  with  fables,  though 
they  well  know  they  are  fables.  Nay,  more  ; they  deliver  honest  men  to  the  execu- 
tioner, for  having  uttered  what  they  themselves  know  to  be  true.  How  many 
atheists  and  pagans  have  burned  holy  men  under  the  pretext  of  heresy?  Every 
day  do  hypocrites  consecrate,  and  make  people  adore  the  host,  though  as  well  con- 
vinced as  I am,  that  it  is  nothing  but  a bit  of  bread.”2 * 

M.  Daille  says : 

“ This  opinion  has  always  been  in  the  world,  that  to  settle  a certain  and  as- 
sured estimation  upon  that  which  is  good  and  true,  it  is  necessary  to  remove  out 
of  the  way,  whatsoever  may  be  an  hinderance  to  it.  Neither  ought  we  to  wonder 
that  even  those  of  the  honest,  innocent,  'primitive  times  made  use  of  these  deceits,  see- 
ing for  a good  end  they  made  no  scruple  to  forge  whole  books”* 

Reeves,  in  liis  “ Apologies  of  the  Fathers,”  says  : 

“It  was  a Catholic  opinion  among  the  philosophers,  that  pious  frauds  were 
good  things,  and  that  the  people  ought  to  be  imposed  on  in  matters  of  religion.”4 * 

Mosheim,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  says: 

“ It  was  held  as  a maxim  that  it  was  not  only  lawful  but  praiseworthy  to  de- 
ceive, and  even  to  use  the  expedient  of  a lie,  in  order  to  advance  the  cause  of 
truth  and  piety.”6 

Isaac  de  Casanbon,  the  great  ecclesiastical  scholar,  says  : 

“It  mightily  affects  me,  to  see  how  many  there  were  in  the  earliest  times  of 
the  church,  who  considered  it  as  a capital  exploit,  to  lend  to  heavenly  truth  the 
help  of  their  own  inventions,  in  order  that  the  new  doctrine  might  be  more 
readily  allowed  by  the  wise  among  the  Gentiles.  These  officious  lies,  they  were 
wont  to  say,  were  devised  for  a good  end.  ”6 


1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  ii.  pp.  79,  80. 

9 “ On  voit  dans  l’histoire  que  j’ai  rapportee. 
nne  sorte  d’hypocrisie,  qui  n’a  peut-etre  ete 
que  trop  commune  dans  tous  les  terns.  C’est  que 
des  ecclesiastiques,  non-sulement  ne  disent  pas 
ce  qu’ils  pensent,  mais  desent  tout  le  contraire 
de  ce  qu’ils  pensent.  Philosophes  dans  leur 
cabinet,  hors  dela,  ils  content  des  fables,  quoi- 
qu’ils  sachent  bien  que  ce  sont  des  fables.  Ils 
font  plus  ; ils  livrent  au  bourreau  des  gens  de 
biens,  pour  l’avoir  dit.  Comhiens  d’athees  et 

de  profanes  ont  fait  bruler  de  saints  pcrson- 

nages,  sous  pretexte  d’heresie  ? Tous  les  jours 

des  hypocrites,  consacrent  et  font  adorer 

I’hostie,  bein  qu’ils  soient  uussi  convaincus  que 


moi,  que  cen’  est  qu’un  morceau  de  pain.’ 
(Tom.  2,  p.  568.) 

3 On  the  Use  of  the  Fathers,  pp.  36,  37. 

4 Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Syntagma,  p.  170. 

6 Mosheim  : vol.  1,  p.  198. 

6 “ Postremo  illud  quoque  me  vehem.  uter 
movet,  quod  videam  primis  ecclesiae  tempori- 
bus,  quam  plurimos  extitisse,  qui  facinus 
palmarium  judicabant,  caelestem  veritatem, 
figmentis  suis  ire  adjutum,  quo  facilius  nova 
doctrina  a gentium  sapientibus  admitteretur 
Officiosa  haec  mendacia  vocabant  bono  fine 
exeogitata.”  (Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p. 
44,  and  Giles’  Hebrew  and  Christian  Records 
vol  ii.  p.  19.) 


436 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  Apostolic  Father,  Hermas,  who  was  the  fellow-laborer  of 
St.  Paul  in  the  work  of  the  ministry ; who  is  greeted  as  such  in  the 
New  Testament;  and  whose  writings  are  expressly  quoted  as  of 
divine  inspiration,  by  the  early  Fathers,  ingenuously  confesses  that 
lying  was  the  easily-besetting  sin  of  a Christian.  His  words  are : 

“O  Lord,  I never  spake  a true  word  in  my  life,  but  I have  always  lived  in 
dissimulation,  and  affirmed  a lie  for  truth  to  all  men,  and  no  man  contradicted 
me,  but  all  gave  credit  to  my  words.” 

To  which  the  holy  angel,  whom  he  addresses,  condescendingly 
admonishes  him,  that  as  the  lie  was  up,  now,  he  had  better  keep  it 
up,  and  as  in  time  it  would  come  to  be  believed,  it  would  answer 
as  well  as  truth.1 2 3 

Dr.  Mosheim  admits,  that  the  Platonists  and  Pythagoreans  held 
it  as  a maxim,  that  it  was  not  only  lawful,  but  praiseworthy,  to  de- 
ceive, and  even  to  use  the  expedient  of  a lie,  in  order  to  advance  the 
cause  of  truth  and  piety.  The  Jews  who  lived  in  Egypt,  had 
learned  and  received  this  maxim  from  them,  before  the  coming  of 
Christ  Jesus,  as  appears  incontestably  from  a multitude  of  ancient 
records,  and  the  Christians  were  infected  from  both  these  sources , 
with  the  same  pernicious  error? 

Of  the  fifteen  letters  ascribed  to  Ignatius  (Bishop  of  Antioch 
after  69  a.  d.),  eight  have  been  rejected  by  Christian  writers  as  be- 
ing forgeries , having  no  authority  whatever.  u The  remaining 
seven  epistles  were  accounted  genuine  by  most  critics,  although  dis- 
puted by  some,  previous  to  the  discoveries  of  Mr.  Cureton,  which 
have  shaken , and  indeed  almost  wholly  destroyed  the  credit  and 
authenticity  of  all  alike.”* 

Paul  of  Tarsus,  who  was  preaching  a doctrine  which  had  already 
been  preached  to  every  nation  on  earth,4 *  inculcates  and  avows  the 
principle  of  deceiving  the  common  people,  talks  of  his  having  been 
upbraided  by  his  own  converts  with  being  crafty  and  catching  them 
with  guile,6  and  of  his  known  and  willful  lies,  abounding  to  the 
glory  of  God.6 

Even  the  orthodox  Doctor  Burnet,  an  eminent  English  author, 
in  his  treatise  “ De  Statu  Mortuorum ,”  purposely  written  in  Latin, 


1 See  the  Vision  of  Hermas,  b.  2,  c.  iii. 

2 Mosheinvvol.  i.  p.  197.  Quoted  in  Taylor’s 
Diegesis,  p.  47. 

3 Dr.  Giles  : Hebrew  and  Christian  Records, 
vol.  ii.  p.  99. 

4 “ Continue  in  the  faith  grounded  and 

settled,  and  be  not  moved  away  from  the  hope 

of  the  gospel,  which  ye  have  heard,  and  which 
was  preached  to  every  creature  which  is  under 


heaven  ; whereof  I Paul  am  made  a minister.” 
(Colossians,  i.  23.) 

6 “ Being  crafty,  I caught  you  with  guile.” 
(II.  Cor.  xii.  16.) 

6 *■  For  if  the  truth  of  God  had  more 
abounded  through  my  lie  unto  his  glory,  why 
yet  am  I also  judged  as  a sinner.”  (Romans, 
iii  7.) 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


437 


that  it  might  serve  for  the  instruction  of  the  clergy  only,  and  not 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  laity,  because,  as  he  said,  “ too  much 
light  is  hurtful  for  weak  eyes”  not  only  justified  but  recom- 
mended the  practice  of  the  most  consummate  hypocrisy,  and  would 
have  his  clergy  seriously  preach  and  maintain  the  reality  and 
eternity  of  hell  torments,  even  though  they  should  believe  nothing 
of  the  sort  themselves.1 

The  incredible  and  very  ridiculous  stories  related  by  Christian 
Fathers  and  ecclesiastical  historians,  on  whom  we  are  obliged  to  rely 
for  information  on  the  most  important  of  subjects , show  us  how 
untrustworthy  these  men  were.  We  have,  for  instance,  the  story 
related  by  St.  Augustine,  who  is  styled  “ the  greatest  of  the  Latin 
Fathers,5’  of  his  preaching  the  Gospel  to  people  without  heads.  In 
his  33d  Sermon  he  says  : 

I was  already  Bishop  of  Hippo,  when  I went  into  Ethiopia  with  some  serv- 
ants of  Christ  there  to  preach  the  Gospel.  In  this  country  we  saw  many  men 
and  women  without  heads,  who  had  two  great  eyes  in  their  breasts  ; and  in 
countries  still  more  southly,  we  saw  people  who  had  but  one  eye  in  their  fore- 
heads.”2 * * 

This  same  holy  Father  bears  an  equally  unquestionable  testi- 
mony to  several  resurrections  of  the  dead,  of  which  he  himself  had 
been  an  eye-witness. 

In  a book  written  “ towards  the  close  of  the  second  century,  by 
some  zealous  believer,55  and  fathered  upon  one  Nicodemus,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  a disciple  of  Christ  Jesus,  we  find  the  following : 

“We  all  know  the  blessed  Simeon,  the  high  priest,  who  took  Jesus  when  an 
infant  into  his  arms  in  the  temple.  This  same  Simeon  had  two  sons  of  his  own, 
and  we  were  all  present  at  their  death  and  funeral.  Go  therefore  and  see  their 


1 “ Si  me  tamen  audire  velie,  mallem  te  paenas 
has  dicere  indefinitas  quam  infinitas.  Sed  veniet 
dies,  cum  non  minus  absurda,  habebitur  et 
odiosa  haec  opinio  quam  transubstantiatio 
hodie.”  (De  Statu  Mort.,  p.  304.  Quoted  in 
Taylor’s  Diegesis,  p.  43.) 

2 Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Syntagma,  p.  52. 

Among  the  ancients,  there  were  many  stories 

current  of  countries,  the  inhabitants  of  which 

were  of  peculiar  size,  form  or  features.  Our 
Christian  saint  evidently  believed  these  tales, 
and  thinking  thus,  sought  to  make  others  be- 
lieve them.  We  find  the  following  examples 
related  by  Herodotus:  “ Aristeas,  son  of  Cay- 
strobius,  a native  of  Proconesus,  says  in  his 
epic  verses  that,  inspired  by  Apollo,  he  came 
to  the  Issedones  ; that  beyond  the  Issedones 
dwell  the  Arimaspians,  a people  that  have  only 
one  eye."  (Herodotus,  book  iv.  ch.  13.)  “When 
one  has  passed  through  a considerable  extent 


of  the  rugged  country  (of  the  Seythians),  a 
people  are  found  living  at  the  foot  of  lofty 
mountains,  who  are  said  to  be  all  bald  from 
their  birth , both  men  and  women  alike,  and 
they  are  flat-nosed,  and  have  large  chins.” 
(Ibid.  ch.  23.)  “ These  bald  men  say,  what  to 
me  is  incredible,  that  men  with  goat's  feet  in- 
habit these  mountains  ; and  when  one  has 
passed  beyond  them,  other  men  are  found,  who 
sleep  six  months  at  a time , but  this  I do  not  at 
all  admit.”  (Ibid.  ch.  24.)  In  the  country  west- 
ward of  Libya,  “ there  are  enormous  serpents, 
and  lions,  elephants,  bears,  asps,  and  asses 
with  horns,  and  monsters  with  dog’s  heads 
and  without  heads,  who  have  eyes  in  their 
breasts , at  least,  as  the  Libyans  say,  and  wild 
men  and  wild  women,  and  many  other  wild 
beasts  which  are  not  fabulous.”  (Ibid.  ch. 
192.) 


488 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


tombs,  for  these  are  open,  ana  they  are  risen  ; and  behold,  they  are  in  the  city  of 
Arima  thcea,  spending  their  time  together  in  offices  of  devotion.”* 

Eusebius,  “ the  Father  of  ecclesiastical  history,”  Bishop  of  Caes- 
area, and  one  of  the  most  prominent  personages  at  the  Council  of 
Nice,  relates  as  truth,  the  ridiculous  story  of  King  Agbarus  writing 
a letter  to  Christ  Jesus,  and  of  Jesus’  answer  to  the  same.1 2  And 
Socrates  relates  how  the  Empress  Helen,  mother  of  the  Emperor 
Constantine,  went  to  Jerusalem  for  the  purpose  of  finding,  if  pos- 
sible, “the  cross  of  Christ.”  This  she  succeeded  in  doing,  also  the 
nails  with  which  he  was  nailed  to  the  cross.3 4 

Beside  forging,  lying,  and  deceiving  for  the  cause  of  Christ, 
the  Christian  Fathers  destroyed  all  evidence  against  themselves  and 
their  religion,  which  they  came  across.  Christian  divines  seem  to 
have  always  been  afraid  of  too  much  light.  In  the  very  infancy 
of  printing,  Cardinal  Wolsey  foresaw  its  effect  on  Christianity,  and 
in  a speech  to  the  clergy,  publicly  forewarned  them,  that,  if  they 
did  not  destroy  the  Press , the  Press  would  destroy  them.'  There 
can  be  no  doubt,  that  had  the  objections  of  Porphyry,5  Hierocles,6 
Celsus,7  and  other  opponents  of  the  Christian  faith,  been  permitted 
to  come  down  to  us,  the  plagiarism  in  the  Christian  Scriptures  from 
previously  existing  Pagan  documents,  is  the  specific  charge  they 
would  have  presented  us.  But  these  were  ordered  to  be  burned, 
by  the  prudent  piety  of  the  Christian  emperors. 

In  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  there  was  an  immense  library,  founded 
by  the  Ptolemies.  This  library  was  situated  in  the  Alexandrian 
Museum ; the  apartments  which  were  allotted  for  it  were  beautifully 
sculptured,  and  crowded  with  the  choicest  statues  and  pictures  ; the 
building  was  built  of  marble.  This  library  eventually  comprised 


1 Nicodemus,  Apoc.,  ch.  xii. 

2 See  Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  1,  cli.  xiv. 

3 Socrates  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  1,  ch.  xiii. 

4 In  the  year  1444,  Caxton  published  the 
first  book  ever  printed  in  England.  In  1474, 

the  then  Bishop  of  London,  in  a convocation 
of  his  clergy,  said : “ If  we  do  not  destroy 

this  dangerous  invention , it  will  one  day  de- 
stroy us."  (See  Middleton’s  Letters  from 
Home,  p.  4.)  The  reader  should  compare  this 
with  Pope  Leo  X.’s  avowal  that,  “ it  is  well 
I nown  how  profitable  this  fable  of  Christ  has 
been  to  us  ;"  and  Archdeacon  Paley’s  declara- 
tion that  "he  could  ill  afford  to  have  a con- 
science." 

0 Porphyry , who  flourished  about  the  year 
£70  a.d.,  a man  of  great  abilities,  published  a 
large  work  of  fifteen  books  against  the  Chris- 
tians. “ His  objections  against  Christianity,” 
says  Dr.  Lardner,  “ were  in  esteem  with  Gentile 


people  for  a long  while  ; and  the  Christians 
were  not  insensible  of  the  importance  of  his 
work  ; as  may  be  concluded  from  the  several 
answers  made  to  it  by  Eusebius,  and  others 
in  great  repute  for  learning.”  (Vol.  viii.  p. 
158.)  There  are  but  fragments  of  thesa  fifteen 
books  remaining,  Christian  magistrates  hav- 
ing ordered  them  to  be  destroyed.  (Ibid.) 

6 Hierocles  was  a Neo-Platonist,  who  lived 
at  Alexandria  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
ceutury,  and  enjoyed  a great  reputation.  He 
was  the  author  of  a great  number  of  works, 
a few  extracts  of  which  alone  remain. 

7 Celsus  was  an  Epicurean  philosopher,  who 
lived  in  the  second  century  a.d.  He  wrote  a 
work  called  ‘‘The  True  Word,”  against  Chris- 
tianity, but  as  it  has  been  destroyed  we  know 
nothing  about  it.  Origen  claims  to  give  quota 
tions  from  it. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


439 


four  hundred  thousand  volumes.  In  the  course  of  time,  probably 
on  account  of  inadequate  accommodation  for  so  many  books,  an 
additional  library  was  established,  and  placed  in  the  temple  of  Ser- 
apis.  The  number  of  volumes  in  this  library,  which  was  called  the 
daughter  of  that  in  the  museum,  was  eventually  three  hundred 
thousand.  There  were,  therefore,  seven  hundred  thousand  volumes 
in  these  royal  collections. 

In  the  establishment  of  the  museum,  Ptolemy  Soter,  and  his 
son  Philadelphus,  had  three  objects  in  view  : 1.  The  perpetuation 
of  such  knowledge  as  was  then  in  the  world  ; 2.  Its  increase ; 3.  Its 
diffusion. 

1.  For  the  perpetuation  of  knowledge.  Orders  were  given  to 
the  chief  librarian  to  buy,  at  the  king’s  expense,  whatever  books  he 
could.  A body  of  transcribers  was  maintained  in  the  museum, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  make  correct  copies  of  such  works  as  their 
owners  were  not  disposed  to  sell.  Any  books  brought  by  foreigners 
into  Egypt  were  taken  at  once  to  the  museum,  and  when  correct 
copies  had  been  made,  the  transcript  was  given  to  the  owner,  and 
the  original  placed  in  the  library.  Often  a very  large  pecuniary 
indemnity  was  paid. 

2.  For  the  increase  of  knowledge.  One  of  the  chief  objects  of 
the  museum  was  that  of  serving  as  the  home  of  a body  of  men  who 
devoted  themselves  to  study,  and  were  lodged  and  maintained  at 
the  king’s  expense.  In  the  original  organization  of  the  museum 
the  residents  were  divided  into  four  faculties, — Literature,  Mathe- 
matics, Astronomy,  and  Medicine.  An  officer  of  very  great  dis- 
tinction presided  over  the  establishment,  and  had  general  charge  of 
its  interests.  Demetius  Phalareus,  perhaps  the  most  learned  man 
of  his  age,  who  had  been  Governor  of  Athens  for  many  years,  was 
the  first  so  appointed.  Under  him  was  the  librarian,  an  office 
sometimes  held  by  men  whose  names  have  descended  to  our  times, 
as  Eratosthenes  and  Apollonius  Phodius.  In  connection  with  the 
museum  was  a botanical  and  a zoological  garden.  These  gardens, 
as  their  names  imply,  were  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the  study 
of  plants  and  animals.  There  was  also  an  astronomical  observa- 
tory, containing  armillary  spheres,  globes,  solstitial  and  equatorial 
armils,  astrolabes,  parallactic  rules,  and  other  apparatus  then  in 
use,  the  graduation  on  the  divided  instruments  being  into  degrees 
and  sixths. 

3.  For  the  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In  the  museum  was  given, 
by  lectures,  conversation,  or  other  appropriate  methods,  instruction 
in  all  the  various  departments  of  human  knowledge. 


440 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


There  flocked  to  this  great  intellectual  centre,  students  from  all 
countries.  It  is  said  that  at  one  time  not  fewer  than  fourteen 
thousand  were  in  attendance.  Subsequently  even  the  Christian 
churoh  received  from  it  some  of  the  most  eminent  of  its  Fathers,  as 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Origen,  Athanasius,  &c. 

The  library  in  the  museum  was  burned  during  the  siege  of  Alex- 
andria by  Julius  Caesar.  To  make  amends  for  this  great  loss,  the 
library  collected  by  Eumenes,  King  of  Pergamus,  was  presented  by 
Mark  Antony  to  Queen  Cleopatra.  Originally  it  was  founded  as 
a rival  to  that  of  the  Ptolemies.  It  was  added  to  the  collection  in 
the  Serapion,  or  the  temple  of  Serapis.1 

It  was  not  destined,  however,  to  remain  there  many  centuries, 
as  this  very  valuable  library  was  willfully  destroyed  by  the  Christian 
Theophilus,  and  on  the  spot  where  this  beautiful  temple  of  Serapis 
stood,  in  fact,  on  its  very  foundation,  was  erected  a church  in  honor 
of  the  “ noble  army  of  martyrs,”  who  had  never  existed. 

This  we  learn  from  the  historian  Gibbon,  who  says  that,  after 
this  library  was  destroyed,  “ the  appearance  of  the  empty  shelves 
excited  the  regret  and  indignation  of  every  spectator,  whose  mind 
was  not  totally  darkened  by  religious  prejudice.”2 

The  destruction  of  this  library  was  almost  the  death-blow  to 
free-thought  — wherever  Christianity  ruled  — for  more  than  a 
thousand  years. 

The  death-blow  was  soon  to  be  struck,  however,  which  was 
done  by  Saint  Cyril , who  succeeded  Theophilus  as  Bishop  of 
Alexandria. 

Hypatia , the  daughter  of  Theon,  the  mathematician,  endeav- 
ored to  continue  the  old-time  instructions.  Each  day  before  her 
academy  stood  a long  train  of  chariots ; her  lecture-room  was 
crowded  with  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  Alexandria.  They  came 
to  listen  to  her  discourses  on  those  questions  which  man  in  all  ages- 
has  asked,  but  which  have  never  yet  been  answered  : “ What  am  I ? 
Where  am  I ? What  can  I know  ?” 

Hypatia  and  Cyril ; philosophy  and  bigotry  ; they  cannot  exist 
together.  As  Hypatia  repaired  to  her  academy,  she  was  assaulted 
by  (Saint)  Cyril’s  mob  — a mob  of  many  monks.  Stripped  naked 
in  the  street,  she  was  dragged  into  a church , and  there  killed  by  the 
club  of  Peter  the  Reader.  The  corpse  was  cut  to  pieces,  the  flesh 
was  scraped  from  the  bones  with  shells,  and  the  remnants  cast  into 
afire.  For  this  frightful  crime  Cyril  was  never  called  to  account . 


1 Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  pp.  18-21. 


2 Gibbon  8 Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  146. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


441 


It  seemed  to  be  admitted  that  the  end  sanctified  the  means.  So 
ended  Greek  philosophy  in  Alexandria , so  came  to  an  untimely 
close  the  learning  that  the  Ptolemies  had  done  so  much  to  pro- 
mote. 

The  fate  of  Hypatia  was  a warning  to  all  who  would  cultivate 
profane  knowledge.  Henceforth  there  was  to  be  no  freedom  for 
human  thought.  Every  one  must  think  as  ecclesiastical  authority 
ordered  him  ; a.d.  414.  In  Athens  itself  philosophy  awaited  its 
doom.  Justinian  at  length  prohibited  its  teaching  and  caused  all 
its  schools  in  that  city  to  be  closed.1 

After  this  followed  the  long  and  dreary  dark  ages , but  the  sun 
of  science,  that  bright  and  glorious  luminary,  was  destined  to  rise 
again. 

The  history  of  this  great  Alexandrian  library  is  one  of  the 
keys  which  unlock  the  door,  and  exposes  to  our  view  the  manner 
in  which  the  Hindoo  incarnate  god  Crishna , and  the  meek  and  be- 
nevolent Buddha,  came  to  be  worshiped  under  the  name  of  Christ 
Jesus.  For  instance,  we  have  just  seen  : 

1.  That,  “ orders  were  given  to  the  chief  librarian  to  buy  at  the 
king’s  expense  whatever  books  he  could.” 

2.  That,  “ one  of  the  chief  objects  of  the  museum  was  that  of 
serving  as  the  home  of  a body  of  men  who  devoted  themselves  to 
study.” 

3.  That,  “ any  books  brought  by  foreigners  into  Egypt  were 
taken  at  once  to  the  museum  and  correct  copies  made.” 

4.  That,  “ there  flocked  to  this  great  intellectual  centre  students 
from  all  countries.” 

5.  That,  “the  Christian  church  received  from  it  some  of  the 
most  eminent  of  its  Fathers.” 

And  also : 

6.  That,  the  chief  doctrines  of  the  Gnostic  Christians  “ had  been 
held  for  centuries  before  their  time  in  many  of  the  cities  in  Asia 
Minor.  There,  it  is  probable,  they  first  came  into  existence  as 
‘ Mystse,’  upon  the  establishment  of  a direct  intercourse  with  India 
under  the  Seleucidae  and  the  Ptolemies.” 

7.  That,  “ the  College  of  Essenes  at  Ephesus,  the  Orphies  of 
Thrace,  the  Curetes  of  Crete,  are  all  merely  branches  of  one  an- 
tique and  common  religion,  and  that  originally  Asiatic .” 

8.  That,  “ the  introduction  of  Buddhism  into  Egypt  and  Pales- 


1 Draper  : Religion  and  Science,  pp.  55,  56.  See  also,  Socrates’  Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  7,  ch.  xv. 


442 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


tine  affords  the  only  true  solution  of  innumerable  difficulties  in 
the  history  of  religion .” 

9.  That,  “ Buddhism  had  actually  been  planted  in  the  dominions 
of  the  Seleucidse  and  Ptolemies  (Palestine  belonging  to  the  former) 
before  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  b.  c.,  and  is  proved  to 
demonstration  by  a passage  in  the  edicts  of  Asoka.” 

10.  That,  “ it  is  very  likely  that  the  commentaries  (Scriptures) 
which  were  among  them  (the  Essenes)  were  the  Gospels.” 

11.  That,  “ the  principal  doctrines  and  rites  of  the  Essenes  can 
be  connected  with  the  East,  with  Parsism,  and  especially  with 
Buddhism .” 

12.  That,  “ among  the  doctrines  which  the  Essenes  and  Budd- 
hists had  in  common  was  that  of  the  Angel- Messiah .” 

13.  That,  “ they  (the  Essenes)  had  a flourishing  university  or 
corporate  body,  established  at  Alexandria , in  Egypt , long  before  the 
period  assigned  for  the  birth  of  Christ.” 

14.  That,  “ the  very  ancient  and  Eastern  doctrine  of  the  Angel- 
Messiah  had  been  applied  to  Gautama  Buddha,  and  so  it  was  ap- 
plied to  Jesus  Christ  by  the  Essenes  of  Egypt  and  Palestine , who 
introduced  this  new  Messianic  doctrine  into  Essenic  Judaism  and 
Essenic  Christianity.” 

15.  That,  “ we  hear  very  little  of  them  (the  Essenes)  after  a.d. 
40 ; and  there  can  hardly  be  any  doubt  that  the  Essenes  as  a body 
must  have  embraced  Christianity.” 

Here  is  the  solution  of  the  problem.  The  sacred  books  of 
Hindoos  and  Buddhists  wTere  among  the  Essenes , and  in  the  library 
at  Alexandria.  The  Essenes , who  were  afterwards  called  Chris- 
tians, applied  the  legend  of  the  Angel-Messiah — “ the  very  ancient 
Eastern  doctrine,”  which  we  have  shown  throughout  this  work — 
to  Christ  Jesus.  It  was  simply  a transformation  of  names,  a trans- 
formation which  had  previously  occurred  in  many  cases.1  After 
this  came  additions  to  the  legend  from  other  sources.  Portions  of 
the  legends  related  of  the  Persian,  Greek  and  Roman  Saviours  and 
Redeemers  of  mankind,  were,  from  time  to  time,  added  to  the 
already  legendary  history  of  the  Christian  Saviour.  Thus  liis- 

1 Wo  have  seen  this  particularly  in  the  cases  been  done  in  the  case  of  almost  every  other  mem- 
of  Crishna  and  Buddha.  Mr.  Cox,  speaking  of  her  of  the  great  company  of  the  gods."  (Aryan 
the  former,  says  : “ If  it  be  urged  that  the  at-  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  130.)  These  words  apply 
tribution  to  Crishna  of  qualities  or  powers  be-  to  the  case  we  have  before  us.  Jesus  was  sim- 
longing  to  the  other  deities  is  a mere  device  ply  attributed  with  the  qualities  or  powers 
by  which  his  devotees  sought  to  supersede  the  which  had  been  previously  attributed  to 
more  ancient  gods,  the  answer  must  be  that  other  deities.  This  we  hope  to  be  able  to  fully 
nothing  has  been  done  in  his  case  which  has  not  demonstrate  in  our  chapter  on  “ Explanation." 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


443 


tory  was  repeating  itself.  Thus  the  virgin-born  God  and  Saviour, 
worshiped  by  all  nations  of  the  earth,  though  called  by  different 
names,  was  but  one  and  the  same. 

In  a subsequent  chapter  we  shall  see  who  this  One  God  was,  and 
how  the  myth  originated. 

Albert  Reville  says : 

“ Alexandria,  the  home  of  Philonism,  and  Neo-Platonism  (and  we  might  add 
Essenism),  was  naturally  the  centre  whence  spread  the  dogma  of  the  deity  of  Jesus 
Christ.  In  that  city,  through  the  third  century,  flourished  a school  of  transcen- 
dental theology,  afterwards  looked  upon  with  suspicion  by  the  conservators  of 
ecclesiastical  doctrine,  but  not  the  less  the  real  cradle  of  orthodoxy.  It  was  still 
the  Platonic  tendency  which  influenced  the  speculations  of  Clement,  Origen  and 
Dionysius,  and  the  theory  of  the  Logos  was  at  the  foundation  of  their  the- 
ology.”1 * 

Among  the  numerous  gospels  in  circulation  among  the  Chris- 
tians of  the  first  three  centuries,  there  was  one  entitled  “The 
Gospel  of  the  Egyptians .”  Epiphanius  (a.  d.  385),  speaking  of 
it,  says : 

“ Many  things  are  proposed  (in  this  Gospel  of  the  Egyptians)  in  a hidden, 
mysterious  manner,  as  by  our  Saviour,  as  though  he  had  said  to  his  disciples, 
that  the  Father  was  the  same  person,  the  Son  the  same  person,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  the  same  person.  ’’ 

That  this  was  one  of  the  “ Scriptures  ” of  the  Essenes,  becomes 
very  evident  when  we  find  it  admitted  by  the  most  learned  of 
Christian  theologians  that  it  was  in  existence  “ before  either  of  the 
canonical  Gospels  ,”  and  that  it  contained  the  doctrine  of  the  Trin- 
ity, a doctrine  not  established  in  the  Christian  church  until  a.  d. 
327,  but  which  was  taught  by  this  Buddhist  sect  in  Alexandria,  in 
Egypt,  which  has  been  well  called,  “ Egypt,  the  land  of  Trinities.” 

The  learned  Dr.  Grabe  thought  it  was  composed  by  some  Chris- 
tians in  Egypt , and  that  it  was  published  before  either  of  the  canon- 
ical Gospels.  Dr.  Mill  also  believed  that  it  was  composed  before 
either  of  the  canonical  Gospels , and,  what  is  more  important  than 
all,  that  the  authors  of  it  were  Essenes. 

These  “ Scriptures  ” of  the  Essenes  were  undoubtedly  amalga- 
mated with  the  “ Gospels  ” of  the  Christians , the  result  being  the 
canonical  Gospels  as  we  now  hare  them.  The  “ Gospel  of  the 
Hebrews,”  and  such  like,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  “ Gospel  of  the 
Egyptians,”  or  Essenes,  and  such  like,  on  the  other.  That  the 
“ Gospel  of  the  Hebrews”  spoke  of  Jesus  of  Hazareth  as  the  son  of 
Joseph  and  Mary,  according  to  the  flesh,  and  that  it  taught  nothing 
about  his  miracles,  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  other  such 


1 “ Dogma  of  the  Deity  of  Jesus  Christ,”  p.  41. 


444 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


prodigies,  is  admitted  on  all  hands.  That  the  “ Scriptures  ” of  the 
Essenes  contained  the  whole  legend  of  the  Angel-Messiah,  which 
-was  afterwards  added  to  the  history  of  Jesus,  making  him  a Christ, 
or  an  Anointed  Angela  is  a probability  almost  to  a certainty.  Do  we 
now  understand  how  all  the  traditions  and  legends,  originally  In- 
dian, escaping  from  the  great  focus  through  Egypt,  were  able  to 
reach  Judea,  Greece  and  Dome? 

To  continue  wfitli  our  subject,  “ why  Christianity  prospered,” 
we  must  now  speak  of  another  great  support  to  the  cause,  i.  e.y 
Persecution.  Ernest  de  Bunsen,  speaking  of  Buddha,  says  : 

“ His  religion  has  never  been  propagated  by  the  sword.  It  has  been  effected 
entirety  by  the  influence  of  peaceable  and  persevering  devotees.” 

Can  we  sa}^  as  much  for  what  is  termed  “ the  religion  of  Christ  Vy 
No!  this  religion  has  had  the  aid  of  the  sword  and  firebrand,  the 
rack  and  the  thumb-screw.  “ Persecution  ” is  to  be  seen  written  on 
the  pages  of  ecclesiastical  history,  from  the  time  of  Constantine  even 
to  the  present  day.1  This  Christian  emperor  and  saint  was  the  first 
to  check  free-thought. 

“ We  search  in  vain,”  (says  M.  Kenan),  “ in  the  collection  of  Roman  laws  be- 
fore Constantine,  for  any  enactment  aimed  at  free  thought,  or  in  the  history  of 
the  emperors,  for  a persecution  of  abstract  doctrine.  Not  a single  savant  was 
disturbed.  Men  whom  the  Middle  Ages  would  have  burned — such  as  Galen,  Lu- 
cian, Plotinus — lived  in  peace,  protected  by  the  law.”2 

Born  and  educated  a pagan,  Constantine  embraced  the  Christian 
faith  from  the  following  motives.  Having  committed  horrid  crimes, 
in  fact,  having  committed  murders,3  and, 

“ When  he  would  have  had  his  (Pagan)  priests  purge  him  by  sacrifice,  of 
these  horrible  murders,  and  could  not  have  his  purpose  (for  they  answered 
plainly,  it  lay  not  in  their  power  to  cleanse  him)4  he  lighted  at  last  upon  an 
Egyptian  who  came  out  of  Iberia,  and  being  persuaded  by  him  that  the  Chris- 
tian faith  was  of  force  to  wipe  away  every  sin,  were  it  ever  so  heinous,  he  em- 
braced willingly  at  whatever  the  Egyptian  told  him.”6 


1 Adherents  of  the  old  religion  of  Russia 
have  been  persecuted  in  that  country  within 
the  past  year,  and  even  in  enlightened  Eng- 
land, a gentleman  has  been  persecuted  by  gov- 
ernment officials  because  he  believes  in  neither 
a personal  God  or  a personal  Devil. 

2 Renan,  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  22. 

3 The  following  are  the  names  of  his  vic- 


tims : 

Maximian,  His  wife’s  father,  a d.  310 

Bassianus,  His  sister’s  husband,  a.d.  314 

Licinius,  His  nephew,  a.d.  319 

Fausta,  His  wife,  a.d.  320 

Sopater,  His  former  friend,  a.d.  321 

Licinius,  His  sister’s  husband,  a.d.  325 

Crispus,  His  own  son,  a.d.  326 

Dr.  Lardncr,  in  speaking  of  the  murders 


committed  by  this  Christian  saint,  is  con- 
strained to  say  that : “ The  death  of  Crispus  is 
altogether  without  any  good  excuse,  so  like- 
wise is  the  death  of  the  young  Licinianus, 
who  could  not  have  been  more  than  a little 
above  eleven  years  of  age,  and  appears  not  to 
have  been  charged  with  any  fault,  and  could 
hardly  be  suspected  of  any.” 

4 The  Emperor  Nero  could  not  be  baptized 
and  be  initiated  into  Pagan  Mysteries— as 
Constantine  was  initiated  into  those  of  the 
Christians — on  account  of  the  murder  of  his 
mother.  And  he  did  not  dare  to  compel— 
which  he  certainly  could  have  done  — the 
priests  to  initiate  him. 

5 Zosimus,  in  Socrates,  lib.  iii.  ch.  xl. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


445 


Mons.  Dupuis,  speaking  of  this  conversion,  says : 

' * Constantine,  soiled  with  all  sorts  of  crimes,  and  stained  with  the  blood  of 
his  wife,  after  repeated  perjuries  and  assassinations,  presented  himself  before 
the  heathen  priests  in  order  to  be  absolved  of  so  many  outrages  he  had  committed. 
He  was  answered,  that  amongst  the  various  kinds  of  expiations,  there  was  none 
which  could  expiate  so  many  crimes,  and  that  no  religion  whatever  could  offer 
efficient  protection  against  the  justice  of  the  gods  ; and  Constantine  was  em- 
peror. One  of  the  courtiers  of  the  palace,  who  witnessed  the  trouble  and  agita- 
tion of  his  mind,  torn  by  remorse,  which  nothing  could  appease,  informed  him, 
that  the  evil  he  was  suffering  was  not  without  a remedy  ; that  there  existed  in 
the  religion  of  the  Christians  certain  purifications,  which  expiated  every  kind  of 
misdeeds,  of  whatever  nature,  and  in  whatsoever  number  they  were : that  one 
of  the  promises  of  the  religion  was,  that  whoever  was  converted  to  it,  as  impious 
and  as  great  a villain  as  he  might  be,  could  hope  that  his  crimes  were  immediately 
forgotten. 1 From  that  moment,  Constantine  declared  himself  the  protector  of  a 
sect  which  treats  great  criminals  with  so  much  lenity.2  He  was  a great  villain, 
who  tried  to  lull  himself  with  illusions  to  smother  his  remorse.”3 

By  the  delay  of  baptism,  a person  who  had  accepted  the  true 
faith  could  venture  freely  to  indulge  their  passions  in  the  enjoyment 
of  this  world,  while  they  still  retained  in  their  own  hands  the  means 
of  salvation ; therefore,  we  find  that  Constantine,  although  he  ac- 
cepted the  faith,  did  not  get  baptized  until  he  was  on  his  death-bed, 
as  he  wished  to  continue,  as  long  as  possible,  the  wicked  life  he  was 
leading.  Mr.  Gibbon,  speaking  of  him,  says  : 

“ The  example  and  reputation  of  Constantine  seemed  to  countenance  the 
delay  of  baptism.  Future  tyrants  were  encouraged  to  believe,  that  the  innocent 
blood  which  they  might  shed  in  a long  reign  would  instantly  be  washed  away 
in  the  waters  of  regeneration  ; and  the  abuse  of  religion  dangerously  under- 
mined the  foundations  of  moral  virtue.  ”4 


1 “ The  sacrament  of  baptism  was  supposed 
to  contain  a full  and  absolute  expiation  of  sin  ; 
and  the  soul  was  instantly  restored  to  its 
original  purity  and  entitled  to  the  promise  of 
eternal  salvation.  Among  the  proselytes  of 
Christianity,  there  were  many  who  judged  it 
imprudent  to  precipitate  a salutary  rite,  which 
could  not  be  repeated.  By  the  delay  of  their 
baptism,  they  could  venture  freely  to  indulge 
their  passions  in  the  enjoyments  of  this  world, 
while  they  still  retained  in  their  own  hands 
the  means  of  a sure  and  speedy  absolution.” 
(Gibbon  : ii.  pp.  272,  273.) 

2 “ Constantine,  as  he  was  praying  about 
noon-tide,  God  showed  him  a vision  in  the 

sky,  which  was  the  sign  of  the  cross  lively 
figured  in  the  air,  with  this  inscription  on 
it : ‘In  hoc  vincc that  is,  ‘ By  this  over- 

come.’ ” This  is  the  story  as  related  by  Euse- 
bius (Life  of  Constantine,  lib.  1,  ch.  xxii.),  but 
it  must  be  remembered  that  Eusebius  acknowl- 
edged that  he  told  falsehoods.  That  night 
Christ  appeared  unto  Constantine  in  his  dream, 
and  commanded  him  to  make  the  figure  of  the 


cross  which  he  had  seen,  and  to  wear  it  in 
his  banner  when  he  went  to  battle  with  his 
enemies.  (See  Eusebius’  Life  of  Constantine, 
lib.  1,  ch.  xxiii.  See  also,  Socrates  : Eccl. 
Hist.,  lib.  1,  ch.  ii.) 

3 Dupuis,  p.  405. 

4 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  373.  The 
Fathers,  who  censured  this  criminal  delay, 
could  not  deny  the  certain  and  victorious  effi- 
cacy even  of  a death-bed  baptism.  The  in- 
genious rhetoric  of  Chrysostom  (a.d.  347^407) 
could  find  only  three  arguments  against  these 
prudent  Christians.  1.  “ That  we  should  love 
and  pursue  virtue  for  her  own  sake,  and  not 
merely  for  the  reward.  2.  That  we  may  be 
surprised  by  death  without  an  opportunity  of 
baptism.  3.  That  although  we  shall  be  placed 
in  heaven,  we  shall  only  twinkle  like  little 
stars,  when  compared  to  the  suns  of  righte- 
ousness who  have  run  their  appointed  course 
with  labor,  with  success,  and  with  glory.” 
(Chrysostom  in  Epist.  ad  Hebrseos.  Homil.  xiii 
Quoted  in  Gibbon’s  “Rome,”  ii.  272.) 


446 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Eusebius,  in  his  “ Life  of  Constantine,”  tells  us  that  • 

‘ ‘ When  he  thought  that  he  was  near  his  death,  he  confessed  his  sins,  desiring 
pardon  for  them  of  God,  and  was  baptized. 

“Before  doing  so,  he  assembled  the  bishops  of  Nicomedia  together,  and  spake 
thus  unto  them  : 

“ * Brethren,  the  salvation  which  I have  earnestly  desired  of  God  these  many 
years,  I do  now  this  day  expect.  It  is  time  therefore  that  we  should  be  sealed 
and  signed  with  the  badge  of  immortality.  And  though  I proposed  to  receive  it 
in  the  river  Jordan,  in  which  our  Saviour  for  our  example  was  baptized,  yet  God, 
knowing  wliat  is  fittest  for  me,  hath  appointed  that  I shall  receive  it  in  this 
place,  therefore  let  me  not  be  delayed .’  ” 

“And  so,  after  the  service  of  baptism  was  read,  they  baptized  him  with  all 
the  ceremonies  belonging  to  this  mysterious  sacrament.  So  that  Constantine 
was  the  first  of  all  the  emperors  who  was  regenerated  by  the  new  birth  of  bap- 
tism, and  that  was  signed  with  the  sign  of  the  cross.”1 

When  Constantine  had  heard  the  good  news  from  the  Christian 
monk  from  Egypt,  he  commenced  by  conferring  many  dignities  on 
the  Christians,  and  those  only  who  were  addicted  to  Christianity, 
he  made  governors  of  his  provinces,  &c.2  He  then  issued  edicts 
against  heretics, — i.  e.,  those  who,  like  Arius,  did  not  believe  that 
Christ  was  “ of  one  substance  with  the  Father ,”  and  others  — call- 
ing them  “enemies  of  truth  and  eternal  life,”  “ authors  and  council- 
lors of  death,”  &c.3  He  “ commanded  by  law  ” that  none  should 
dare  “to  meet  at  conventicles,”  and  that  “all  places  where  they 
were  wont  to  keep  their  meetings  should  be  demolished ,”  or  “ con- 
fiscated to  the  Catholic  church  ;”4  and  Constantine  was  emperor. 
“ By  this  means,”  says  Eusebius,  “ such  as  maintained  doctrines 
and  opinions  contrary  to  the  church , were  suppressed .”5 
This  Constantine,  says  Eusebius  : 

“ Caused  his  image  to  be  engraven  on  his  gold  coins,  in  the  form  of  prayer, 
with  his  hands  joined  together,  and  looking  up  towards  Heaven.”  “And  over 
divers  gates  of  his  palace,  he  was  drawn  praying,  and  lifting  up  his  hands  and 
eyes  to  heaven.”6 

After  his  death,  “ effigies  of  this  blessed  man  ” were  engraved 
on  the  Homan  coins,  “ sitting  in  and  driving  a chariot,  and  a hand 
reached  down  from  heaven  to  receive  and  take  him  up.”7 

The  hopes  of  wealth  and  honors,  the  example  of  an  emperor, 
his  exhortations,  his  irresistible  smiles,  diffused  conviction  among 


1 Lib.  4,  chs.  lxi.  and  lxii.,  and  Socrates  : 
Eccl.  Hist.,  Jib.  2,  ch.  xxvi. 

2 Eusebius  : Life  of  Constantine,  lib.  2,  ch. 
xliii. 

3 Ibid.  lib.  3,  ch.  lxii. 

4 Ibid.  lib.  3,  ch  lxiii. 

6 Ibid.  lib.  3,  ch.  lxiv. 

6 Ibid.  lib.  4,  ch.  xv. 

* Ibid  ch.  lxiii. 


Plato  places  the  ferocious  tyrants  in  the 
Tartarus,  such  as  Ardiacus  of  Pamphylia,  who 
had  slain  his  own  father,  a venerable  old 
man,  also  an  elder  brother,  and  was  stained 
with  a great  many  other  crimes.  Constantine, 
covered  with  similar  crimes,  was  better  treated 
by  the  Christians,  who  have  sent  him  to  heaven, 
and  tainted  him  besides. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED. 


447 


the  venal  and  obsequious  crowds  which  unsually  fill  the  apart- 
ments of  a palace,  and  as  the  lower  ranks  of  society  are  governed 
by  example,  the  conversion  of  those  who  possessqd  any  eminence 
of  birth,  of  power,  or  of  riches,  was  soon  followed  by  dependent 
multitudes.  Constantine  passed  a law  which  gave  freedom  to  all 
the  slaves  who  should  embrace  Christianity,  and  to  those  who  were 
not  slaves,  he  gave  a white  garment  and  twenty  pieces  of  gold, 
upon  their  embracing  the  Christian  faith.  The  common  people 
were  thus  purchased  at  such  an  easy  rate  that,  in  one  year,  twelve 
thousand  men  were  baptized  at  Rome , besides  a proportionable 
number  of  women  and  children.1 2 

To  suppress  the  opinions  of  philosophers,  which  were  contrary 
to  Christianity,  the  Christian  emperors  published  edicts.  The 
respective  decrees  of  the  emperors  Constantine  and  Theodosius,3 
generally  ran  in  the  words,  “ that  all  writings  adverse  to  the  claims 
of  the  Christian  religion,  in  the  possession  of  whomsoever  they 
should  be  found,  should  be  committed  to  the  fire,”  as  the  pious  em- 
perors would  not  that  those  things  tending  to  provoke  God  to 
wrath,  should  be  allowed  to  offend  the  minds  of  the  piously  dis- 
posed. 

The  following  is  a decree  of  the  Emperor  Theodosius  of  this 
purport : 

“We  decree,  therefore,  that  all  writings,  whatever,  which  Porphyry  or  any 
one  else  hath  written  against  the  Christian  religion,  in  the  possession  of  whomso- 
ever they  shall  be  found  should  be  committed  to  the  fire  ; for  we  would  not 
suffer  any  of  those  things  so  much  as  to  come  to  men’s  ears,  which  tend  to  pro- 
voke God  to  wrath  and  offend  the  minds  of  the  pious”* 

A similar  decree  of  the  emperor  for  establishing  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  concludes  with  an  admonition  to  all  who  shall  object 
to  it,  that, 

“ Besides  the  condemnation  of  divine  justice,  they  must  expect  to  suffer  the  se- 
vere penalties,  which  our  authority,  guided  by  heavenly  wisdom,  may  think 
proper  to  inflict  upon  them.”4 * * * 

This  orthodox  emperor  (Theodosius)  considered  every  heretic 
(as  he  called  those  who  did  not  believe  as  he  and  his  ecclesiastics 
professed ) a rebel  against  the  supreme  powers  of  heaven  and  of 

1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  274.  civil  rites  of  all  apostates  from  Christianity 

2 “ Theodosius,  though  a professor  of  the  and  of  the  Eunomians,  the  sentence  of 

orthodox  Christian  faith,  was  not  baptized  till  death  on  the  Manicheans,  and  Quarto- dec i mans, 

380,  and  his  behavior  after  that  period  stamps  all  prove  this.”  (Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art. 

him  as  one  of  the  most  cruel  and  vindictive  Theodosius.) 

persecutors  who  ever  wore  the  purple.  His  8 Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Syntagma,  p.  54. 

arbitrary  establishment  of  the  Nicene  faith  * Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  p.  81. 

over  the  whole  empire,  the  deprivation  of 


448 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


earth  (he  being  one  of  the  supreme  powers  of  earth),  cvnd  each  of 
the  powers  might  exercise  their  peculiar  jurisdiction  over  the  soul 
and  body  of  the  guilty. 

The  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Constantinople  had  ascertained 
the  true  standard  of  the  faith,  and  the  ecclesiastics , who  governed 
the  conscience  of  Theodosius , suggested  the  most  effectual  methods 
of  persecution.  In  the  space  of  fifteen  years  he  promulgated  at 
least  fifteen  severe  edicts  against  the  heretics,  more  especially 
against  those  who  rejected  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity ,l 2 

Arius  (the  presbyter  of  whom  we  have  spoken  in  Chapter 
XXXV.,  as  declaring  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  a father  must 
be  older  than  his  son ) was  excommunicated  for  his  so-called  hereti- 
cal notions  concerning  the  Trinity.  His  followers,  who  were  very 
numerous,  were  called  Arians.  Their  writings,  if  they  had  been 
permitted  to  exist?  would  undoubtedly  contain  the  lamentable  story 
of  the  persecution  which  affected  the  church  under  the  reign  of  the 
impious  Emperor  Theodosius. 

In  Asia  Minor  the  people  were  persecuted  by  orders  of  Con- 
stantius,  and  these  orders  were  more  than  obeyed  by  Maced onius. 
The  civil  and  military  powers  were  ordered  to  obey  his  commands  ; 
the  consequence  was,  he  disgraced  the  reign  of  Constantius.  “ The 
rites  of  baptism  were  conferred  on  women  and  children,  who,  for 
that  purpose,  had  been  torn  from  the  arms  of  their  friends  and  pa- 
rents; the  mouths  of  the  communicants  were  held  open  by  a 
wooden  engine,  while  the  consecrated  bread  was  forced  down  their 
throats ; the  breasts  of  tender  virgins  were  either  burned  with  red- 
hot  egg-shells,  or  inhumanly  compressed  between  sharp  and  heavy 
boards.”3  The  principal  assistants  of  Macedonius  — the  tool  of 
Constantius  — in  the  work  of  persecution,  were  the  two  bishops 
of  Nicomedia  and  Cyzicus,  who  were  esteemed  for  their  virtues,  and 
especially  for  their  charity.4 

Julian,  the  successor  of  Constantius,  has  described  some  of  the 
theological  calamities  which  afflicted  the  empire,  and  more  espec- 
ially in  the  East,  in  the  reign  of  a prince  who  was  the  slave  of  his 
own  passions,  and  of  those  of  his  eunuchs  : “ Many  were  imprisoned, 
and  persecuted,  and  driven  into  exile.  Whole  troops  of  those  who 
are  styled  heretics  were  massacred,  particularly  at  Cyzicus,  and 
at  Samosata.  In  Paphlagonia,  Bithynia,  Gallatia,  and  in  many 


1 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  iii.  pp.  91,  92.  3 Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  359. 

2 All  their  writings  were  ordered  to  be  de-  4 Ibid,  note  154. 

atroyed. 


WHY  CHRISTIANITY  PROSPERED 


449 


other  provinces,  towns  and  villages  were  laid  waste,  and  utterly 
destroyed.”1 2 

Persecutions  in  the  name  of  Christ  Jesus  were  inflicted  on  the 
heathen  in  most  every  part  of  the  then  known  world.  Even  among 
the  Norwegians,  the  Christian  sword  was  unsheathed.  They  clung 
tenaciously  to  the  worship  of  their  forefathers,  and  numbers  of  them 
died  real  martyrs  for  their  faith,  after  suffering  the  most  cruel  tor- 
ments from  their  persecutors.  It  was  by  sheer  compulsion  that  the 
Norwegians  embraced  Christianity.  The  reign  of  Olaf  Tryggvason, 
a Christian  king  of  Norway,  was  in  fact  entirely  devoted  to  the 
propagation  of  the  new  faith,  by  means  the  most  revolting  to  hu- 
manity. His  general  practice  was  to  enter  a district  at  the  head  of 
a formidable  force,  summon  a Thing*  and  give  the  people  the  al- 
ternative of  fighting  with  him,  or  of  being  baptized.  Most  of  them, 
of  course,  preferred  baptism  to  the  risk  of  a battle  with  an  adversary 
so  well  prepared  for  combat ; and  the  recusants  were  tortured  to 
death  with  fiend-like  ferocity,  and  their  estates  confiscated.3 

These  are  some  of  the  reasons  “why  Christianity  prospered.” 


1 Julian  : Epistol.  lii.  p.  436.  Quoted  in  striking  their  shields  with  their  drawn  swords. 

Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  ii.  p.  360.  3 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  pp.  180, 

2 “ Thing  a general  assembly  of  the  free-  351,  and  470. 
men,  who  gave  their  assent  to  a measure  by 


Noth. — The  learned  Christian  historian  Pagi  endeavors  to  smoothe  over  the  crimes  of  Con- 
stantine. He  says  : “As  for  those  few  murders  (which  Eusebius  says  nothing  about),  had  he 
thought  it  worth  his  while  to  refer  to  them,  he  would  perhaps,  with  Baronius  himself  have  said, 
that  the  young  Licinius  (his  infant  nephew),  although  the  fact  might  not  generally  have  been 
known,  had  most  likely  been  an  accomplice  in  the  treason  of  his  father.  That  as  to  the  murder 
of  his  son,  the  Emperor  is  rather  to  be  considered  as  unfortunate  than  as  criminal.  And  with 
respect  to  his  putting  his  wife  to  death,  he  ought  to  be  pronounced  rather  a just  and  righteous  judge. 
As  for  his  numerous  friends,  whom  Eutropius  informs  us  he  put  to  death  one  after  another,  we 
are  bound  to  believe  that  most  of  them  deserved  it,  and  they  were  found  out  to  have  abused 
the  Emperor’s  too  great  credulity,  for  the  gratification  of  their  own  inordinate  wickedness,  and 
insatiable  avarice  ; and  such  no  doubt  was  that  Sopater  the  philospher,  who  was  at  last  put  to 
death  upon  the  accusation  of  Adlabius,  and  that  by  the  righteous  dispensation  of  God,  for  his 
having  attempted  to  alienate  the  mind  of  Constantine  from  the  true  religion.”  {Pagi  Ann.  324, 
quoted  in  Latin  by  Dr.  Lardner,  vol.  iv.  p.  371,  in  his  notes  for  the  benefit  of  the  learned  reader,  but 
gives  no  rendering  into  English.) 

29 


CHAPTEE  XXXVIII. 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  RELIGIONS. 

We  shall  now  compare  the  great  antiquity  of  the  sacred  books 
and  religions  of  Paganism  with  those  of  the  Christian,  so  that  there 
may  be  no  doubt  as  to  which  is  the  original,  and  which  the  copy. 
Allusions  to  this  subject  have  already  been  made  throughout  this 
work,  we  shall  therefore  devote  as  little  space  to  it  here  as  possible. 

In  speaking  of  the  sacred  literature  of  India,  Prof.  Monier  Wil- 
liams says  : 

“ Sanskrit  literature,  embracing  as  it  does  nearly  every  branch  of  knowledge 
is  entirely  deficient  in  one  department.  It  is  wholly  destitute  of  trustworthy 
historical  records.  Hence,  little  or  nothing  is  known  of  the  lives  of  ancient  In- 
dian authors,  and  the  dates  of  their  most  celebrated  works  cannot  be  fixed  with 
certainty.  A fair  conjecture,  however,  may  be  arrived  at  by  comparing  the  most 
ancient  with  the  more  modern  compositions,  and  estimating  the  period  of  time 
required  to  effect  the  changes  of  structure  and  idiom  observable  in  the  language. 
In  this  manner  we  may  be  justified  in  assuming  that  the  hymns  of  the  Veda  were 
probably  composed  by  a succession  of  poets  at  different  dates  between  1500  and 
1000  years  b.  c.”1 

Prof.  Wm.  D.  Whitney  shows  the  great  antiquity  of  the  Vedic 
hymns  from  the  fact  that, 

“ The  language  of  the  Vedas  is  an  older  dialect,  varying  very  considerably, 
both  in  its  grammatical  and  lexical  character,  from  the  classical  Sanscrit.” 

And  M.  de  Coulanges,  in  his  “ Ancient  City,”  says  : 

“We  learn  from  the  hymns  of  the  Vedas,  which  are  certainly  very  ancient, 
and  from  the  law’s  of  Manu,”  “what  the  Aryans  of  the  east  thought  nearly 
thirty-five  centuries  ago.”2 

That  the  Vedas  are  of  very  high  antiquity  is  unquestionable ; 
but  however  remote  we  may  place  the  period  when  they  were  writ- 
ten, we  must  necessarily  presuppose  that  the  Hindostanic  race  had 

1 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  19.  See  also,  Prof.  had  reached  in  Upanishads  the  loftiest  heights 
Max  Muller’s  Lectures  on  the  Origin  of  Re-  of  philosophy.” 
ligion,  pp.  145-158,  and  p.  67,  where  he  speaks  2 The  Ancient  City,  p.  13. 

of  “the  Hindus,  who,  thousands  of  years  ago, 


[450] 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  RELIGIONS. 


451 


already*  attained  to  a comparatively  high  degree  of  civilization, 
otherwise  men  capable  of  framing  such  doctrines  could  not  have 
been  found.  Now  this  state  of  civilization  must  necessarily  have 
been  preceded  by  several  centuries  of  barbarism,  during  which  we 
cannot  possibly  admit  a more  refined  faith  than  the  popular  belief 
in  elementary  deities. 

We  shall  see  in  our  next  chapter  that  these  very  ancient  Vedic 
hymns  contain  the  origin  of  the  legend  of  the  Virgin-born  God  and 
Saviour,  the  great  benefactor  of  mankind,  who  is  finally  put  to 
death,  and  rises  again  to  life  and  immortality  on  the  third  day. 

The  Geetas  and  Puranas , although  of  a comparatively  modern 
date,  are,  as  we  have  already  seen,  nevertheless  composed  of  matter 
to  be  found  in  the  two  great  epic  poems,  the  Pamayana  and  the 
Mahdbharata , which  were  written  many  centuries  before  the  time 
assigned  as  that  of  the  birth  of  Christ  Jesus.1 2 

The  Pali  sacred  books,  which  contain  the  legend  of  the  virgin- 
born  God  and  Saviour  — Sommona  Cadom  — are  known  to  have 
been  in  existence  316  b.  c.a 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  religion  known  as  Buddhism, 
and  which  corresponds  in  such  a striking  manner  with  Christianity, 
has  now  existed  for  upwards  of  twenty-four  hundred  years.3 

Prof.  Phys  Davids  says  : 

“ There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Pitakas  (the  sacred  books  which 
contain  the  legend  of  ‘ The  Buddha  ’),  now  extant  in  Ceylon,  are  substantially  iden- 
tical with  the  books  of  the  Southern  Canon,  as  settled  at  thet  Council  of  Patna 
about  the  year  250  b.  c.4  As  no  works  would  have  been  received  into  the  Canon 
which  were  not  then  believed  to  be  very  old,  the  Pitakas  may  be  approximately 
placed  in  the  fourth  century  b.  c.  , and  parts  of  them  possibly  reach  back  very 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  to  the  time  of  Gautama  himself.”5 

The  religion  of  the  ancient  Persians , which  corresponds  in  so 
very  many  respects  with  that  of  the  Christians,  was  established  by 
Zoroaster — who  was  undoubtedly  a Brahman6 — and  is  contained 


1 See  Monier  Williams’  Hinduism,  pp.  109, 
110,  and  Indian  Wisdom,  p.  493. 

2 See  Isis  Unveiled,  vol.  ii.  p.  576,  for  the 
authority  of  Prof.  Max  Muller. 

3 “ The  religion  known  as  Buddhism— from 
the  title  of  ‘The  Buddha,’  meaning  ‘The 
Wise,’  ‘ The  Enlightened ’—has  now  existed 
for  2460  years,  and  may  be  said  to  be  the 
prevailing  religion  of  the  world.”  (Chambers’s 
Encyclo.) 

4 This  Council  was  assembled  by  Asoka  in 
the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign.  The  name 

of  this  king  is  honored  wherever  the  teachings 

of  Buddha  have  spread,  and  is  reverenced 
from  the  Volga  to  Japan,  from  Ceylon  and 


Siam  to  the  borders  of  Mongolia  and  Siberia. 
Like  his  Christian  prototype  Constantine,  he 
was  converted  by  a miracle.  After  his  con- 
version, which  took  place  in  the  tenth  year  of 
his  reign,  he  became  a very  zealous  supporter 
of  the  new  religion.  He  himself  built  many 
monasteries  and  dagabas,  and  provided  many 
monks  with  the  necessaries  of  life  ; and  he 
encouraged  those  about  his  court  to  do  the 
same.  He  published  edicts  throughout  his 
empire,  enjoining  on  all  his  subjects  morality 
and  justice. 

6 Rhys  Davids’  Buddhism,  p.  10. 

6 See  Chapter  VII. 


452 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


in  the  Zend-Avesta , their  sacred  book  or  Bible.  This  book  is  very 
ancient.  Prof.  Max  Muller  speaks  of  “ the  sacred  book  of  the 
Zoroastrians  55  as  being  “ older  in  its  language  than  the  cuneiform 
inscriptions  of  Cyrus  (b.  c.  560),  Darius  (b.  c.  520),  and  Xerxes  (b.  c. 
485)  those  ancient  Kings  of  Persia,  who  knew  that  they  were  kings 
by  the  grace  of  Auramazda , and  who  placed  his  sacred  image  high 
on  the  mountain-records  of  Behistun.551  That  ancient  book,  or  its 
fragments,  at  least,  have  survived  many  dynasties  and  kingdoms, 
and  is  still  believed  in  by  a small  remnant  of  the  Persian  race, 
now  settled  at  Bombay,  and  known  all  over  the  world  by  the  name 
of  Parsees.2 

“ The  Babylonian  and  Phenician  sacred  books  date  back  to  a 
fabulous  antiquity ; 553  and  so  do  the  sacred  books  and  religion  of 
Egypt. 

Prof.  Makaffy,  in  his  “ Prolegomena  to  Ancient  History,”  says : 

“ There  is  indeed  hardly  a great  and  fruitful  idea  in  the  Jewish  or  Christian 
systems  which  has  not  its  analogy  in  the  Egyptian  faith,  and  all  these  theological 
conceptions  pervade  the  oldest  religion  of  Egypt.  ”4 

The  worship  of  Osiris,  the  Lord  and  Saviour,  must  have  been  of 
extremely  ancient  date,  for  he  is  represented  as  “ Judge  of  the 
Dead,55  in  sculptures  contemporary  with  the  building  of  the  Pyra- 
mids, centuries  before  Abraham  is  said  to  have  been  born.  Among 
the  many  hieroglyphic  titles  which  accompany  his  figure  in  those 
sculptures,  and  in  many  other  places  on  the  walls  of  temples  and 
tombs,  are,  “ Lord  of  Life,55  “ The  Eternal  Euler,55  “ Manifester 
of  Good,55  “ Eevealer  of  Truth,55  “ Full  of  Goodness  and  Truth,55 
etc. 

In  speaking  of  the  66  Myth  of  Osiris,55  Mr.  Bonwick  says : 

“ This  great  mystery  of  the  Egyptians  demands  serious  consideration.  Its 
antiquity — its  universal  hold  upon  the  people  for  over  five  thousand  years — its 
identification  with  the  very  life  of  the  nation — and  its  marvellous  Wceness  to  the 
creed  of  modern  date,  unite  in  exciting  the  greatest  interest.  ”5 


1 Miilier  : Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Re- 
ligion, p.  235. 

2 This  small  tribe  of  Persians  were  driven 
from  their  native  land  by  the  Mohammedan 
conquerors  under  the  Khalif  Omar,  in  the 
seventh  century  of  our  era.  Adhering  to  the 
ancient  religion  of  Persia,  which  resembles 
that  of  the  Veda,  and  bringing  with  them  the 
records  of  their  faith,  the  Zend-Avesta  of  their 
propnet  Zoroaster,  they  settled  down  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Surat,  about  one  thousand  one 
hundred  years  ago,  and  became  great  mer- 
chants and  shipbuilders.  For  two  or  three 
centuries  we  know  little  of  their  history. 


Their  religion  prevented  them  from  making 
proselytes,  and  they  never  multiplied  within 
themselves  to  any  extent,  nor  did  they  amal- 
gamate with  the  Hindoo  population,  so  that 
even  now  their  number  only  amounts  to  about 
seventy  thousand.  Nevertheless,  from  their 
busy,  enterprising  habits,  in  which  they  emulate 
Europeans,  they  form  an  important  section 
of  the  population  of  Bombay  and  Western 
India. 

3  Movers  : Quoted  in  Dunlap’s  Spirit  Hist., 

p.  261. 

< Prolegomena,  p.  417. 

6 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  162. 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  RELIGIONS. 


453 


This  myth,  and  that  of  Isis  and  Ilorus,  were  known  before  the 
Pyramid  time.1 2 

The  worship  of  the  Virgin  Mother  in  Egypt — from  which 
country  it  was  imported  into  Europe3 — dates  back  thousands  of 
years  b.  c.  Mr.  Bon  wick  says : 

“ In  all  probability  she  was  worshiped  three  thousand  years  before  Moses 
wrote.  ‘Isis  nursing  her  child  Horus,  was  represented,’  says  Mariette  Bey,  ‘ at 
least  six  thousand  years  ago.’  We  read  the  name  of  Isis  on  monuments  of  the 
fourth  dynasty,  and  she  lost  none  of  her  popularity  to  the  close  of  the  empire.” 

“ The  Egyptian  Bible  is  by  far  the  most  ancient  of  all  holy  books.”  “ Plato 
was  told  that  Egypt  possessed  hymns  dating  back  ten  thousand  years  before  his 
time.”3 

Bunsen  says  : 

“ The  origin  of  the  ancient  prayers  and  hymns  of  the  ‘ Book  of  the  Dead,’  is 
anterior  to  Menes ; it  implies  that  the  system  of  Osirian  worship  and  mythology 
was  already  formed.”4 

And,  says  Mr.  Bon  wick : 

“ Besides  opinions,  we  have  facts  as  a basis  for  arriving  at  a conclusion,  and 
justifying  the  assertion  of  Dr.  Birch,  that  the  work  dated  from  a period  long  an- 
terior to  the  rise  of  Ammon  worship  at  Thebes.”5 

Now,  “this  most  ancient  of  all  holy  books,”  establishes  the  fact 
that  a virgin-born  and  resurrected  Saviour  was  worshiped  in  Egypt 
thousands  of  year  before  the  time  of  Christ  Jesus. 

P.  Le  Page  Benouf  says : 

“ The  earliest  monuments  which  have  been  discovered  present  to  us  the  very 
same  fully-developed  civilization  and  the  same  religion  as  the  later  monuments. 
. . . The  gods  whose  names  appear  in  the  oldest  tombs  were  worshiped  down 

to  the  Christian  times.  The  same  kind  of  priesthoods  which  are  mentioned  in 
the  tablets  of  Canopus  and  Rosetta  in  the  Ptolemaic  period  are  as  ancient  as 
the  pyramids,  and  more  ancient  than  any  pyramid  of  which  we  know  the 
date.”6 

In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  We  have  just  seen 
that  “ the  development  of  the  One  God  into  a Trinity  ” pervades 
the  oldest  religion  of  Egypt,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  India. 
Prof.  Monier  Williams,  speaking  on  this  subject,  says : 

“It  should  be  observed  that  the  native  commentaries  on  the  Yeda  often  al- 
lude to  thirty-three  gods,  which  number  is  also  mentioned  in  the  Rig- Yeda. 
This  is  a multiple  of  three , which  is  a sacred  number  constantly  appearing  in  the 
Hindu  religious  system.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  although  the  Tri-murti  is 


1 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  163. 

2 Ibid.  p.  142,  and  King’s  Gnostics,  p.  71. 

8 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  pp.  185,  140, 

and  143. 


4 Quoted  in  Ibid.  p.  186. 

8 Ibid. 

6 Renouf  : Religion  of  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  81 


454 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


not  named  in  the  Vedic  hymns,1  yet  the  Veda  is  the  real  source  of  this  Triad  of 
personifications,  afterwards  so  conspicuous  in  Hindu  mythology.  This  much, 
at  least,  is  clear,  that  the  Vedic  poets  exhibited  a tendency  to  group  all  the 
forces  and  energies  of  nature  under  three  heads,  and  the  assertion  that  the  num- 
ber of  the  gods  was  thirty-three,  amounted  to  saying  that  each  of  the  three  lead- 
ing personifications  was  capable  of  eleven  modifications.”2 

The  great  antiquity  of  the  legends  referred  to  in  this  work  is 
demonstrated  in  the  fact  that  they  were  found  in  a great  measure 
on  the  continent  of  America,  by  the  first  Europeans  who  set  foot 
on  its  soil.  Now,- how  did  they  get  there  1 Mr.  Lundy,  in  his 
“ Monumental  Christianity,”  speaking  on  this  subject,  says  : 

“ So  great  was  the  resemblance  between  the  two  sacraments  of  the  Christian 
Church  (viz. , that  of  Baptism  and  the  Eucharist)  and  those  of  the  ancient  Mexi- 
cans ; so  many  other  points  of  similarity,  also,  in  doctrine  existed,  as  to  the 
unity  of  God,  the  Triad,  the  Creation,  the  Incarnation  and  Sacrifice,  the  Resur- 
rection, etc.,  that  Herman  Witsius,  no  mean  scholar  and  thinker, was  induced  to 
believe  that  Christianity  had  been  preached  on  this  continent  by  some  one  of  the 
apostles,  perhaps  St.  Thomas,  from  the  fact  that  he  is  reported  to  have  carried 
the  Gospel  to  India  and  Tartary,  whence  he  came  to  America.”3 

Some  writers,  who  do  not  think  that  St.  Thomas  could  have 
gotten  to  America,  believe  that  St.  Patrick,  or  some  other  saint, 
must  have,  in  some  unaccountable  manner,  reached  the  shores  of 
the  Western  continent,  and  preached  their  doctrine  there.4  Others 
have  advocated  the  devil  theory,  which  is,  that  the  devil,  being 
jealous  of  the  worship  of  Christ  Jesus,  set  up  a religion  of  his  own, 
and  imitated,  nearly  as  possible,  the  religion  of  Christ.  All  of 
these  theories  being  untenable,  we  must,  in  the  words  of  Burnouf, 
the  eminent  French  Orientalist,  “ learn  one  day  that  all  ancient 
traditions  disfigured  by  emigration  and  legend,  belong  to  the  history 
of  India  P 

That  America  was  inhabited  by  Asiatic  emigrants,  and  that  the 
American  legends  are  of  Asiatic  origin , we  believe  to  be  indispu- 
table. There  is  an  abundance  of  proof  to  this  effect.5 

In  contrast  to  the  great  antiquity  of  the  sacred  books  and  relig- 
ions of  Paganism,  we  have  the  facts  that  the  Gospels  were  not 
written  by  the  persons  whose  names  they  bear,  that  they  W'ere 
written  many  years  after  the  time  these  men  are  said  to  have  lived, 
and  that  they  are  full  of  interpolations  and  errors.  The  first  that 


1 That  is,  the  Tri-murti  Brahma,  Vishnu  and 
Siva,  for  he  tells  us  that  the  three  gods,  Indra, 
Agni,  and  Surya.  constitute  the  Vedic  chief 

triad  of  Gods.  (Hinduism,  p.  24.)  Again  he 
tells  us  that  the  idea  of  a Tri-murti  was  first 

dimly  shadowed  forth  in  the  Rig-Veda.  where 

a triad  of  principal  gods--Agni,  Indra  and 

Surya— is  recognized.  Ubid.  p.  88.)  The  wor- 


ship of  the  three  members  of  the  Tri-murti, 
Brahma,  Vishnu  and  Siva,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
period  of  the  epic  poems,  from  500  to  300 
b.  o.  (Ibid.  pp.  109,  110,  115.) 

3 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  25. 

3 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  390. 

4 See  Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi. 

6 See  Appendix  A. 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  RELIGIONS. 


455 


we  know  of  the  four  gospels  is  at  the  time  of  Irenseus,  who,  in  the 
second  century,  intimates  that  he  had  received  four  gospels,  as  au- 
thentic scriptures.  This  pious  forger  was  probably  the  author  of 
the fourth,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

Besides  these  gospels  there  were  many  more  which  were  subse- 
quently deemed  apocryphal ; the  narratives  related  in  them  of  Christ 
Jesus  and  his  apostles  were  stamped  as  forgeries. 

“ The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew  ” is  believed  by  the  ma- 
jority of  biblical  scholars  of  the  present  day  to  be  the  oldest  of  the 
four,  and  to  be  made  up  principally  of  a pre-existing  one,  called 
“ The  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews.’’  The  principal  difference  in  these 
two  gospels  being  that  “ The  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews  ” commenced 
with  giving  the  genealogy  of  Jesus  from  David,  through  Joseph 
u according  to  the  flesh”  The  story  of  Jesus  being  born  of  a vir- 
gin was  not  to  be  found  there , it  being  an  afterpiece,  originating 
either  with  the  writer  of  “ The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew”  or 
some  one  after  him,  and  was  evidently  taken  from  “ The  Gospel  of 
the  Egyptians.”  “ The  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews  ” — from  which,  we 
have  said,  the  Matthew  narrator  copied — was  an  intensely  Jewish 
gospel , and  was  to  be  found — in  one  of  its  forms  — among  the 
Ebionites,  who  were  the  narrowest  Jewish  Christians  of  the  second 
century.  “The  Gospel  according  to  Matthew”  is,  therefore,  the 
most  Jewish  gospel  of  the  four ; in  fact,  the  most  Jewish  book  in 
the  Hew  Testament,  excepting,  perhaps,  the  Apocalypse  and  the 
Epistle  of  James. 

Some  of  the  more  conspicuous  Jewish  traits,  to  be  found  in  this 
gospel,  are  as  follows  : 

Jesus  is  sent  only  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel.  The 
twelve  are  forbidden  to  go  among  the  Gentiles  or  the  Samaritans. 
They  are  to  sit  on  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel.  The  genealogy  of  Jesus  is  traced  back  to  Abraham , and 
there  stops.1  The  works  of  the  law  are  frequently  insisted  on. 
There  is  a superstitious  regard  for  the  Sabbath , &c. 

There  is  no  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew, 
— in  its  present  form  — until  the  year  173,  a.  d.  It  is  at  this  time, 
also,  that  it  is  first  ascribed  to  Matthew,  by  Apollinaris,  Bishop  of 
Hierapolis.  The  original  oracles  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews, 
however, — which  were  made  use  of  by  the  author  of  our  present 


1 The  genealogy  which  traces  him  back  to  this  Gospel  he  is  not  only  a Messiah  sent  to 

Adam  (Luke  iii.)  makes  his  religion  not  only  the  Jews,  but  to  all  nations,  6ons  of  Adam, 

a Jewish,  but  a Gentile  one.  According  to 


456 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Gospel  of  Matthew, — were  written,  likely  enough,  not  long  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  but  the  Gospel  itself  dates  from  about 
a.  d.  1Q0.1 

“ The  Gospel  according  to  Luke  ” is  believed  to  come  next  — in 
chronological  order  — to  that  of  Matthew,  and  to  have  been  written 
some  fifteen  or  twenty  years  after  it.  The  author  was  a foreigner, 
as  his  writings  plainly  show  that  he  was  far  removed  from  the 
events  which  he  records. 

In  writing  his  Gospel,  the  author  made  use  of  that  of  Matthew, 
the  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews,  and  Marcion’s  Gospel.  He  must  have 
had,  also,  still  other  sources,  as  there  are  parables  peculiar  to  it, 
which  are  not  found  in  them.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned 
that  of  the  “ Prodigal  Son”  and  the  “ Good  Samaritan .”  Other 
parables  peculiar  to  it  are  that  of  the  two  debtors ; the  friend  bor- 
rowing bread  at  night ; the  rich  man’s  barns ; Dives  and  Lazarus  ; 
the  lost  piece  of  silver ; the  unjust  steward  ; the  Pharisee  and  the 
Publican. 

Several  miracles  are  also  peculiar  to  the  Luke  narrator’s  Gospel, 
the  raising  of  the  widow  of  Hain’s  son  being  the  most  remarkable. 
Perhaps  these  stories  were  delivered  to  him  orally , and  perhaps  lie  is 
the  author  of  them , — we  shall  never  know.  The  foundation  of  the 
legends,  however,  undoubtedly  came  from  the  “ certain  scriptures  ” 
of  the  Essenes  in  Egypt.  The  principal  object  which  the  writer  of 
this  gospel  had  in  view  was  to  reconcile  Paulinism  and  the  more 
Jewish  forms  of  Christianity.2 

The  next  in  chronological  order,  according  to  the  same  school 
of  critics,  is  “The  Gospel  according  to  Mark.”  This  gospel  is 
supposed  to  have  been  written  within  ten  years  of  the  former,  and 
its  author,  as  of  the  other  two  gospels,  is  unknown.  It  was 
probably  written  at  Pome , as  the  Latinisms  of  the  author’s  style, 
and  the  apparent  motive  of  his  wTork,  strongly  suggest  that  he  was 
a Jewish  citizen  of  the  Eternal  City.  He  made  use  of  the  Gospel 
*of  Matthew  as  his  principal  authority,  and  probably  referred  to  that 
of  Luke,  as  he  has  things  in  common  with  Luke  only. 

The  object  which  the  writer  had  in  view,  was  to  have  a neutral 
go-between,  a compromise  between  Matthew  as  too  Petrine  (Jew- 
ish), and  Luke  as  too  Pauline  (Gentile).  The  different  aspects  of 
Matthew  and  Luke  were  found  to  be  confusing  to  believers,  and 
provocative  of  hostile  criticism  from  without ; hence  the  idea  of 
writing  a shorter  gospel,  that  should  combine  the  most  essential 
elements  of  both.  Luke  was  itself  a compromise  between  the  op- 


J See  The  Bible  of  To-Day,  under  “ Matthew .” 


2 See  Ibid,  under  “ Luke." 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  KELIGIONS. 


457 


posing  Jewish  and  universal  tendencies  of  early  Christianity,  but 
Mark  endeavors  by  avoidance  and  omission  to  effect  what  Luke  did 
more  by  addition  and  contrast.  Luke  proposed  to  himself  to  open 
a door  for  the  admission  of  Pauline  ideas  without  offending  Gentile 
Christianity ; Mark,  on  the  contrary,  in  a negative  spirit,  to  publish 
a Gospel  which  should  not  hurt  the  feelings  of  either  party.  Hence 
his  avoidance  of  all  those  disputed  questions  which  disturbed  the 
church  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  second  century.  The  gene- 
alogy of  Jesus  is  omitted ; this  being  offensive  to  Gentile  Christians, 
and  even  to  some  of  the  more  liberal  Judaizers.  The  supernatural 
birth  of  Jesus  is  omitted,  this  being  offensive  to  the  Ebonitish 
(extreme  Jewish)  and  some  of  the  Gnostic  Christians.  For  every 
Judaizing  feature  that  is  sacrificed,  a universal  one  is  also  sacrificed. 
Hard  words  against  the  Jews  are  left  out,  but  with  equal  care,  hard 
words  about  the  Gentiles.1 

We  now  come  to  the  fourth,  and  last  gospel,  that  “ according 
to  John”  which  was  not  written  until  many  years  after  that  “ ac- 
cording to  Matthew.” 

“ It  is  impossible  to  pass-  from  the  Synoptic2  Gospels,”  says 
Canon  W estcott,  “ to  the  fourth,  without  feeling  that  the  transition 
involves  the  passage  from  one  world  of  thought  to  another.  Ho 
familiarity  with  the  general  teachings  of  the  Gospels,  no  wide  con- 
ception of  the  character  of  the  Saviour,  is  sufficient  to  destroy  the 
contrast  which  exists  in  form  and  spirit  between  the  earlier  and 
later  narratives.” 

The  discrepancies  between  the  fourth  and  the  Synoptic  Gospels 
are  numerous.  If  Jesus  was  the  man  of  Matthew’s  Gospel,  he  was 
not  the  mysterious  being  of  the  fourth.  If  his  ministry  was  only 
one  year  long,  it  was  not  three . If  he  made  but  one  journey  to 
Jerusalem,  he  did  not  make  many.  If  his  method  of  teaching  was 
that  of  the  Synoptics,  it  was  not  that  of  the  fourth  Gospel.  If  he 
was  the  Jew  of  Matthew,  he  was  not  the  Anti- Jew  of  John.3 


1 See  the  Bible  of  To-Day,  under  “ Mark." 

2 “Synoptics  the  Gospels  which  contain 

accounts  of  the  same  events — “parallel  pas- 
sages,” as  they  are  called— which  can  be  writ- 
ten side  by  side,  so  as  to  enable  us  to  make  a 
general  view  or  synopsis  of  all  the  three,  and  at 
the  same  time  compare  them  with  each  other. 
Bishop  Marsh  says  : “ The  most  eminent  crit- 
ics are  at  present  decidedly  of  opinion  that 
one  of  the  two  suppositions  must  necessarily 
be  adopted,  either  that  the  three  Evangelists 
copied  from  each  other,  or  that  all  the  three 
drew  from  a common  source,  and  that  the 
notion  of  an  absolute  independence,  in  respect 


to  the  composition  of  the  three  first  Gospels, 
is  no  longer  tenable.” 

3  “ On  opening  the  New  Testament  and 
comparing  the  impression  produced  by  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  or  Mark  with  that  by  the 
Gospel  of  John,  the  observant  eye  is  at  once 
struck  with  as  salient  a contrast  as  that  already 
indicated  on  turning  from  the  Macbeth  or 
Othello  of  Shakespeare  to  the  Comus  of  Milton 
or  to  Spenser’s  Faerie  Queene."  (Francis  Tif- 
fany.) 

“ To  learn  how  far  we  may  trust  them  (the 
Gospels)  we  must  in  the  first  place  compare 
them  with  each  other.  The  moment  we  do  so 


458 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Everywhere  in  John  we  come  upon  a more  developed  stage  of 
Christianity  than  in  the  Synoptics.  The  scene,  the  atmosphere,  is 
different.  In  the  Synoptics  Judaism,  the  Temple,  the  Law  and 
the  Messianic  Kingdom  are  omnipresent.  In  John  they  are  remote 
and  vague.  In  Matthew  Jesus  is  always  yearning  for  his  own  na- 
tion. In  John  he  has  no  other  sentiment  for  it  than  hate  and  scorn. 
In  Matthew  the  sanction  of  the  Prophets  is  his  great  credential.  In 
John  his  dignity  can  tolerate  no  previous  approximation. 

“Do  we  ask,”  says  Francis  Tiffany,  “ who  wrote  this  wondrous 
Gospel  ? Mysterious  its  origin,  as  that  wind  of  which  its  author 
speaks,  which  bloweth  where  it  listetli,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound 
thereof  and  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it  goeth.  As 
with  the  Great  Unknown  of  the  book  of  Job,  the  Great  Unknown 
of  the  later  Isaiah,  the  ages  keep  his  secret.  The  first  absolutely 
indisputable  evidence  of  the  existence  of  the  book  dates  from  the 
latter  half  of  the  second  century .” 

The  first  that  we  know  of  the  fourth  Gospel,  for  certainty,  is 
at  the  time  of  Irenseus  (a.  d.  179).1  We  look  in  vain  for  an  ex- 
press recognition  of  the  four  canonical  Gospels,  or  for  a distinct 
mention  of  any  one  of  them,  in  the  writings  of  St.  Clement  (a.  d. 
96),  St.  Ignatius  (a.  d.  107),  St.  Justin  (a.  d.  140),  or  St.  Poly  carp 
(a.  d.  108).  All  we  can  find  is  incidents  from  the  life  of  Jesus, 
sayings,  etc. 

That  Irenseus  is  the  author  of  it  is  very  evident.  This  learned 
and  pious  forger  says  : 

“ John,  the  disciple  of  the  Lord,  wrote  his  Gospel  to  confute  the  doctrine 
lately  taught  by  Cerinthus,  and  a great  while  before  by  those  called  Nicolaitans, 
a branch  of  the  Gnostics  ; and  to  show  that  there  is  one  God  who  made  all 
things  by  his  WORD:  and  not,  as  they  say,  that  there  is  one  the  Creator,  and 
another  the  Father  of  our  Lord : and  one  the  Son  of  the  Creator,  and  another, 
even  the  Christ,  who  descended  from  above  upon  the  Son  of  the  Creator,  and 
continued  impassible,  and  at  length  returned  to  his  pleroma  or  fulness.  ”2 

The  idea  of  God  having  inspired  four  different  men  to 
write  a history  of  the  same  transactions — or  rather,  of  many  dif- 


we  notice  that  the  fourth  stands  quite  alone, 
while  the  first  three  form  a single  group , not 
only  following  the  same  general  course,  but 
sometimes  even  showing  a verbal  agreement 
which  cannot  possibly  be  accidental.”  (The 
Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  ii.  p.  27.) 

1 “ Irenseus  is  the  first  person  who  mentions 
the  four  Gospels  by  name.”  (Bunsen  : Keys 
of  St.  Peter,  p.  328.) 

“Irenaeus,  in  the  second  century,  is  the  first 
of  the  fathers  who,  though  he  has  nowhere  given 
us  a professed  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the  New 


Testament,  intimates  that  he  had  received  four 
Gospels,  as  authentic  Scriptures,  the  authors  of 
which  he  describes.”  (Rev.  R.  Taylor  : Syn- 
tagma, p.  109.) 

“ The  authorship  of  the  fourth  Gospel  has 
been  the  subject  of  much  learned  and  anxious 
controversy  among  theologians.  The  earliest , 
and  only  very  important  external  testimony  we 
have  is  that  of  Irenjeus  (a.d.  179.)”  (W.  R. 

Grey  : The  Creed  of  Christendom , p.  159.) 

2 Against  Heresies,  . bk.  i 4.  ch.  xi.  sec.  1. 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  RELIGIONS. 


459 


ferent  men  having  undertaken  to  write  such  a history,  of  whom  God 
inspired  four  only  to  write  correctly,  leaving  the  others  to  their 
own  unaided  resources,  and  giving  us  no  test  by  which  to  distin- 
guish the  inspired  from  the  uninspired — certainly  appears  self-con- 
futing, and  anything  but  natural. 

The  reasons  assigned  by  Irenseus  for  their  being  four  Gospels 
are  as  follows : 

“ It  is  impossible  that  there  could  be  more  or  less  than  four.  For  there  are 
four  climates,  and  four  cardinal  winds  ; but  the  Gospel  is  the  pillar  and  founda- 
tion of  the  church,  and  its  breath  of  life.  The  church  therefore  was  to  have  four 
pillars,  blowing  immortality  from  every  quarter,  and  giving  life  to  man.”1 

It  was  by  this  Irenseus,  with  the  assistance  of  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria, and  Tertullian,  one  of  the  Latin  Fathers,  that  the  four  Gos- 
pels were  introduced  into  general  use  among  the  Christians. 

In  these  four  spurious  Gospels,  and  in  some  which  are  consid- 
ered Apocryphal — because  the  bishops  at  the  Council  of  Laodicea 
(a.  d.  365)  rejected  them — we  have  the  only  history  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  Now,  if  all  accounts  or  narratives  of  Christ  Jesus  and 
his  Apostles  were  forgeries,  as  it  is  admitted  that  all  the  Apocryphal 
ones  were,  what  can  the  superior  character  of  the  received  Gospels 
prove  for  them,  but  that  they  are  merely  superiorly  executed  for- 
geries ? The  existence  of  Jesus  is  implied  in  the  New  Testament 
outside  of  the  Gospels,  but  hardly  an  incident  of  his  life  is  men- 
tioned, hardly  a sentence  that  he  spoike  has  been  preserved.  Paul, 
writing  from  twenty  to  thirty  years  after  his  death,  has  but  a 
single  reference  to  anything  he  ever  said  or  did. 

Beside  these  four  Gospels  there  were,  as  we  said  above,  many 
others,  for,  in  the  words  of  Mosheim,  the  ecclesiastical  historian : 

“ Not  long  after  Christ’s  ascension  into  heaven,  several  histories  of  his  life 
and  doctrines,  full  of  pious  frauds  and  fabulous  wonders,  were  composed  by  per- 
sons whose  intentions,  perhaps,  were  not  bad,  but  whose  writings  discovered  the 
greatest  superstition  and  ignorance.  Nor  was  this  all  ; productions  appeared, 
which  were  imposed  upon  the  world  by  fraudulent  men,  as  the  writings  of  the  holy 
apostles.  ”2 

Dr.  Conyers  Middleton,  speaking  on  this  subject,  says : 

“There  never  was  any  period  of  time  in  all  ecclesiastical  history,  in  which 
so  many  rank  heresies  were  publicly  professed,  nor  in  which  so  many  spurious 
books  were  forged  and  published  by  the  Christians,  under  the  names  of  Christ, 
and  the  Apostles,  and  the  Apostolic  writers,  as  in  those  primitive  ages.  Several 
of  these  forged  books  are  frequently  cited  and  applied  to  the  defense  of  Christianity, 
by  the  most  eminent  fathers  of  the  same  ages,  as  true  and  genuine  pieces.”* 


1 Against  Heresies,  bk.  iii.  ch.  xi.  sec.  8. 

2 Mosheim:  vol.  i.  p.  109. 


3 Middleton’s  Woiks,  vol.  i.  p.  59. 


460 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Archbishop  Wake  also  admits  that: 

“It  would  be  useless  to  insist  on  all  the  spurious  pieces  which  were  attribu 
ted  to  St.  Paul  alone,  in  the  primitive  ages  of  Christianity.”1 2 

Some  of  the  44  spurious  pieces  which  were  attributed  to  St, 
Paul,”  may  be  found  to  day  in  our  canonical  New  Testament,  and 
are  believed  by  many  to  be  the  word  of  God.* 

The  learned  Bishop  Faustus,  in  speaking  of  the  authenticity  of 
the  New  Testament , says  : 

“It  is  certain  that  the  New  Testament  was  not  written  by  Christ  himself, 
nor  by  his  apostles,  but  a long  while  after  them,  by  some  unknown  persons,  who, 
lest  they  should  not  be  credited  when  they  wrote  of  affairs  they  were  little  ac- 
quainted with,  affixed  to  their  works  the  names  of  the  apostles,  or  of  such  as 
were  supposed  to  have  been  their  companions,  asserting  that  what  they  had  writ- 
ten themselves,  was  written  according  to  these  persons  to  whom  they  ascribed 
it.”3 

Again  lie  says  : 

“ Many  things  have  been  inserted  by  our  ancestors  in  the  speeches  of  our 
Lord,  which,  though  put  forth  under  his  name,  agree  not  with  his  faith  ; es- 
pecially since — as  already  it  has  been  often  proved — these  things  were  not  writ- 
ten by  Christ,  nor  his  apostles,  but  a long  while  after  their  assumption,  by  I 
know  not  what  sort  of  half  Jews,  not  even  agreeing  with  themselves,  who  made 
up  their  tale  out  of  reports  and  opinions  merely,  and  yet,  fathering  the  whole 
upon  the  names  of  the  apostles  of  the  Lord,  or  on  those  who  were  supposed  to 
follow  the  apostles,  they  mendaciously  pretended  that  they  had  written  their 
lies  and  conceits  according  to  them.  ”4 

What  had  been  said  to  have  been  done  in  India , was  said  by 
these  44  half-Jews”  to  have  been  done  in  Palestine  ; the  change  of 
names  and  places,  with  the  mixing  up  of  various  sketches  of  the 
Egyptian,  Persian,  Plienician,  Greek  and  Roman  mythology,  was 
all  that  was  necessary.  They  had  an  abundance  of  material,  and 
with  it  they  built.  The  foundation  upon  which  they  built  was 
undoubtedly  the  44  Scriptures ,”  or  Diegesis,  of  the  Essenes  in 
Alexandria  in  Egypt,  which  fact  led  Eusebius,  the  ecclesiastical 
historian — 44  without  whom,”  says  Tillemont,  44  we  should  scarce 
have  had  any  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  first  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity, or  of  the  authors  who  wrote  in  that  time  ” — to  say  that  the 
sacred  writings  used  by  this  sect  were  none  other  than  44  Our 
Gospels .” 


1 Genuine  Epist.  Apost.  Fathers,  p.  98. 

2 See  Chadwick’s  Bible  of  To-Day,  pp.  191, 

192. 

s“Nec  ab  ipso  scriptum  constat,  nec  ab 
ejus  apostolis  sed  longo  post  tempore  a qui- 
buedam  incerti  nominis  viris,  qui  ne  sibi  non 
haberetur  fides  scribentibus  quae  nescirent, 


partim  apostolorum,  partim  eorum  qui  apos- 
tolos  secuti  viderentur  nomina  scriptorum 
suorum  frontibus  indiderunt,  asseverantes  se- 
cundum eos,  se  scripsisse  quae  scripserunt.” 
(Faust,  lib.  2.  Quoted  by  Rev.  R.  Taylor: 
Diegesis,  p.  114.) 

4 “ Multa  enim  a majoribus  vestris,  eloquiis 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  RELIGIONS. 


461 


We  offer  below  a few  of  the  many  proofs  showing  the  Gospels 
to  have  been  written  a long  time  after  the  events  narrated  are  said 
to  have  occurred,  and  by  persons  unacquainted  with  the  country  of 
which  they  wrote. 

“He  (Jesus)  came  unto  the  sea  of  Galilee,  through  the  midst  of 
the  coasts  of  Decapolis,”  is  an  assertion  made  by  the  Mark  narrator 
(vii.  31),  when  there  were  no  coasts  of  Decapolis,  nor  was  the  name 
so  much  as  known  before  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Nero. 

Again,  “He  (Jesus)  departed  from  Galilee,  and  came  into  the 
coasts  of  Judea,  beyond  Jordan,”  is  an  assertion  made  by  the  Mat- 
thew narrator  (xix.  1),  when  the  Jordan  itself  was  the  eastern 
boundary  of  Judea,  and  there  were  no  coasts  of  Judea  beyond  it. 

Again,  “But  when  he  (Joseph)  heard  that  Archelaus  did  reign 
in  Judea,  in  the  room  of  his  father  Herod,  he  was  afraid  to  go 
thither,  notwithstanding,  being  warned  of  God  in  a dream,  he  turned 
aside  into  the  parts  of  Galilee,  and  he  came  and  dwelt  in  a city 
called  Nazareth ; that  it  might  be  fulfilled,  which  was  spoken  by 
the  prophets,  he  shall  be  called  a Nazarene,”  is  another  assertion 
made  by  the  Matthew  narrator  (ii.  22,  23),  when — 1.  It  was  a son 
of  Herod  who  reigned  in  Galilee  as  .well  as  Judea,  so  that  he  could 
not  be  more  secure  in  one  province  than  in  the  other ; and  when 
— 2.  It  was  impossible  for  him  to  have  gone  from  Egypt  to  Naz- 
areth, without  traveling  through  the  whole  extent  of  Archelaus’s 
kingdom,  or  making  a peregrination  through  the  deserts  on  the 
north  and  east  of  the  Lake  Asphaltites,  and  the  country  of  Moab ; 
and  then,  either  crossing  the  Jordan  into  Samaria  or  the  Lake  of 
Gennesareth  into  Galilee,  and  from  thence  going  to  the  city  of 
Nazareth,  which  is  no  better  geography,  than  if  one  should  describe 
a person  as  turning  aside  from  Cheapside  into  the  parts  of  York- 
shire ; and  when — 3.  There  were  no  prophets  whatever  who  had 
prophesied  that  Jesus  “ should  be  called  a Naza/rene .” 

The  Matthew  narrator  (iv.  1 3)  states  that  “ He  departed  into 
Galilee,  and  leaving  Nazareth,  came  and  dwelt  in  Capernaum,”  as 
if  he  imagined  that  the  city  of  Nazareth  was  not  as  properly  in 
Galilee  as  Capernaum  was  ; which  is  much  such  geographical  accu- 
racy, as  if  one  should  relate  the  travels  of  a hero,  who  departed  into 
Middlesex,  and  leaving  London,  came  and  dwelt  in  Lombard  street.1 

Domini  nostri  inserta  verba  sunt ; quae  nomine  ionesqne  comperta  sunt ; qui  tamen  omnia 
signata  ipsius,  cum  ejus  fide  non  congruant,  eadem  in  apostolorum  Domini  conferentes 
praesertim,  quia,  ut  jam  saepe  probatum  a nomina  vel  eorum  qui  secuti  apostolos 
nobis  est.  nec  ab  ipso  haec.  sunt,  nec  ab  ejus  viderentur,  errores  ac  mendacia  sua  secundum 
apostolis  scripta,  sea  multo  post  eorum  assump-  eos  se  scripsisse  mentiti  sunt.”  (Faust.: 
tiouem,  a nesoio  quibus,  et  ipsis  inter  se  non  lib.  33.  Quoted  in  Ibid.  p.  66.) 
concordantibus  semi-Jui^eis,  per  famas  opin-  1 Taylor’s  Diegesis. 


462 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


There  are  many  other  falsehoods  in  gospel  geography  beside 
these,  which,  it  is  needless  to  mention,  plainly  show  that  the 
writers  were  not  the  persons  they  are  generally  supposed  to  be. 

Of  gospel  statistics  there  are  many  falsehoods ; among  them  may 
be  mentioned  the  following : 

“ Annas  and  Caiaphas  being  the  high  priests,  the  word  of  God 
came  unto  John  the  son  of  Zacharias  in  the  wilderness,”  is  an  as- 
sertion made  by  the  Luke  narrator  (Luke  iii.  2) ; when  all  Jews,  or 
persons  living  among  them,  must  have  known  that  there  never 
was  but  one  high  priest  at  a time,  as  with  ourselves  there  is  but  one 
mayor  of  a city. 

Again  we  read  (John  vii.  52),  “ Search  (the  Scriptures)  and  look, 
for  out  of  Galilee  ariseth  no  prophet,”  when  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  Jewish  prophets — Nahum  and  Jonah — were  both  Galileans. 

See  reference  in  the  Epistles  to  “ Saints ,”  a religious  order, 
owing  its  origin  to  the  popes.  Also,  references  to  the  distinct 
orders  of  “ Bishops ,”  “ Priests ,”  and  “ Deacons ,”  and  calls  to  a 
monastic  life ; to  fasting,  etc.,  when,  the  titles  of  “ Bishop,” 
“ Priest,”  and  “ Deacon  ” were  given  to  the  Essenes — whom  Euse- 
bius calls  Christians — and,  as  is  well  known,  monasteries  were  the 
abode  of  the  Essenes  or  Therapeuts. 

See  the  words  for  “ legion ,”  “ aprons ,”  “ handkerchiefs ,”  “ cen- 
turion ,”  etc.,  in  the  original,  not  being  Greek,  but  Latin,  written 
in  Greek  characters,  a practice  first  to  be  found  in  the  historian 
Herodian,  in  the  third  century. 

In  Matt.  xvi.  18,  and  Matt,  xviii.  17,  the  word  “ Church  ” is' 
used,  and  its papistical  and  infallible  authority  referred  to  as  then 
existing,  which  is  known  not  to  have  existed  till  ages  after.  And 
the  passage  in  Matt.  xi.  12: — “ From  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist 
until  now , the  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence,”  etc.,  could 
not  have  been  written  till  a very  late  period. 

Luke  ii.  1,  shows  that  the  writer  (whoever  he  may  have  been) 
lived  long  after  the  events  related.  His  dates,  about  the  fifteenth 
year  of  Tiberius,  and  the  government  of  Cyrenius  (the  only  indi- 
cations of  time  in  the  New  Testament),  are  manifestly  false.  The 
general  ignorance  of  the  four  Evangelists,  not  merely  of  the  geog- 
raphy and  statistics  of  Judea,  but  even  of  its  language, — their 
egregious  blunders,  which  no  writers  who  had  lived  in  that  age 
could  be  conceived  of  as  making, — prove  that  they  were  not  only 
no  such  persons  as  those  who  have  been  willing  to  be  deceived  have 
taken  them  to  be,  but  that  they  were  not  Jews,  had  never  been  in 
Palestine,  and  neither  lived  at,  or  at  anywhere  near  the  times  to 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  RELIGIONS 


463 


which  their  narratives  seem  to  refer.  The  ablest  divines  at  the 
present  day,  of  all  denominations,  have  yielded  as  much  as  this.1 

The  Scriptures  were  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy  only,  and  they 
had  every  opportunity  to  insert  whatsoever  they  pleased ; thus  we 
find  them  full  of  interpolations.  Johann  Solomo  Seinler,  one  of 
the  most  influential  theologians  of  the  eighteenth  century,  speaking 
of  this,  says : 

“ The  Christian  doctors  never  brought  their  sacred  books  before  the  common 
people  ; although  people  in  general  have  been  wont  to  think  otherwise  ; during 
the  first  ages,  they  were  in  the  hands  of  the  clergy  only.  ”2 

Concerning  the  time  when  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament 
was  settled,  Moslieim  says : 

“ The  opinions,  or  rather  the  conjectures,  of  the  learned  concerning  the  time 
when  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  collected  into  one  volume  ; as  also 
about  the  authors  of  that  collection,  are  extremely  different.  This  important 
question  is  attended  with  great  and  almost  insuperable  difficulties  to  us  in  these 
later  times.”3 

The  Rev.  B.  F.  Westcott  says : 

‘ ‘ It  is  impossible  to  point  to  any  period  as  marking  the  date  at  which  our 
present  canon  was  determined.  When  it  first  appears,  it  is  presented  not  as  a 
novelty,  but  as  an  ancient  tradition.”4 

Dr.  Lardner  says : 

“Even so  late  as  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  the  canon  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament had  not  been  settled  by  any  authority  that  was  decisive  and  universally 


1  Says  Prof.  Smith  upon  this  point : “ All 
the  earliest  external  evidence  points  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  synoptic  gospels  are  non-apos- 
tolic  digests  of  spoken  and  written  apostolic 
tradition,  and  that  the  arrangement  of  the 
earlier  material  in  orderly  form  took  place  only 
gradually  and  by  many  essays.” 

hr.  Hooykaas,  speaking  of  the  four  “Gos- 
pels,” and  “Acts,”  says  of  them:  “Notone 
of  these  five  books  was  really  written  by  the 
person  whose  name  it  bears,  and  they  are  all 
of  more  recent  date  than  the  heading  would 
lead  us  to  suppose.” 

“We  cannot  say  that  the  “Gospels”  and 
book  of  “Acts”  are  unauthentic , for  not  one 
of  them  professes  to  give  the  name  of  its  au- 
thor. They  appeared  anonymously.  The  titles 
placed  above  them  in  our  Bibles  owe  their 
origin  to  a later  ecclesiastical  tradition  which 
deserves  no  confidence  whatever.”  (Bible  for 
Learners,  vol.  iii.  pp.  24,  25.) 

These  Gospels  “ can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
had  authors  at  all.  They  had  only  editors  or 
compilers.  What  I mean  is,  that  those  who 
enriched  the  old  Christian  literature  with  these 


Gospels  did  not  go  to  work  as  independent 
writers  and  compose  their  own  narratives  out 
of  the  accounts  they  had  collected,  but  simply 
took  up  the  different  stories  or  sets  of  stories 
which  they  found  current  in  the  oral  tradition 
or  already  reduced  to  writing,  adding  here  and 
expanding  there , and  so  sent  out  into  the  world 
a very  artless  kind  of  composition.  These 
works  were  then,  from  time  to  time,  somewhat 
enriched  by  introductory  matter  or  interpola- 
tions from  the  hands  of  later  Christians,  and 
perhaps  were  modified  a little  here  and  there. 
Our  first  two  Gospels  appear  to  have  passed 
through  more  than  one  such  revision.  The 
third,  whose  writer  says  in  his  preface,  that, 
‘ many  had  undertaken  to  put  together  a narra- 
tive (Gospel),’  before  him,  appears  to  proceed 
from  a single  collecting,  arranging,  and  modi- 
fying hand.”  (Ibid.  p.  29.) 

2 “Christiani  doctores  non  in  vulgus  prode- 
bant  libros  sacros,  beet  soleant  pleriqne  aliter- 
opinari,  erant  tantum  in  manibus  clericorum, 
priora  per  saecula.”  (Quoted  in  Taylor’s  Die- 
gesis,  p.  48.) 

3 Mosheim:  vol  i.  pt.  2,  ch.  li. 

4 General  Survey  of  the  Canon,  p.  469. 


464 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


acknowledged,  but  Christian  people  were  at  liberty  to  judge  for  themselves  con- 
cerning the  genuiness  of  writings  proposed  to  them  as  apostolical,  and  to  de- 
termine according  to  evidence.”1 

The  learned  Michaelis  says : 

“No  manuscript  of  the  New  Testament  now  extant  is  prior  to  the  sixth  cen- 
tury , and  what  is  to  be  lamented,  various  readings  which,  as  appears  from  the 
quotations  of  the  Fathers,  were  in  the  text  of  the  Greek  Testament,  are  to  be 
found  in  none  of  the  manuscripts  which  are  at  present  remaining.” 2 

And  Bishop  Marsh  says  : 

“It  is  a certain  fact,  that  several  readings  in  our  common  printed  text  are 
nothing  more  than  alterations  made  by  Origen,  whose  authority  was  so  great  in 
the  Christian  Church  (a.  d.  280)  that  emendations  which  he  proposed,  though, 
as  he  himself  acknowledged,  they  were  supported  by  the  evidence  of  no  manu- 
script, were  very  generally  received.”3 

In  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  Eusebius  gives  us  a list  of  what 
books  at  that  time  (a.  d.  315)  were  considered  canonical.  They  are 
as  follows : 

“The  four-fold  writings  of  the  Evangelists,”  “ The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,” 
“ The  Epistles  of  Peter,”  “ after  these  the  first  of  John,  and  that  of  Peter,”  “ All 
these  are  received  for  undoubted .”  “ The  Revelation  of  St.  John,  some  disavow” 

“ The  books  which  are  gainsaid , though  well  known  unto  many,  are  these  : 
the  Epistle  of  James,  the  Epistle  of  Jude,  the  latter  of  Peter,  the  second  and 
third  of  John,  whether  they  were  John  the  Evangelist , or  some  other  of  the  same 
name.”4 

Though  Irenseus,  in  the  second  century,  is  the  first  who  men- 
tions the  evangelists,  and  Origen,  in  the  third  century,  is  the  first 
who  gives  us  a catalogue  of  the  books  contained  in  the  Hew  Tes- 
tament, Mosheim’s  admission  still  stands  before  us.  We  have  no 
grounds  of  assurance  that  the  mere  mention  of  the  names  of  the 
evangelists  by  Irenseus,  or  the  arbitrary  drawing  up  of  a particular 
catalogue  by  Origen,  were  of  any  authority.  It  is  still  unknown 
by  whom , or  where , or  when , the  canon  of  the  Hew  Testament  was 
settled.  But  in  this  absence  of  positive  evidence  we  have  abun- 
dance of  negative  proof.  We  know  when  it  was  not  settled.  We 
know  it  was  not  settled  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Justinian,  nor 
in  the  time  of  Cassiodorus ; that  is,  not  at  any  time  before  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century , “ by  any  authority  that  was  decisive 
and  universally  acknowledged ; but  Christian  people  were  at  liberty 
to  judge  for  themselves  concerning  the  genuineness  of  writings 
proposed  to  them  as  apostolical.” 


1 Credibility  of  the  Gospels. 

2 Marsh’s  Michaelis,  vol.  ii.  p.  ICO.  The 

Sinaitic  MS.  is  believed  by  Tischendorf  to 

belong  to  the  fourth  century. 


3 Ibid.  p.  308. 

4 Eusebius  : Ecclesiastical  Hist.  lib.  8,  ch. 
xxii. 


THE  ANTIQUITY  OF  PAGAN  RELIGIONS 


465 


We  cannot  do  better  than  close  this  chapter  with  the  words  of 
Prof.  Max  Muller,  who,  in  speaking  of  Buddhism,  says  : 

“We  have  in  the  history  of  Buddhism  an  excellent  opportunity  fry  watching 
the  process  by  which  a canon  of  sacred  books  is  called  into  existence.  We  see 
here,  as  elsewhere , that  during  the  life-time  of  the  teacher,  no  record  of  events, 
no  sacred  code  containing  the  sayings  of  the  Master,  was  wanted.  His  presence 
was  enough,  and  thoughts  of  the  future,  and  more  particularly,  of  future  great- 
ness, seldom  entered  the  minds  of  those  who  followed  him.  It  was  only 
after  Buddha  had  left  the  world  to  enter  into  Nirvana,  that  his  disciples  at- 
tempted to  recall  the  sayings  and  doings  of  their  departed  friend  and  master. 
At  that  time,  everything  that  seemed  to  redound  to  the  glory  of  Buddha,  how- 
ever extraordinary  and  incredible,  was  eagerly  welcomed,  while  witnesses  who 
would  have  ventured  to  criticise  or  reject  unsupported  statements,  or  to  detract 
in  any  way  from  the  holy  character  of  Buddha,  had  no  chance  of  ever  being 
listened  to.  And  when,  in  spite  of  all  this,  differences  of  opinion  arose,  they 
were  not  brought  to  the  test  by  a careful  weighing  of  evidence,  but  the  names  of 
‘ unbeliever  ’ and  ‘ heretic  ’ were  quickly  invented  in  India  as  elsewhere,  and  ban- 
died backwards  and  forwards  between  contending  parties,  till  at  last,  when  the 
doctors  disagreed,  the  help  of  the  secular  power  had  to  be  invoked,  and  kings 
and  emperors  assembled  councils  for  the  suppression  of  schism,  for  the  settle 
ment  of  an  orthodox  creed,  and  for  the  completion  of  a sacred  canon. ,n 

That  which  Prof.  Muller  describes  as  taking  place  in  the  relig* 
ion  of  Christ  Buddha,  is  exactly  what  took  place  in  the  religion  of 
Christ  Jesus.  That  the  miraculous,  and  many  of  the  non-miracu- 
lous,  events  related  in  the  Gospels  never  happened,  is  demonstrable 
from  the  facts  which  we  have  seen  in  this  work,  that  nearly  all  of 
these  events,  had  been  previously  related  of  the  gods  and  goddesses 
of  heathen  nations  of  antiquity,  more  especially  of  the  Hindoo 
Saviour  Crishna , and  the  Buddhist  Saviour  Buddha , whose 
religion,  with  less  alterations  than  time  and  translations  have  made 
in  the  J ewish  Scriptures,  may  be  traced  in  nearly  every  dogma  and 
every  ceremony  of  the  evangelical  mythology. 


1 The  Science  of  Religion,  pp.  30,  31. 

Note.— The  Codex  Sinaiticvs,  referred  to  on  the  preceding  page,  (note  2,)  was  found  at  the 
Convent  of  St.  Catherine  on  Mt.  Sinai,  by  Tischendorf,  in  1859.  He  supposes  that  it  belongs 
to  the  4th  cent. ; but  Dr.  Davidson  (in  Kitto’s  Bib.  Ency.,  Art.  MSS.)  thinks  different.  He  says" : 
“ Probably  it  is  of  the  6th  cent.,'’'  while  he  states  that  the  Codex  Vaticanvs  “is  believed  to 
belong  to  the  4th  cent.,’’  and  the  Codex  Alexandrians  to  the  5th  cent.  McClintock  & Strong’s 
Ency.  (Art.  MSS.,)  relying  probably  on  Tischendorf’s  conjecture,  places  the  Codex  Sinaiticvs 
first.  “ It  is  probably  the  oldest  of  the  MSS.  of  the  N.  T..  and  of  the  4th  cent.,”  say  they.  The 
Code x Vaticanus  is  considered  the  next  oldest,  and  the  Codex  Alexandrinvs  is  placed  third  in 
order,  and  “was  probably  written  in  the  first  half  of  the  5th  cent.”  The  writer  of  the  art.  N. 
T.  in  Smith’s  Bib.  Die.  says  : “ The  Codex  Sinaiticvs  is  probably  the  oldest  of  the  MSS.  of  the 
N.  T.,  and  of  the  4th  cent.;”  and  that  the  Codex  Alexandrinvs  “was  probably  written  in  the 
first  half  of  the  5th  cent,”  Thus  we  see  that  in  determining  the  dates  of  the  MSS.  of  the  N. 
T.,  Christian  divines  are  obliged  to  resort  to  conjecture;  there  being  no  certainty  whatever  in 
the  matter.  But  with  all  their  “suppositions,”  “probabilities,”  “beliefs”  and  “conjectures,” 
we  have  the  words  of  the  learned  Michaelis  still  before  us,  that : “No  MSS.  of  the  N.  T.  now 
extant  are  prior  to  the  sixth  cent.'’  This  remark,  however,  does  not  cover  the  Codex  Sinaiticvs, 
which  was  discovered  since  Michaelis  wrote  his  work  on  the  N.  T.  ; but,  as  we  saw  above, 
Dr.  Davidson  does  not  agree  with  Tischendorf  in  regard  to  its  antiquity,  and  places  it  in  the 
6th  cent; 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 


EXPLANATION. 

After  what  we  have  seen  concerning  the  numerous  virgin- 
born,  crucified  and  resurrected  Saviours,  believed  on  in  the  Pagan 
world  for  so  many  centuries  before  the  time  assigned  for  the  birth 
of  the  Christian  Saviour,  the  questions  naturally  arise  : were  they 
real  personages  ? did  they  ever  exist  in  the  flesh  ? whence  came 
these  stories  concerning  them  ? have  they  a foundation  in  truth,  or 
are  they  simply  creations  of  the  imagination  ? 

The  historical  theory — according  to  which  all  the  persons  men- 
tioned in  mythology  were  once  real  human  beings,  and  the  legends 
and  fabulous  traditions  relating  to  them  were  merely  the  additions 
and  embellishments  of  later  times — which  was  so  popular  with 
scholars  of  the  last  century,  has  been  altogether  abandoned. 

Under  the  historical  point  of  view  the  gods  are  mere  deified 
mortals,  either  heroes  who  have  been  deified  after  their  death,  or 
Pontiff-chieftains  who  have  passed  themselves  off  for  gods,  and 
who,  it  is  gratuitously  supposed,  found  people  stupid  enough  to 
believe  in  their  pretended  divinity.  This  was  the  manner  in  which, 
formerly,  writers  explained  the  mythology  of  nations  of  antiquity  ; 
but  a method  that  pre-supposed  an  historical  Crishna,  an  historical 
Osiris,  an  historical  Mithra,  an  historical  Hercules,  an  historical 
Apollo,  or  an  historical  Thor,  was  found  untenable,  and  therefore, 
does  not,  at  the  present  day,  stand  in  need  of  a refutation.  As  a 
writer  of  the  early  part  of  the  present  century  said  : 

“We  shall  never  have  an  ancient  history  worthy  of  the  perusal  of  men  of 
common  sense,  till  we  cease  treating  poems  as  history,  and  send  back  such  per- 
sonages as  Hercules,  Theseus,  Bacchus,  etc.,  to  the  heavens,  whence  their  history 
is  taken,  and  whence  they  never  descended  to  the  earth.” 

The  historical  theory  was  succeeded  by  the  allegorical  thory, 
which  supposes  that  all  the  myths  of  the  ancients  were  allegorical 
and  symbolical , and  contain  some  moral,  religious,  or  philosophical 
[466J 


EXPLANATION. 


467 


truth  or  historical  fact  under  the  form  of  an  allegory,  which  came 
in  process  of  time  to  be  understood  literally. 

In  the  preceding  pages  we  have  spoken  of  the  several  virgin- 
born,  crucified  and  resurrected  Saviours,  as  real  personages.  We 
have  attributed  to  these  individuals  words  and  acts,  and  have  re- 
garded the  words  and  acts  recorded  in  the  several  sacred  books 
from  which  we  have  quoted,  as  said  and  done  by  them.  But  in 
doing  this,  we  have  simply  used  the  language  of  others.  These 
gods  and  heroes  were  not  real  personages ; they  are  merely  per- 
sonifications of  the  Sun.  As  Prof.  Max  Muller  observes  in  his 
Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Religion  : 

“ One  of  the  earliest  objects  that  would  strike  and  stir  the  mind  of  man,  and 
for  which  a sign  or  a name  would  soon  he  wanted,  is  surely  the  Sun. 1 It  is  very 
hard  for  us  to  realize  the  feelings  with  which  the  first  dwellers  on  the  earth 
looked  upon  the  Sun,  or  to  understand  fully  what  they  meant  by  a morning 
prayer  or  a morning  sacrifice.  Perhaps  there  are  few  people  who  have  watched 
a sunrise  more  than  once  or  twice  in  their  life  ; few  people  who  have  ever 
known  the  meaning  of  a morning  prayer,  or  a morning  sacrifice.  But  think  of 
man  at  the  very  dawn  of  time.  . . . think  of  the  Sun  awakening  the  eyes  of 
man  from  sleep,  and  his  mind  from  slumber  ! Was  not  the  sunrise  to  him  the 
first  wonder,  the  first  beginning  of  all  reflection,  all  thought,  all  philosophy  ? 
Was  it  not  to  him  the  first  revelation,  the  first  beginning  of  all  trust,  of  all  re- 
ligion? .... 

“Few  nations  only  have  preserved  in  their  ancient  poetry  some  remnants  of 
the  natural  awe  with  which  the  earlier  dwellers  on  the  earth  saw  that  brilliant 
being  slowly  rising  from  out  of  the  darkness  of  the  night,  raising  itself  by  its 
own  might  higher  and  higher,  till  it  stood  triumphant  on  the  arch  of  heaven, 
and  then  descended  and  sank  down  in  its  fiery  glory  into  the  dark  abyss  of  the 
heaving  and  hissing  sea.  In  the  hymns  of  the  Veda,  the  poet  still  wonders 
whether  the  Sun  will  rise  again  ; he  asks  how  he  can  climb  the  vault  of  heaven  ? 
why  he  does  not  fall  back  ? why  there  is  no  dust  on  his  path  ? And  when  the 
rays  of  the  morning  rouse  him  from  sleep  and  call  him  back  to  new  life,  when 
he  sees  the  Sun,  as  he  says,  stretching  out  his  golden  arms  to  bless  the  world  and 
rescue  it  from  the  terror  of  darkness,  he  exclaims,  ‘ Arise,  our  life,  our  spirit 
has  come  back  ! the  darkness  is  gone,  the  light  approaches.” 

Many  years  ago,  the  learned  Sir  William  Jones  said : 

“We  must  not  be  surprised  at  finding,  on  a close  examination,  that  the  char- 
acters of  all  the  Pagan  deities,  male  and  female,  melt  into  each  other,  and  at 
last  into  one  or  two  ; for  it  seems  as  well  founded  opinion,  that  the  whole  crowd 
of  gods  and  goddesses  of  ancient  Rome,  and  modern  Yaranes,  mean  only  the 
powers  of  nature,  and  principally  those  of  the  SUN,  expressed  in  a variety  of 
ways,  and  by  a multitude  of  fanciful  names.”1 2 


1 “ In  the  Vedas,  the  Sun  has  twenty  dif- 
ferent names,  not  pure  equivalents,  but  each 
term  descriptive  of  the  Sun  in  one  of  its  as- 
pects. It  is  brilliant  (Surya),the  friend  (Mitra), 

generous  (Aryaman),  beneficent  (Bhaga),  that 


which  nourishes  (Pfishna),  the  Creator  (Tvash- 
tar),  the  master  of  the  sky  (Divaspati),  and  so 
on.”  (Rev.  S.  Baring-Gould : Orig.  Relig. 
Belief,  vol.  i.  p.  150.) 

2 Asiatic  Researches,  vol.  i.  p.  267. 


468 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Since  tlie  first  learned  president  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society 
paved  the  way  for  the  science  of  comparative  mythology , much  haa 
been  learned  on  this  subject,  so  that,  as  the  Rev.  George  W.  Cox 
remarks,  “recent  discussions  on  the  subject  seem  to  justify  the  con- 
viction that  the  foundations  of  the  science  of  comparative  mythology 
have  been  firmly  laid,  and  that  its  method  is  unassailable.”1 

If  we  wish  to  find  the  gods  and  goddesses  of  the  ancestors  of 
our  race,  we  must  look  to  the  sun,  the  moon,  the  stars,  the  sky,  the 
earth,  the  sea,  the  dawn,  the  clouds,  the  wind,  &c.,  which  they  per- 
sonified and  worshiped.  That  these  have  been  the  gods  and  god- 
desses of  all  nations  of  antiquity,  is  an  established  fact.2 

The  words  which  had  denoted  the  sun  and  moon  would  denote 
not  merely  living  things  but  living  persons.  From  personification 
to  deification  the  steps  would  be  but  few ; and  the  process  of  disin- 
tegration would  at  once  furnish  the  materials  for  a vast  fabric  of 
mythology.  All  the  expressions  which  had  attached  a living  force 
to  natural  objects  would  remain  as  the  description  of  personal  and 
anthropomorphous  gods.  Every  word  would  become  an  attribute, 
and  all  ideas,  once  grouped  around  a simple  object,  would  branch  off 
into  distinct  personifications.  The  sun  had  been  the  lord  of  light, 
the  driver  of  the  chariot  of  the  day ; he  had  toiled  and  labored  for 
the  sons  of  men,  and  sunk  down  to  rest,  after  a hard  battle,  in  the 
evening.  But  now  the  lord  of  light  would  be  Phoibos  Apollon, 
while  Helios  would  remain  enthroned  in  his  fiery  chariot,  and  his 
toils  and  labors  and  death-struggles  would  be  transferred  to  Her- 
cules. The  violet  clouds  which  greet  his  rising  and  his  setting  would 
now  be  represented  by  herds  of  cows  which  feed  in  earthly  pastures. 
There  would  be  other  expressions  which  would  still  remain  as  float- 
ing phrases,  not  attached  to  any  definite  deities.  These  would  grad- 
ually be  converted  into  incidents  in  the  life  of  heroes,  and  be  woven 
at  length  into  systematic  narratives.  Finally,  these  gods  or  heroes, 
and  the  incidents  of  their  mythical  career,  would  receive  each  “ a 
local  habitation  and  a name.”  These  would  remain  as  genuine 
history , when  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  words  had  been  either 
wholly  or  in  part  forgotten. 

For  the  proofs  of  these  assertions,  the  Yedic  poems  furnish 
indisputable  evidence,  that  such  as  this  was  the  origin  and  growth 
of  Greek  and  Teutonic  mythology.  In  these  poems,  the  names  of 
many,  perhaps  of  most,  of  the  Greek  gods,  indicate  natural  objects 
which,  if  endued  with  life,  have  not  been  reduced  to  human  per- 


1 Preface  to  “ Tales  of  Anct.  Greece.1 


3 See  Appendix  B. 


EXPLANATION. 


469 


sonality.  In  them  Daphne  is  still  simply  the  morning  twilight 
ushering  in  the  splendor  of  the  new-born  sun  ; the  cattle  of  Helios 
there  are  still  the  light-colored  clouds  which  the  dawn  leads  out  into 
the  fields  of  the  sky.  There  the  idea  of  Hercules  has  not  been 
separated  from  the  image  of  the  toiling  and  struggling  sun,  and  the 
glory  of  the  life-giving  Helios  has  not  been  transferred  to  the  god 
of  Delos  and  Pytho.  In  the  Vedas  the  myths  of  Endymion,  of 
Kephalos  and  Prokris,  Orpheus  and  Eurydike,  are  exhibited  in  the 
form  of  detached  mythical  phrases,  which  furnished  for  each  their 
germ.  The  analysis  may  be  extended  indefinitely:  but  the  conclu- 
sion can  only  be,  that  in  the  Vedic  language  we  have  the  foundation, 
not  only  of  the  glowing  legends  of  Hellas,  but  of  the  dark  and 
sombre  mythology  of  the  Scandinavian  and  the  Teuton.  Both  alike 
have  grown  up  chiefly  from  names  which  have  been  grouped  around 
the  sun ; but  the  former  has  been  grounded  on  those  expressions 
which  describe  the  recurrence  of  day  and  night,  the  latter  on  the 
great  tragedy  of  nature,  in  the  alternation  of  summer  and  winter. 

Of  this  vast  mass  of  solar  myths,  some  have  emerged  into  inde- 
pendent legends,  others  have  furnished  the  groundwork  of  whole 
epics,  others  have  remained  simply  as  floating  tales  whose  intrinsic 
beauty  no  poet  has  wedded  to  his  verse.1 

“ The  results  obtained  from  the  examination  of  language  in  its 
several  forms  leaves  no  room  for  doubt  that  the  general  system  of 
mythology  has  been  traced  to  its  fountain  head.  We  can  no  longer 
shut  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that  there  was  a stage  in  the  history  of 
human  speech,  during  which  all  the  abstract  words  in  constant  use 
among  ourselves  were  utterly  unknown,  when  men  had  formed  no 
notions  of  virtue  or  prudence,  of  thought  and  intellect,  of  slavery 
or  freedom,  but  spoke  only  of  the  man  who  was  strong,  who  could 
point  the  way  to  others  and  choose  one  thing  out  of  many,  of  the 
man  who  was  not  bound  to  any  other  and  able  to  do  as  he  pleased. 

“ That  even  this  stage  was  not  the  earliest  in  the  history  of  lan- 
guage is  now  a growing  opinion  among  philologists ; but  for  the 
comparison  of  legends  current  in  different  countries  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  carry  the  search  further  back.  Language  without  words 
denoting  abstract  qualities  implies  a condition  of  thought  in  which 
men  were  only  awakening  to  a sense  of  the  objects  which  sur- 
rounded them,  and  points  to  a time  when  the  world  was  to  them 
full  of  strange  sights  and  sounds,  some  beautiful,  some  bewildering, 
some  terrific,  when,  in  short,  they  knew  little  of  themselves  beyond 


1 Aryan  Mytho.,  vol  ii.  pp.  51-53. 


470 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


tlie  vague  consciousness  of  their  existence,  and  nothing  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  world  without.  In  such  a state  they  could  but 
attribute  to  all  that  they  saw  or  touched  or  heard . a life  which  was 
like  their  own  in  its  consciousness , its  joys , and  its  sufferings. 
That  power  of  sympathizing  with  nature  which  we  are  apt  to  regard 
as  the  peculiar  gift  of  the  poet  was  then  shared  alike  by  all.  This 
sympathy  was  not  the  result  of  any  effort,  it  was  inseparably  bound 
up  with  the  words  which  rose  to  their  lips.  It  implied  no  special 
purity  of  heart  or  mind ; it  pointed  to  no  Arcadian  paradise  where 
shepherds  knew  not  how  to  wrong  or  oppress  or  torment  each  other. 
We  say  that  the  morning  light  rests  on  the  mountains  ; they  said 
that  the  sun  was  greeting  his  bride,  as  naturally  as  our  own  poet 
would  speak  of  the  sunlight  clasping  the  earth,  or  the  moonbeams 
as  kissing  the  sea. 

“We have  then  before  us  a stage  of  language  corresponding  to  a 
stage  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind  in  which  all  sensible  objects 
were  regarded  as  instinct  with  a conscious  life.  The  varying 
phases  of  that  life  were  therefore  described  as  truthfully  as  they 
described  their  own  feelings  or  sufferings ; and  hence  every  phase 
became  a picture.  But  so  long  as  the  conditions  of  their  life  re- 
mained unchanged,  they  knew  perfectly  what  the  picture  meant, 
and  ran  no  risk  of  confusing  one  with  another.  Thus  they  had  but 
to  describe  the  things  which  they  saw,  felt,  or  heard,  in  order  to 
keep  up  an  inexhaustible  store  of  phrases  faithfully  describing  the 
facts  of  the  world  from  their  point  of  view.  This  language  was 
indeed  the  result  of  an  observation  not  less  keen  than  that  by  which 
the  inductive  philosopher  extorts  the  secrets  of  the  natural  world. 
Nor  was  its  range  much  narrower.  Each  object  received  its  own 
measure  of  attention,  and  no  one  phenomenon  was  so  treated  as  to 
leave  no  room  for  others  in  their  turn.  They  could  not  fail  to 
note  the  changes  of  days  and  years,  of  growth  and  decay,  of  calm 
and  storm ; but  the  objects  which  so  changed  were  to  them  living 
things , and  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  suny  the  return  of  win- 
ter and  summer , became  a drama  in  which  the  actors  were  their 
> nemies  or  their  friends. 

“ That  this  is  a strict  statement  of  facts  in  the  history  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  philology  alone  would  abundantly  prove  ; but  not  a few 
of  these  phrases  have  come  down  to  us  in  their  earliest  form,  and 
point  to  the  long-buried  stratum  of  language  of  which  they  are  the 
fragments.  These  relics  exhibit  in  their  germs  the  myths  which 
afterwards  became  the  legends  of  gods  and  heroes  with  human 


EXPLANATION. 


471 


forms , and  furnished  the  groundwork  of  the  epic  poems,  whether 
of  the  eastern  or  the  western  world. 

“ The  m y thical  or  my  thmaking  language  of  mankind  had  no  par- 
tialities ; and  if  the  career  of  the  Sun  occupies  a large  extent  of 
the  horizon,  we  cannot  fairly  simulate  ignorance  of  the  cause.  Men 
so  placed  would  not  fail  to  put  into  words  the  thoughts  or  emotions 
roused  in  them  by  the  varying  phases  of  that  mighty  world  on 
which  we,  not  less  than  they,  feel  that  our  life  depends,  although 
we  may  know  something  more  of  its  nature. 

“ Thus  grew  up  a multitude  of  expressions  which  described  the 
sun  as  the  child  of  the  night,  as  the  destroyer  of  the  darkness,  as 
the  lover  of  the  dawn  and  the  dew — of  phrases  which  would  go  on 
to  speak  of  him  as  killing  the  dew  with  his  spears,  and  of  forsaking 
the  dawn  as  he  rose  in  the  heaven.  The  feeling  that  the  fruits  of 
the  earth  were  called  forth  by  his  warmth  would  find  utterance  in 
words  which  spoke  of  him  as  the  friend  and  the  benefactor  of  man ; 
while  the  constant  recurrence  of  his  work  would  lead  them  to  de- 
scribe him  as  a being  constrained  to  toil  for  others,  as  doomed  to 
travel  over  many  lands,  and  as  finding  everywhere  things  on  which 
he  could  bestow  his  love  or  which  he  might  destroy  by  his  power. 
His  journey,  again,  might  be  across  cloudless  skies,  or  amid  alterna- 
tions of  storm  and  calm  ; his  light  might  break  fitfully  through 
the  clouds,  or  be  hidden  for  many  a weary  hour,  to  burst  forth  at 
last  with  dazzling  splendor  as  he  sank  down  in  the  western  sky.  He 
would  thus  be  described  as  facing  many  dangers  and  many  enemies, 
none  of  whom,  however,  may  arrest  his  course ; as  sullen,  or  capri- 
cious, or  resentful ; as  grieving  for  the  loss  of  the  dawn  whom  he 
had  loved,  or  as  nursing  his  great  wrath  and  vowing  a pitiless  ven- 
geance. Then  as  the  veil  was  rent  at  eventide,  they  would  speak  of 
the  chief,  who  had  long  remained  still,  girding  on  his  armor  ; or  of 
the  wanderer  throwing  off  his  disguise,  and  seizing  his  bow  or 
spear  to  smite  his  enemies ; of  the  invincible  warrior  whose  face 
gleams  with  the  flush  of  victory  when  the  fight  is  over,  as  he  greets 
the  fair-haired  Dawn  who  closes,  as  she  had  begun,  the  day.  To  the 
wealth  of  images  thus  lavished  on  the  daily  life  and  death  of  the 
Sun  there  would  be  no  limit.  He  was  the  child  of  the  morning, 
or  her  husband,  or  her  destroyer ; he  forsook  her  and  he  returned 
to  her,  either  in  calm  serenity  or  only  to  sink  presently  in  deeper 
gloom. 

“ So  with  other  sights  and  sounds.  The  darkness  of  night  brought 
with  it  a feeling  of  vague  horror  and  dread ; the  return  of  daylight 
cheered  them  with  a sense  of  unspeakable  gladness ; and  thus  the 


472 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Sun  who  scattered  the  black  shade  of  night  would  be  the  mighty 
champion  doing  battle  with  the  biting  snake  which  lurked  in  its 
dreary  hiding-place.  But  as  the  Sun  accomplishes  his  journey  day 
by  day  through  the  heaven,  the  character  of  the  seasons  is  changed. 
The  buds  and  blossoms  of  spring-time  expand  in  the  flowers  and 
fruits  of  summer,  and  the  leaves  fall  and  wither  on  the  approach 
of  winter.  Thus  the  daughter  of  the  earth  would  be  spoken  of  as 
dying  or  as  dead,  as  severed  from  her  mother  for  five  or  six  weary 
months,  not  to  be  restored  to  her  again  until  the  time  for  her  re- 
turn from  the  dark  land  should  once  more  arrive.  But  as  no  other 
power  than  that  of  the  Sun  can  recall  vegetation  to  life,  this  child 
of  the  earth  would  be  represented  as  buried  in  a sleep  from  which 
the  touch  of  the  Sun  alone  could  arouse  her,  when  he  slays  the 
frost  and  cold  which  lie  like  snakes  around  her  motionless  form. 

“ That  these  phrases  would  furnish  the  germs  of  myths  or  legends 
teeming  with  human  feeling , as  soon  as  the  meaning  of  the  phrases 
were  in  part  or  wholly  forgotten , was  as  inevitable  as  that  in  the 
infancy  of  our  race  men  should  attribute  to  all  sensible  objects  the 
same  hind  of  life  which  they  were  conscious  of  possessing  them- 
sel/ves .” 

Let  us  compare  the  history  of  the  Saviour  which  we  have  al- 
ready seen,  with  that  of  the  Sun,  as  it  is  found  in  the  Vedas. 

We  can  follow  in  the  Vedic  hymns,  step  by  step,  the  develop- 
ment which  changes  the  Sun  from  a mere  luminary  into  a “ Cre- 
ator,”  “ Preserver ,”  “ Ruler”  and  “ Rewarder  of  the  World  ” — in 
fact,  into  a Divine  or  Supreme  Being. 

The  first  step  leads  us  from  the  mere  light  of  the  Sun  to  that 
light  which  in  the  morning  wakes  man  from  sleep,  and  seems  to 
give  new  life,  not  only  to  man,  but  to  the  whole  of  nature.  He 
who  wakes  us  in  the  morning,  who  recalls  all  nature  to  new  life,  is 
soon  called  “ The  Giver  of  Daily  Life.” 

Secondly,  by  another  and  bolder  step,  the  Giver  of  Daily  Light 
and  Life  becomes  the  giver  of  light  and  life  in  general.  He  who 
brings  light  and  life  to-day , is  the  same  who  brought  light  and  life 
on  the  first  of  days.  As  light  is  the  beginning  of  the  day,  so  light 
was  the  beginning  of  creation,  and  the  Sun,  from  being  a mere  light- 
bringer  or  life-giver,  becomes  a Creator,  and,  if  a Creator,  then  soon 
also  a Ruler  of  the  World. 

Thirdly,  as  driving  away  the  dreaded  darkness  of  the  night, 
and  likewise  as  fertilizing  the  earth,  the  Sun  is  conceived  as  a “ De- 
fender ” and  kind  “ Protector  ” of  all  living  things. 

Fourthly,  the  Sun  sees  everything,  both  that  which  is  good  and 


EXPLANATION. 


473 


that  which  is  evil ; and  how  natural  therefore  that  the  evil-doer  should 
be  told  that  the  sun  sees  what  no  human  eye  may  have  seen,  and 
that  the  innocent,  when  all  other  help  fails  him,  should  appeal  to 
the  sun  to  attest  his  guiltlessness ! 

Let  us  examine  now,  says  Prof.  Muller,  from  whose  work  we 
have  quoted  the  above,  a few  passages  (from  the  Rig-  Veda)  illus- 
trating every  one  of  these  perfectly  natural  transitions. 

“ In  hymn  vii.  we  find  the  Sun  invoked  as  ‘ The  Protector  of  everything  that 
moves  or  stands , of  alt  that  exists.  ’ ” 

“ Frequent  allusion  is  made  to  the  Sun’s  power  of  seeing  everything.  The 
stars  flee  before  the  all-seeing  Sun,  like  thieves  (R.  Y.  vii.).  He  sees  the  right 
and  the  wrong  among  men  (Ibid.).  He  who  looks  upon  the  world,  knows  also 
all  the  thoughts  in  men  (Ibid.).” 

“As  the  Sun  sees  everything  and  knows  everything,  he  is  asked  to  forget 
and  forgive  what  he  alone  has  seen  and  knows  (R.  Y.  iv.).” 

“ The  Sun  is  asked  to  drive  away  illness  and  bad  dreams  (R.  Y.  x.).” 

“Having  once,  and  more  than  once,  been  invoked  as  the  life-bringer,  the 
Sun  is  also  called  the  breath  or  life  of  all  that  moves  and  rests  (R.  V.  i.)  ; and 
lastly,  he  becomes  the  maker  of  all  things,  by  whom  all  the  worlds  have  been 
brought  together  (R.  Y.  x.),  and  . . . Lord  of  man  and  of  all  living  creatures.” 

“He  is  the  God  among  gods  (R.  Y.  i.) ; he  is  the  divine  leader  of  all  the 
gods  (R.  Y.  viii.).” 

“ He  alone  rules  the  whole  world  (R.  Y.  v.).  “ The  laws  which  he  has  estab- 
lished are  firm  (R.  Y.  iv.),  and  the  other  gods  not  only  praise  him  (R.  V.  vii.), 
but  have  to  follow  him  as  their  leader  (R.  Y.  v.).”1 

That  the  history  of  Christ  Jesus,  the  Christian  Saviour, — “ the 
true  Light , which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world,”2 

— is  simply  the  history  of  the  Sun  — the  real  Saviour  of  mankind 

— is  demonstrated  beyond  a doubt  from  the  following  indisputable 
facts  : 

1.  The  birth  of  Christ  Jesus  is  said  to  have  taken  place  at  early 
dawn 3 on  the  25th  day  of  December.  Now,  this  is  the  Sun’s  birth- 
day. At  the  commencement  of  the  sun’s  apparent  annual  revolu- 
tion round  the  earth,  he  was  said  to  have  been  born,  and,  on  the 
first  moment  after  midnight  of  the  24th  of  December,  all  the 
heathen  nations  of  the  earth,  as  if  by  common  consent,  celebrated 
the  accouchement  of  the  “ Queen  of  Heaven’’  of  the  u Celestial  Vir- 
gin of  the  Sphere’’  and  the  birth  of  the  god  Sol.  On  that  day  the 
sun  having  fully  entered  the  winter  solstice,  the  Sign  of  the  Virgin 
was  rising  on  the  eastern  horizon.  The  woman’s  symbol  of  this 
stellar  sign  was  represented  first  by  ears  of  corn,  then  with  a new- 
born male  child  in  her  arms.  Such  was  the  picture  of  the  Persian 
sphere  cited  by  Aben-Ezra : 

1 Muller : Origin  of  Religions,  pp.  264-268.  are  celebrated  in  Bethlehem  and  Rome,  even 

2 John,  i.  9.  at  the  present  time,  very  early  in  the  mom * 

• The  Christian  ceremonies  of  the  Nativity  ing. 


474 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ The  division  of  the  first  decan  of  the  Virgin  represents  a beautiful  virgin 
with  flowing  hair,  sitting  in  a chair,  with  two  ears  of  corn  in  her  hand,  and 
suckling  an  infant  called  Iesus  by  some  nations,  and  Christ  in  Greek.”1 

This  denotes  the  Sun ? which,  at  the  moment  of  the  winter  sol- 
stice, precisely  when  the  Persian  magi  drew  the  horoscope  of  the 
new  year,  was  placed  on  the  bosom  of  the  Virgin,  rising  heliacally 
in  the  eastern  horizon.  On  this  account  he  was  figured  in  their 
astronomical  pictures  under  the  form  of  a child  suckled  by  a chaste 
virgin.2 

Thus  we  see  that  Christ  Jesus  was  born  on  the  same  day  as 
Buddha,  Mithras,  Osiris,  Ilorus,  Hercules,  Bacchus,  Adonis  and 
other  personifications  of  the  Sun.3 4 5 

2.  Christ  Jesus  was  born  of  a Virgin . In  this  respect  he  is  also 
the  Sun,  for  ’tis  the  sun  alone  who  can  be  born  of  an  immaculate 
virgin,  who  conceived  him  without  carnal  intercourse,  and  who  is 
still,  after  the  birth  of  her  child,  a virgin. 

This  Virgin,  of  whom  the  Sun,  the  true  “ Saviour  of  Mankind,’’ 
is  born,  is  either  the  bright  and  beautiful  Dawn*  or  the  dark  Earth? 
or  Eight.6  Hence  we  have,  as  we  have  already  seen,  the  Virgin , 
or  Virgo , as  one  of  the  signs  of  the  zodiac.7 

This  Celestial  Virgin  was  feigned  to  be  a mother.  She  is  repre- 
sented in  the  Indian  Zodiac  of  Sir  William  Jones,  with  ears  of  corn 
in  one  hand,  and  the  lotus  in  the  other.  In  Kircher’s  Zodiac  of 
Hermes,  she  has  corn  in  both  hands.  In  other  planispheres  of  the 
Egyptian  priests  she  carries  ears  of  corn  in  one  hand,  and  the  infant 
Saviour  Ilorus  in  the  other.  In  Homan  Catholic  countries,  she  is 


1 Quoted  by  Volney,  Ruins,  p.  166,  and  note. 

2 See  Ibid,  and  Dupuis  : Origin  of  Religious 
Belief,  p.  236. 

s See  Chap.  XXXIV. 

4 The  Dawn  was  'personified  by  the  ancients 
as  a virgin  mother , who  bore  the  Sun.  (See 
Max  Muller’s  Chips,  vol.  ii.  p.  137.  Fiske’s 
Myths  and  Mythmakers,  p.  156,  and  Cox  : Tales 
of  Ancient  Greece,  and  Aryan  Mytho.) 

5 In  Sanscrit  “ Ida  ” is  the  Earth , the  wife  of 
Dyaus  (the  Sky;,  and  so  we  have  before  us  the 
mythical  phrase,  “ the  Sun  at  its  birth  rests 
on  the  earth.”  In  other  words,  “ the  Sun  at 
birth  is  nursed  in  the  lap  of  its  mother.” 

8 “ The  moment  we  understand  the  nature 
of  a myth,  all  impossibilities,  contradictions 
and  immoralities  disappear.  If  a mythical 
personage  be  nothing  more  tnan  a name  of  the 
Sun , his  birth  may  be  derived  from  ever  so 
many  different  mothers.  He  may  be  the  son  of 
the  Sky  or  of  the  Dawn  or  of  the  Sea  or  of  the 
Eight."  (Renouf’s  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  108.) 

7 “ The  sign  of  the  Celestial  Virgin  rises 
above  the  horizon  at  the  moment  in  which  we 


fix  the  birth  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.”  (Hig- 
gins : Anacalypsis,  vol.  i.  p.  314,  and  Bonwick  : 
Egyptian  Belief,  p.  147.) 

“We  have  in  the  first  decade  the  Sign  of 
the  Virgin,  following  the  most  ancient  tradi- 
tion of  the  Persians,  the  Chaldeans,  the  Egyp- 
tians, Hermes  and  ^Esculapius,  a young  woman 
called  in  the  Persian  language,  Seclinidos  d« 
Darzama ; in  the  Arabic,  Aderenedesa — that 
is  to  say,  a chaste,  pure,  immaculate  virgin, 
suckling  an  infant,  which  some  nations  call 
Jesus  (i.  e.,  Saviour),  but  which  we  in  Greek 
call  Christ."  (Abulmazer.) 

“ In  the  first  decade  of  the  Virgin,  rises  a 
maid,  called  in  Arabic,  ‘ Aderenedesa,’  that  is  : 

‘ pure  immaculate  virgin,’  graceful  in  person, 
charming  in  countenance,  modest  in  habit, 
with  loosened  hair,  holding  in  her  hands  tiro 
ears  of  wheat,  sitting  upon  an  embroidered 
throne,  nursing  a boy,  and  rightly  feeding  him 
in  the  place  called  Hebraea.  A boy,  I say, 
names  Iessus  by  certain  nations,  which  signifies 
Issa,  whom  they  also  call  Christ  in  Greek.” 
(Kircher,  GEdipus  ^Egypticus.) 


EXPLANATION. 


475 


generally  represented  with  the  child  in  one  hand,  and  the  lotus  or 
lily  in  the  other.  In  Yol.  II.  of  Montfaucon’s  work,  she  is  repre- 
sented as  a female  nursing  a child,  with  ears  of  corn  in  her  hand,  and 
the  legend  iao.  She  is  seated  on  clouds,  a star  is  at  her  head. 
The  reading  of  the  Greek  letters,  from  right  to  left,  show  this  to 
be  very  ancient. 

In  the  Yedic  hymns  Aditi,  the  Dawn , is  called  the  44 Mother  of 
the  Gods”  “ She  is  the  mother  with  powerful,  terrible,  with  royal 
sons”  She  is  said  to  have  given  birth  to  the  Sun.1  44  As  the  Sun 
and  all  the  solar  deities  rise  from  the  east”  says  Prof.  Max  Muller, 
“ we  can  well  understand  how  Aditi  (the  Dawn)  came  to  be  called 
the 1 * 3  4 Mother  of  the  Bright  Gods.5  ”s 

The  poets  of  the  Y eda  indulged  freely  in  theogonic  speculations 
without  being  frightened  by  any  contradictions.  They  knew  of 
Indra  as  the  greatest  of  gods,  they  knew  of  Agni  as  the  god  of 
gods,  they  knew  of  Y aruna  as  the  ruler  of  all ; but  they  were  by  no 
means  startled  at  the  idea  that  their  Indra  had  a mother,  or  that 
Yaruna  was  nursed  in  the  lap  of  Aditi.  All  this  was  true  to  nature  ; 
for  their  god  was  the  Sun , and  the  mother  who  bore  and  nursed  him 
was  the  Dawn.3 

We  find  in  the  Vishnu  Purana , that  Devaki  (the  virgin  mother 
of  the  Hindoo  Saviour  Crishna,  whose  history,  as  we  have  seen, 
corresponds  in  most  every  particular  with  that  of  Christ  Jesus)  is 
called  Aditi*  which,  in  the  Pig  - Veda,  is  the  name  for  the  Dawn. 
Thus  we  see  the  legend  is  complete.  Devaki  is  Aditi,  Aditi  is  the 
Dawn,  and  the  Dawn  is  the  Yirgin  Mother.  44  The  Saviour  of  Man- 
kind” who  is  born  of  her  is  the  Sun,  the  Sun  is  Crishna,  and 
Crishna  is  Christ. 

In  the  Mahdbharata,  Crishna  is  also  represented  as  the  44 "Son  of 
Aditi”3  As  the  hour  of  his  birth  grew  near,  the  mother  became 
more  beautiful,  and  her  form  more  brilliant.6 

Indra,  the  sun,  who  was  worshiped  in  some  parts  of  India  as  a 
Crucified  God,  is  also  represented  in  the  Yedic  hymns  as  the  Son 
of  the  Dawn.  He  is  said  to  have  been  born  of  Dahana,  who  is 
Daphne,  a personification  of  the  Dawn.7 

The  humanity  of  this  solar  god-man,  this  demiurge,  is  strongly 


1 Max  Miiiier  : Origin  of  Religions,  p.  261. 

3  Ibid.  p.  230. 

3 “With  scarcely  an  exception,  all  the  names 
by  which  the  Virgin  goddess  of  the  Akropolis 
was  known  point  to  this  mythology  of  the 
Dawn.'1'1  (Cox  : Aryan  Myths,  vol.  i.  p.  228.) 

4 We  also  read  in  the  Vishnu  Puraqa  that : 

“ The  Sun  of  Achyuta  (God,  the  Imperishable) 


rose  in  the  dawn  of  Devaki,  to  cause  the  lotus 
petal  of  the  universe  ( Crishna ) to  expand.  On 
the  day  of  his  birth  the  quarters  of  the  hori- 
zon were  irradiate  with  joy,”  &c. 

5 Cox  : Aryan  Myths,  vol.  iii.  pp.  105,  and 
130,  vol.  ii. 

6 Ibid.  p.  133.  See  Legends  in  Chap.  XVI. 

7 Fiske  : Myths  and  Mythmakers,  p.  113. 


476 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


insisted  on  in  the  Rig-  Veda.  He  is  the  son  of  God,  but  also  the 
son  of  Aditi.  He  is  Purusha,  the  man,  the  male.  Agn:  is  fre- 
quently called  the  “ Son  of  man.”  It  is  expressly  explained  that 
the  titles  Agni,  Indra,  Mitra,  &c.,  all  refer  to  one  Sun-god  under 
“ many  names.”  And  when  we  find  the  name  of  a mortal,  Yama , 
who  once  lived  upon  earth,  included  among  these  names,  the  hu- 
manity of  the  demiurge  becomes  still  more  accentuated,  and  we  get 
at  the  root  idea. 

Horus , the  Egyptian  Saviour,  was  the  son  of  the  virgin  Isis. 
How,  this  Isis,  in  Egyptian  mythology,  is  the  same  as  the  virgin 
Devaki  in  Hindoo  mythology.  She  is  the  Dawn ' Isis , as  we 
have  already  seen,  is  represented  suckling  the  infant  Horus,  and, 
in  the  words  of  Prof.  Penouf,  we  may  say,  “ in  whose  lap  can  the 
Sun  be  nursed  more  fitly  than  in  that  of  the  Dawn?”* 

Among  the  goddesses  of  Egypt,  the  highest  was  Heith,  who 
reigned  inseparably  with  Amun  in  the  upper  sphere.  She  was 
called  “ Mother  of  the  gods,”  “ Mother  of  the  sun.”  She  was  the 
feminine  origin  of  all  things,  as  Amun  was  the  male  origin.  She 
held  the  same  rank  at  Sais  as  Amun  did  at  Thebes.  Her  temples 
there  are  said  to  have  exceeded  in  colossal  grandeur  anything  ever 
seen  before.  On  one  of  these  was  the  celebrated  inscription  thus 
deciphered  by  Champollion  : 

“lam  all  that  has  been,  all  that  is,  all  that  will  be.  No  mortal  has  ever 
raised  the  veil  that  conceals  me.  My  offspring  is  the  Sun.” 

She  was  mother  of  the  $tm-god  Ra , and,  says  Prof.  Renouf,  “ is 
commonly  supposed  to  represent  Heaven ; but  some  expressions 
which  are  hardly  applicable  to  heaven,  render  it  more  probable  that 
she  is  one  of  the  many  names  of  the  Dawn.”3 

If  we  turn  from  Indian  and  Egyptian,  to  Grecian  mythology, 
we  shall  also  find  that  their  Su7i-gods  and  solar  heroes  are  born  of 
the  same  virgin  mother.  Theseus  was  said  to  have  been  born  of 
Aithra,  “ the  pure  air”  and  (Edipus  of  Iokaste,  “ the  violet  light 
of  7norning.”  Perseus  was  born  of  the  virgin  Danae,  and  was 
called  the  “ Son  of  the  bright  morning.”*  In  16,  the  mother  of  the 
“sacred  bull,”5  the  mother  also  of  Hercules,  we  see  the  violet-tinted 
morning  from  which  the  sun  is  born ; all  these  gods  and  heroes 
being,  like  Christ  Jesus,  personifications  of  the  Sun3 


1 Renouf  : Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  til  and  161. 

2 Ibid.  p.  161  and  179. 

3 Ibid.  pp.  179. 

4 See  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  pp.  xxxi.  and 

82. 

8 The  BrM^ symbolized  the  productive  force 


in  nature,  and  hence  it  was  associated  with 
the  SuN-gods.  This  animal  was  venerated  by 
nearly  all  the  peoples  of  antiquity.  (Wake : 
Phallism  in  Anct.  Religs.,  p.  45.) 

6 See  Aryan  Myths,  vol.  i.  jr  229. 


EXPLANATION. 


477 


“ The  Saviour  of  Mankind”  was  also  represented  as  being  bom 
of  the  “ dusky  mother ,”  which  accounts  for  many  Pagan,  and  so- 
called  Christian,  goddesses  being  represented  black } This  is  the 
dark  night , who  for  many  weary  hours  travails  with  the  birth  of 
her  child.  The  Sun,  which  scatters  the  darkness,  is  also  the  child 
of  the  darkness,  and  so  the  phrase  naturally  went  that  he  was  born 
of  her.  Of  the  two  legends  related  in  the  poems  afterwards  com- 
bined in  the  “ Hymn  to  Apollo,”  the  former  relates  the  birth  of 
Apollo,  the  Sun,  from  Leto,  the  Darkness , which  is  called  his 
mother.2  In  this  case,  Leto  would  \>z  personified  as  a “ black  vir- 
gin,” either  with  or  without  the  child  in  her  arms. 

The  dark  earth  was  also  represented  as  being  the  mother  of  the 
god  Sun,  who  apparently  came  out  of,  or  was  born  of  her,  in  the 
East,3  as  Minos  (the  sun)  was  represented  to  have  been  born  of  Ida 
(the  earth).4 

In  Hindoo  mythology,  the  Earth , under  the  name  of  Prithivi , 
receives  a certain  share  of  honors  as  one  of  the  primitive  goddesses 
of  the  Yeda,  being  thought  of  as  the  “ kind  mother .”  Moreover, 
various  deities  were  regarded  as  the  progeny  resulting  from  the  fan- 
cied union  of  the  Earth  with  Dyaus  (Heaven)* 

Our  Aryan  forefathers  looked  up  to  the  heavens  and  they  gave 
it  the  name  of  Dyaus , from  a root-word  which  means  “ to  shine.77 
And  when,  out  of  the  forces  and  forms  of  nature,  they  afterwards 
fashioned  other  gods,  this  name  of  Dyaus  became  Dyaus  pitar,  the 
Heaven-father , or  Lord  of  All ; and  in  far  later  times,  when  the 
western  Aryans  had  found  their  home  in  Europe,  the  Dyaus  pitar 
of  the  central  Asian  land  became  the  Zeupater  of  the  Greeks,  and 
the  Jupiter  of  the  Homans,  and  the  first  part  of  his  name  gave  us 
the  word  Deity. 

According  to  Egyptian  mythology,  Isis  was  also  the  Earth.8 
Again,  from  the  union  of  Seb  and  Hut  sprung  the  mild  Osiris. 
Seb  is  the  Ea/rth , Hut  is  Heawen , and  Osiris  is  the  Sun.7 

Tacitus,  the  Homan  historian,  speaking  of  the  Germans  in  a.  d. 
98,  says : 

“There  is  nothing  in  these  several  tribes  that  merit  attention,  except  that 
they  all  agree  in  worshiping  the  goddess  Earth,  or  as  they  call  her,  Herth,  whom 
they  consider  as  the  common  mother  of  all.”8 

1 See  Chap.  XXXII.  Earth .”  (Knight:  Ancient  Art  and  Mythology, 

2 See  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  xviii.  p.456.) 

3 “ The  idea  entertained  by  the  ancients  4 Cox  : Aryan  Myths,  p.  87. 

that  these  god-begotten  heroes  were  engen-  6 See  Williams1  Hinduism,  p.  24,  and  Miil- 

dered  without  any  carnal  intercourse,  and  that  ler’s  Chips,  vol.  ii.  pp.  277  and  290. 

they  were  the  sons  of  Jupiter,  is,  in  plain  6 See  Bulfinch,  p.  389. 

language,  the  result  of  the  ethereal  spirit,  i.  e.,  7 See  Renouf’s  Hibbert  Lectures,  pp.  110 

the  Holy  Spirit,  operating  on  the  virgin  mother  111.  8 Manners  of  the  Germans,  p.  xi. 


478 


BIBLE  MYTHS, 


These  virgin  mothers,  and  virgin  goddesses  of  antiquity,  were 
also,  at  times,  personifications  of  the  Moon , or  of  Nature.1 

Who  is  “ God  the  Father ,”  who  overshadows  the  maiden  ? The 
overshadowing  of  the  maiden  by  “ God  the  Father,”  whether  he 
be  called  Zeus,  Jupiter  or  Jehovah,  is  simply  the  Heaven , the 
Sky , the  “ All-father ,”2  looking  down  upon  with  love,  and  over- 
shadowing the  maiden,  the  broad  flushing  light  of  Dawn,  or  the 
Earth.  From  this  union  the  Sun  is  born  without  any  carnal  inter- 
course. The  mother  is  yet  a virgin.  This  is  illustrated  in  Hindoo 
mythology  by  the  union  of  Pritrivi,  “ Mother  Earth”  with  Dyaus, 
“ Heaven.”  Various  deities  were  regarded  as  their  progeny.3 * *  In 
the  Vedic  hymns  the  Sun — the  Lord  and  Saviour,  the  Be- 
deemer  and  Preserver  of  Mankind — is  frequently  called  the  “ Son 
of  the  Sky.”* 

According  to  Egyptian  mythology,  Seb  (the  Earth ) is  over- 
shadowed by  Nut  {Heaven),  the  result  of  this  union  being  the  be- 
neficent Lord  and  Saviour,  Osiris.6  The  same  thing  is  to  be  found 
in  ancient  Grecian  mythology.  Zeus  or  Jupiter  is  the  Sky,6  and 
Danae,  Leto,  Iokaste,  lo  and  others,  are  the  Dawn , or  the  violet  light 
of  morning.1 


1 See  Knight : Ancient  Art  and  Mythology, 
pp.  81,  99,  and  166. 

The  Moon  was  called  by  the  ancients, 
“ The  Queen  ;”  “ The  Highest  Princess 

“The  Queen  of  Heaven  “ The  Princess  and 
Queen  of  Eeaven &c.  She  was  Istar, 
Ashera,  Diana,  Artemis,  Isis,  Juno,  Lucina, 
Astarte.  (Goldzhier,  pp,  158,  158.  Knight,  pp. 
99,  100.) 

In  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  book  of 
Apuleius’  Metamorphosis,  Isis  is  represented 
as  addressing  him  thus:  “I  am  present;  I 
who  am  Nature , the  parent  of  things,  queen 
of  all  the  elements,  &c.,  &c.  The  primitive 
Phrygians  called  me  Pressinuntica,  the  mother 
of  the  gods ; the  native  Athenians,  Ceropian 
Minerva  ; the  floating  Cyprians,  Paphian 
Venus  ; the  arrow-bearing  Cretans,  Dictymian 
Diana ; the  three-tongued  Sicilians,  Stygian 
Proserpine  ; and  the  inhabitants  of  Eleusis,  the 
ancient  goddess  Ceres.  Some  again  have  in- 
voked me  as  Juno,  others  as  Bellona,  others 
as  Hecate,  and  others  as  Rhamnusia  : and 
those  who  are  enlightened  by  the  emerging  rays 
of  the  rising  Sun,  the  Ethiopians,  Ariians 
and  Egyptians,  powerful  in  ancient  learning, 
who  reverence  my  divinity  with  ceremonies 
perfectly  proper,  call  me  by  a true  appellation, 
‘ Queen  Isis.'  ” (Taylor’s  Mysteries,  p.  76.) 

2 The  “ God  the  Father  ” of  all  nations  of 

antiquity  was  nothing  more  than  a personifica- 

tion of  the  Sky  or  the  Heavens.  “The  term 

Heaven  (pronounced  Thien)  is  used  everywhere 


in  the  Chinese  classics  for  the  Supreme  Power, 
ruling  and  governing  all  the  affairs  of  men 
with  an  omnipotent  and  omniscient  righteous- 
ness and  goodness.”  (James  Legge.) 

In  one  of  the  Chinese  sacred  books— the 
Shu-king— Heaven  and  Earth  are  called  “ Father 
and  Mother  of  all  things.”  Heaven  being  the 
Father,  and  Earth  the  Mother.  (Taylor : Prim- 
itive Culture,  pp.  294-296.) 

The  “God  the  Father”  of  the  Indians  is 
Dyaus,  that  is,  the  Sky.  (Williams’  Hinduism, 
p.  24.) 

Ormuzd,  the  god  of  the  ancient  Persians, 
was  a personification  of  the  sky.  Herodotus, 
speaking  of  the  Persians,  says : “ They  are 
accustomed  to  ascend  the  highest  part  of  the 
mountains,  and  offer  sacrifice  to  Jupiter  (Or- 
muzd), and  they  call  the  whole  circle  of  the 
heavens  by  the  name  of  Jupiter.'"  (Herodotus, 
book  1,  ch.  131.) 

In  Greek  iconography  Zeus  is  the  Heaven. 
As  Cicero  says  : “ The  refulgent  Heaven  above 
is  that  which  all  men  call,  unanimously,  Jove.” 

The  Christian  God  supreme  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  is  still  Dyaus  Pitar,  the  “ Heav- 
enly Father.” 

8 Williams’  Hinduism,  p.  24. 

4 Muller  : Origin  of  Religions,  pp.  261,  290. 

6 Renouf : Hibbert  Lectures,  pp.  110,  111. 

8 See  Note  2. 

7 See  Cox : Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  pp. 
xxxi.  and  82,  and  Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  i.  p. 
229. 


EXPLANATION. 


479 


“ The  Sky  appeared  to  men  (says  Plutarch),  to  perform  the  functions  of  a 
Father , as  the  Earth  those  of  a Mother.  The  sky  was  the  father,  for  it  cast  seed 
into  the  bosom  of  the  earth,  which  in  receiving  them  became  fruitful,  and 
brought  forth,  and  was  the  mother.”1 2 

This  union  has  been  sung  in  the  following  verses  by  Virgil : 

“ Turn  pater  omnipotens  fecundis  imbribis  aether 
Conjugis  in  grenium  lsetae  descendit.”  (Geor.  ii.) 

The  Phenician  theogony  is  founded  on  the  same  principles. 
Heaven  and  Earth  (called  Ouranos  and  Ghe)  are  at  the  head  of  a 
genealogy  of  aeons,  whose  adventures  are  conceived  in  the  mytho- 
logical style  of  these  physical  allegorists.8 

In  the  Samothracian  mysteries,  which  seem  to  have  been  the 
most  anciently  established  ceremonies  of  the  kind  in  Europe,  the 
Heaven  and  the  Earth  were  worshiped  as  a male  and  female 
divinity , and  as  the  parents  of  all  things* 

The  Supreme  God  (the  Alfader ),  of  the  ancient  Scandinavians 
was  Odin,  a personification  of  the  Heavens.  The  principal  god- 
dess among  them  was  Erigga , a personification  of  the  Earth.  It 
was  the  opinion  among  these  people  that  this  Supreme  Being  or 
Celestial  God  had  united  with  the  Earth  (Frigga)  to  produce  “ Bal- 
dur  the  Good”  (the  Sun),  who  corresponds  to  the  Apollo  of  the 
Greeks  and  Homans,  and  the  Osiris  of  the  Egyptians.4 

Xiuletl , in  the  Mexican  language,  signifies  Blue , and  hence  was 
a name  which  the  Mexican  gave  to  Heaven , from  which  Xiuleti- 
cutli  is  derived,  an  epithet  signifying  “ the  God  of  Heaven”  which 
they  bestowed  upon  Tezcatlipoca , who  was  the  “ Lord  of  All,” 
the  “ Supreme  God.”  He  it  was  who  overshadowed  the  Virgin 
of  Tula,  Chimelman,  who  begat  the  Saviour  Quetzalcoatle  (the 
Sun). 

3.  His  birth  was  foretold  by  a star.  This  is  the  bright  morn- 
ing star — 

“ Fairest  of  stars,  last  in  the  train  of  Night, 

If  better,  thou  belongst  not  to  the  Dawn, 

Sure  pledge  of  day,  that  crown’st  the  smiling  morn 
With  thy  bright  circlet  ” — 

which  heralds  the  birth  of  the  god  Sol , the  benificent  Saviour. 

A glance  at  a geography  of  the  heavens  will  show  the  “ chaste, 
pure,  immaculate  Virgin,  suckling  an  infant,”  preceded  by  a 


1 Quoted  by  Westropp  : Phallic  Worship,  Oceanus,  Hyperon,  Iapetus,  Cronos,  and  other 

p.  24.  gods.”  (Phallic  Worship,  p.  26.) 

2 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  66.  “ In  3 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  64. 

Phenician  Mythology  Ouranos  (Heaven)  weds  4 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  pp.  80, 

Ghe  (the  Earth)  and  by  her  becomes  father  of  93,  94,  406,  510,  511. 


480 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


Star,  which  rises  immediately  preceding  the  Virgin  and  her  child. 
This  can  truly  be  called  “ his  Star”  which  informed  the  u "Wise 
Men,”  the  “ Magi  ” — Astrologers  and  Sun-worshipers — and  “ the 
shepherds  who  watched  their  flocks  by  night  ” that  the  Saviour  of 
Mankind  was  about  to  be  born. 

4.  The  Heavenly  Host  sang  praises.  All  nature  smiles  at  the 
birth  of  the  Heavenly  Being.  “ To  him  all  angels  cry  aloud,  the 
heavens,  and  all  the  powers  therein.”  “ Glory  to  God  in  the  high- 
est, and  on  earth  peace,  good  will  towards  men.”  “ The  quarters  of 
the  horizon  are  irradiate  with  joy,  as  if  moonlight  was  diffused 
over  the  whole  earth.”  “ The  spirits  and  nymphs  of  heaven  dance 
and  sing.”  “ Caressing  breezes  blow,  and  a marvelous  light  is 
produced.”  For  the  Lord  and  Saviour  is  born,  “ to  give  joy  and 
peace  to  men  and  Devas,  to  shed  light  in  the  dark  places , and  to 
give  sight  to  the  blind.”1 

5.  He  was  visited  by  the  Magi.  This  is  very  natural,  for  the 
Magi  were  Sun-worshipers , and  at  early  dawn  on  the  25th  of  Dec- 
cember,  the  astrologers  of  the  Arabs,  Chaldeans,  and  other  Oriental 
nations,  greeted  the  infant  Saviour  with  gold,  frankincense  and 
myrrh.  They  started  to  salute  their  God  long  before  the  rising  of 
the  Sun,  and  having  ascended  a high  mountain,  they  waited  anx- 
iously for  his  birth,  facing  the  East,  and  there  hailed  his  first  rays 
with  incense  and  prayer.2  The  shepherds  also,  who  remained  in 
the  open  air  watching  their  flocks  by  night,  were  in  the  habit  of 
prostrating  themselves,  and  paying  homage  to  their  god,  the  Sun. 
And,  like  the  poet  of  the  Veda,  they  said : 

“ Will  the  powers  of  darkness  be  conquered  by  the  god  of  light  ? ” 

And  when  the  Sun  rose,  they  wondered  how,  just  born,  he  was 
so  mighty.  They  greeted  him : 

“Hail,  Orient  Conqueror  of  Gloomy  Night.” 

And  the  human  eye  felt  that  it  could  not  bear  the  brilliant 
majesty  of  him  whom  they  called,  “ The  Life,  the  Breath,  the 
Brilliant  Lord  and  Father.”  And  they  said  : 

“ Let  us  worship  again  the  Child  of  Heaven,  the  Son  of  Strength,  Arusha,  the 
Bright  Light  of  the  Sacrifice.”  “ He  rises  as  a mighty  flame,  he  stretches  out  his 
wide  arms,  he  is  even  like  the  wind.”  “ His  light  is  powerful,  and  his  (virgin) 
mother,  the  Dawn,  gives  him  the  best  shave,  the  first  worship  among  men.”3 

6.  He  was  born  in  a Cave.  In  this  respect  also,  the  history  of 


1 See  Chap.  XIV.  Prog.  Relig.  Ideas,  vol.  i.  p.  272. 

5 See  Dupuis  : Orig.  Relig.  Belief,  p.  234.  3 Extracts  from  the  Vedas.  Mttller’s  Chips, 

Higgins’  Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  pp.  96,  97,  and  vol.  ii.  pp.  96  and  ?37. 


EXPLANATION. 


481 


•Christ  Jesus  corresponds  with  that  of  other  Sun-gods  and  Saviours, 
for  they  are  nearly  all  represented  as  being  born  in  a cave  or  dun- 
geon. This  is  the  dark  abode  from  which  the  wandering  Sun 
starts  in  the  morning.1  As  the  Dawn  springs  fully  armed  from  the 
forehead  of  the  cloven  Sky,  so  the  eye  first  discerns  the  blue  of 
heaven,  as  the  first  faint  arch  of  light  is  seen  in  the  East.  This 
arch  is  the  cave  in  which  the  infant  is  nourished  until  he  reaches 
his  full  strength — in  other  words,  until  the  day  is  fully  come. 

As  the  hour  of  his  birth  drew  near,  the  mother  became  more 
beautiful,  her  form  more  brilliant,  while  the  dungeon  was  filled 
with  a heavenly  light  as  when  Zeus  came  to  Danae  in  a golden 
shower.2 

At  length  the  child  is  born,  and  a halo  of  serene  light  encircles 
his  cradle,  just  as  the  Sun  appears  at  early  dawn  in  the  East,  in  all 
its  splendor.  His  presence  reveals  itself  there,  in  the  dark  cave,  by 
his  first  rays,  which  brightens  the  countenances  of  his  mother  and 
others  who  are  present  at  his  birth.3 

6.  He  was  ordered  to  be  put  to  death . All  the  Sun-gods  are  fated 
to  bring  ruin  upon  their  parents  or  the  reigning  monarch .4  For 
this  reason,  they  attempt  to  prevent  his  birth,  and  failing  in  this, 
seek  to  destroy  him  when  born.  Who  is  the  dark  and  wicked 
Kansa,  or  his  counterpart  Herod?  He  is  Night , who  reigns  su- 
preme, but  who  must  lose  his  power  when  the  young  prince  of  glory, 
the  Invincible,  is  born. 

The  Sun  scatters  the  Darkness  ; and  so  the  phrase  went  that 
the  child  was  to  be  the  destroyer  of  the  reigning  monarch,  or  his 
parent,  Night ; and  oracles,  and  magi,  it  was  said,  warned  the  latter 
of  the  doom  which  would  overtake  him.  The  newly-born  babe  is 
therefore  ordered  to  be  put  to  death  by  the  sword,  or  exposed  on 
the  bare  hillside,  as  the  Sun  seems  to  rest  on  the  Earth  (Ida)  at  its 
rising.5 


1 Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  i.  p.  153. 

2 Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  133. 

3 When  Christ  Jesus  was  born,  on  a sudden 
there  was  a great  light  in  the  cave,  so  that  their 
eyes  could  not  bear  it.  (Protevangelion,  Apoc. 
ch.  xiv.) 

4 “ Perseus,  Oidipous,  Romulus  and  Cyrus 

are  doomed  to  bring  ruin  on  their  parents. 
They  are  exposed  in  their  infancy  on  the  hill- 
side, and  rescued  by  a shepherd.  All  the  solar 
heroes  begin  life  in  this  way.  Whether,  like 
Apollo,  born  of  the  dark  night  (Leto),  or  like 
Oidipous,  of  the  violet  dawn  (Iokaste),  they 
are  alike  destined  to  bring  destruction  on  their 
parents,  as  the  Night  and  the  Dawn  are  both 
destroyed  by  the  Sun.”  (Fiske  : p.  198.) 

31 


6 “The  exposure  of  the  child  in  infancy 
represents  the  long  rays  of  the  morning  sun 
resting  on  the  hill-side.”  (Fiske  : Myths  and 
Mythmakers,  p.  198.) 

The  Sun-hero  Paris  is  exposed  on  the  slopes 
of  Ida,  Oidipous  on  the  slopes  of  Kithairon, 
and  iEsculapius  on  that  of  the  mountain  of 
Myrtles.  This  is  the  rays  of  the  newly-born 
sun  resting  on  the  mountain-side.  (Cox : 
Aryan  Myths,  vol.  i.  pp.  64  and  80.) 

In  Sanscrit  Ida  is  the  Earth,  and  so  we  have 
the  mythical  phrase,  the  Sun  at  its  birth  is 
exposed  on  Ida— the  hill-side.  The  light  of 
the  sun  must  rest  on  the  hill-side  long  before 
it  reaches  the  dells  beneath.  (See  Cox  : vol. 
i.  p.  221,  and  Fiske  : p.  114.) 


482 


BIBLE  MYTHS 


In  oriental  mythology,  the  destroying  principle  is  generally 
represented  as  a serpent  or  dragon.1  Now,  the  position  of  the  sphere 
on  Christmas-day,  the  birthday  of  the  Sun,  shows  the  Serpent  all 
but  touching,  and  certainly  aiming  at  the  woman  — that  is,  the  fig- 
ure of  the  constellation  Virgo  — who  suckles  the  child  Iessus  in  her 
arms.  Thus  we  have  it  illustrated  in  the  story  of  the  snake  who 
wras  sent  to  kill  Hercules,  when  an  infant  in  his  cradle  ;2  also  in  the 
story  of  Typhon,  who  sought  the  life  of  the  infant  Saviour  Horus. 
Again,  it  is  illustrated  in  the  story  of  the  virgin  mother  Astrea,  with 
her  babe  beset  by  Orion,  and  of  Latona,  the  mother  of  Apollo,  when 
pursued  by  the  monster.3  And  last,  that  of  the  virgin  mother 
Mary,  with  her  babe  beset  by  Herod.  But  like  Hercules,  Horus, 
Apollo,  Theseus,  Romulus,  Cyrus  and  other  solar  heroes , Christ 
Jesus  has  yet  a long  course  before  him.  Like  them,  he  grows  up 
both  wise  and  strong,  and  the  “old  Serpent”  is  discomfited  by  him, 
just  as  the  sphynx  and  the  dragon  are  put  to  flight  by  others. 

7.  He  was  temjpted  by  the  devil.  The  temptation  by,  and  victory 
over  the  evil  one,  whether  Mara  or  Satan,  is  the  victory  of  the  Sun 
over  the  clouds  of  storm  and  darkness.4  Growing  up  in  obscurity, 
the  day  comes  when  he  makes  himself  known,  tries  himself  in  his 


1 Even  as  late  as  the  seventeenth  century, 
a German  writer  would  illustrate  a thunder- 
storm destroying  a crop  ol  corn,  by  a picture 
of  a dragon  devouring  the  produce  of  the  field 
with  his  flaming  tongue  and  iron  teeth.  (See 
Fiske  : Myths  and  Mythmakers,  p.  17,  and 
Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.) 

2 The  history  of  the  Saviour  Hercules  is  so 
similar  to  that  of  the  Saviour  Christ  Jesus, 
that  the  learned  Dr.  Parkhurst  was  forced  to 
say,  “ The  labors  of  Hercules  seem  to  have 
been  originally  designed  as  emblematic  me- 
morials of  what  the  real  Son  of  God,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,  was  to  do  and  suffer  for 
our  sakes,  bringing  a cure  for  all  our  ills , as 
the  Orphic  hymn  speaks  of  Hercules.” 

3 Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  pp.  158,  1GG, 
and  168. 

4 In  ancient  mythology,  all  heroes  of 
light  were  opposed  by  the  “Old  Serpent,”  the 
Devil,  symbolized  by  Serpents,  Dragons, 
Sphinxes  and  other  monsters.  The  Serpent 
was,  among  the  ancient  Eastern  nations,  the 
symbol  of  Evil , of  Winter,  of  Darkness  and  of 
Death.  It  also  symbolized  the  dark  cloud, 
which,  by  harboring  the  rays  of  the  Sun,  pre- 
venting its  shining,  and  therefore,  is  apparently 
attempting  to  destroy  it.  The  Serpent  is  one  of 
the  chief  "nystic  personifications  of  the  Rig- 
Veda,  under  the  names  of  Aid,  Suchna,  and 
othern  They  represent  the  Clrnd,  the  enemy 
of  the  Sun,  keeping  back  the  fructifying  rays. 
Indra  struggles  victoriously  against  him,  and 
spreads  life  on  the  earth,  with  the  shining 


warmth  of  the  Father  of  Life,  the  Creator,  the 

Sun. 

Buddha,  the  Lord  and  Saviour,  was  described 
as  a superhuman  organ  of  light,  to  whom  a 
superhuman  organ  of  darkness,  Mara,  the  Evil 
Serpent,  was  opposed.  He,  like  Christ  Jesus, 
resisted  the  temptations  of  this  evil  one,  and  is 
represented  sitting  on  a serpent,  as  if  its  con- 
queror. (See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  p.  39.) 

Crishna  also  overcame  the  evil  one,  and  is 
represented  “ bruising  the  head  of  the  serpent,” 
and  standing  upon  it.  (See  vol.  i.  of  Asiatic 
Researches, and  vol.  ii.  of  Higgins’  Anacalypsis.) 

In  Egyptian  Mythology,  one  of  the  names 
of  the  goti-Sun  was  Ra.  He  had  an  adversary 
who  was  called  Apap,  represented  in  the  form 
of  a serpent.  (See  Eenouf’s  Hibbert  Lectures, 
p.  109.) 

Horus,  the  Egyptian  incarnate  god,  the  Me- 
diator, Redeemer  and  Saviour,  is  represented  in 
Egyptian  art  as  overcoming  the  Evil  Serpent, 
and  standing  triumphantly  upon  him.  (See 
Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  158,  and  Monu- 
mental Christianity,  p.  402.) 

Osiris,  Ormuzd,  Mithras,  Apollo,  Bacchus, 
Hercules,  Indra,  CEdipus,  Quetzalcoatle,  and 
many  other  Sun-gods,  overcame  the  Evil  One, 
and  are  represented  in  the  above  described 
manner.  (See  Cox’s  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece, 
p.  xxvii.  and  Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  129. 
Baring-Gould’s  Curious  Myths,  p.  256.  Bul- 
lfinch's Age  of  Fable,  p.  34.  Bunsen’s  Angel- 
Messiah,  p.  x.,  and  Kingsborough’s  Mexican 
Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  176.) 


EXPLANATION. 


483 


first  battles  with  his  gloomy  foes,  and  shines  without  a rival  He 
is  rife  for  his  destined  mission,  but  is  met  by  the  demon  of  storm, 
who  runs  to  dispute  with  him  in  the  duel  of  the  storm.  In  this 
struggle  against  darkness  the  beneficent  hero  remains  the  conqueror, 
the  gloomy  army  of  Mara,  or  Satan,  broken  and  rent,  is  scattered  ; 
the  Apearas,  daughters  of  the  demon,  the  last  light  vapors  which 
float  in  the  heaven,  try  in  vain  to  clasp  and  retain  the  vanquisher  ; 
he  disengages  himself  from  their  embraces,  repulses  them ; they 
writhe,  lose  their  form,  and  vanish. 

Free  from  every  obstacle,  and  from  every  adversary,  he  sets  in 
motion  across  space  his  disk  with  a thousand  rays,  having  avenged 
the  attempts  of  his  eternal  foe.  He  appears  then  in  all  his  glory, 
and  in  his  sovereign  splendor ; the  god  has  attained  the  summit  of 
his  course,  it  is  the  moment  of  triumph. 

8.  He  was  put  to  death  on  the  cross.  The  Sun  has  now  reached 
his  extreme  Southern  limit,  his  career  is  ended,  and  he  is  at  last 
overcome  by  his  enemies.  The  powers  of  darkness , and  of  winter , 
which  had  sought  in  vain  to  wound  him,  have  at  length  won  the 
victory.  The  bright  Sun  of  summer  is  finally  slain,  crucified  in  the 
heavens , and  pierced  by  the  arrow,  spear  or  thorn  of  winter.1 *  Be- 
fore he  dies,  however,  he  sees  all  his  disciples  — his  retinue  of  light, 
and  the  twelve  hours  of  the  day,  or  the  twelve  months  of  the  year 
— disappear  in  the  sanguinary  melee  of  the  clouds  of  the  evening 

Throughout  the  tale,  the  Sun-god  was  but  fulfilling  his  doom. 
These  things  must  be.  The  suffering  of  a violent  death  was  a neces- 
sary part  of  the  mythos ; and,  when  his  hour  had  come,  he  must 
meet  his  doom,  as  surely  as  the  Sun,  once  risen,  must  go  across  the 
sky,  and  then  sink  down  into  his  bed  beneath  the  earth  or  sea.  It 
was  an  iron  fate  from  which  there  was  no  escaping. 

Crishna,  the  crucified  Saviour  of  the  Hindoos,  is  a personification 
of  the  Sun  crucified  in  the  heavens.  One  of  the  names  of  the  Sun  in 
the  Yedic  hymns  is  Vishnu ,a  and  Crishna  is  Vishnu  in  human  form.3 


1 The  crucifixion  of  the  Sun-gods  is  simply 
the  power  of  Darkness  triumphing  over  the 

“ Lord  of  Light,”  and  Winter  overpowering 
the  Summer.  It  was  at  the  Winter  solstice  that 
the  ancients  wept  for  Tammuz,  the  fair  Adonis, 
and  other  Sun-gods,  who  were  put  to  death  by 
the  boar,  slain  by  the  thorn  of  winter.  (See 
Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  113.) 

Other  versions  of  the  same  myth  tell  us  of 
Eurydike  stung  to  death  by  the  hidden  serpent, 
of  Sifrit  smitten  by  Hagene  (the  Thorn),  of 
Isfendiyar  slain  by  the  thorn  or  arrow  of  Rus- 
tem, of  Achilleus  vulnerable  only  in  the  heel, 
of  Brynhild  enfolded  within  the  dragon’s  coils, 


of  Meleagros  dying  as  the  torch  of  doom  is  burnt 
out,  of  Baldur,  the  brave  and  pure,  smitten  by 
the  fatal  mistletoe,  and  of  Crishna  and  others 
being  crucified. 

In  Egyptian  mythology,  Set,  the  destroyer, 
triumphs  in  the  West.  He  is  the  personification 
of  Darkness  and  Winter , and  the  Sun-god  whom 
he  puts  to  death,  is  Horus  the  Saviour.  (See 
Renouf’s  Hibbert  Lectures,  pp.  112-115.) 

2 “ In  the  Big- Veda  the  god  Vishnu  is  often 
named  as  a manifiestation  of  the  Solar  energy, 
or  rather  as  a form  of  the  Sun.”  (Indian  Wis- 
dom, p.  322.) 

8 Crishna  says  : “ I am  Vishnu,  Brahma, 


484 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


In  the  hymns  of  the  Pig-  Veda  the  Sun  is  spoken  of  as  “ stretch- 
ing  out  his  arms”  in  the  heavens,  “ to  bless  the  world,  and  to  res- 
cue it  from  the  terror  of  darkness.” 

Indra,  the  crucified  Saviour  worshiped  in  Nepal  and  Tibet,1  is 
identical  with  Crishna,  the  Sun.2 

The  principal  Phenician  deity,  El,  which,  says  Parkhurst,  in  his 
Hebrew  Lexicon,  “ was  the  very  name  the  heathens  gave  to  their 
god  Sol,  their  Lord  or  Euler  of  the  Hosts  of  Heaven,”  was  called 
“ The  Preserver  (or  Saviour)  of  the  World”  for  the  benefit  of  which 
he  offered  a mystical  sacrifice .3 

The  crucified  lao  (“Divine  Love”  personified)  is  the  cruci- 
fied Adonis,  the  Sun.  The  Lord  and  Saviour  Adonis  was  called 
lao .4 

Osiris , the  Egyptian  Saviour,  was  crucified  in  the  heavens.  To 
the  Egyptian  the  cross  was  the  symbol  of  immortality,  an  emblem 
of  the  Sun,  and  the  god  himself  was  crucified  to  the  tree,  which 
denoted  his  fructifying  power.5 

Horus  was  also  crucified  in  the  heavens.  He  was  represented, 
like  Crishna  and  Christ  Jesus,  with  outstretched  arms  in  the  vault 
of  heaven  * 

The  story  of  the  crucifixion  of  Prometheus  was  allegorical,  for 
Prometheus  was  only  a title  of  the  Sun,  expressing  providence  or 
foresight , wherefore  his  being  crucified  in  the  extremities  of  the 
earth,  signified  originally  no  more  than  the  restriction  of  the  power 
of  the  Sun  during  the  winter  months.7 

Who  was  Ixion , bound  on  the  wheel  ? He  was  none  other  than 
the  god  Sol,  crucified  in  the  heavens.8  Whatever  be  the  origin  of 
the  name,  Ixion  is  the  uSun  of  noonday”  crucified  in  the  heavens, 
whose  four-spoked  wheel,  in  the  words  of  Pindar,  is  seen  whirling 
in  the  highest  heaven.9 


Indra , and  the  source  as  well  as  the  destruction 
of  things,  the  creator  and  the  annihilator  of  the 
whole  aggregate  of  existences.  (Cox  : Aryan 
Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  131.) 

1 See  Chap.  XX. 

2 Indra , who  was  represented  as  a crucified 
god,  is  also  the  Sun.  No  sooner  is  he  born  than 
he  speaks  to  his  mother.  Like  Apollo  and  all 
other  Sun-gods  he  has  golden  locks , and 
like  them  he  is  possessed  of  an  inscrutable 
wisdom.  He  is  also  born  of  a virgin— the  Dawn. 
Crishna  and  Indra  are  one.  (See  Cox  : Aryan 
Mythology,  vol.  i.  pp.  88  and  341 ; vol.  ii.  p.  131.) 

3 Wake  : Phallism,  &c.,  p.  55. 

4 See  Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  113. 

0 Ibid.  pp.  115  and  125. 

• See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p.  157. 


7 Knight : Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  p.  88. 

A great  number  of  the  Solar  heroes  or  Sun- 

gods  are  forced  to  endure  being  bound,  which 
indicates  the  tied-up  power  of  the  sun  in  winter. 
(Goldzhier  : Hebrew  Mythology,  p.  406.) 

8 The  Sun,  as  climbing  the  heights  of  heaven, 
is  an  arrogant  being,  given  to  making  exorbi- 
tant claims,  who  must  be  bound  to  the  fiery 
cross.  “ The  phrases  which  described  the  Sun 
as  revolving  daily  on  his  four-spoked  cross , or 
as  doomed  to  sink  in  the  sky  when  his  orb  had 
reached  the  zenith,  would  give  rise  to  the  stories 
of  Ixion  on  his  flaming  wheel.”  (Cox  : Aryan 
Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  27.) 

9 “ So  was  Ixion  bound  on  the  fiery  wheel, 
and  the  sons  of  men  see  the  flaming  spokes 
day  by  day  as  it  whirls  in  the  high  heaven.’ ' 


EXPL  ^NATION. 


485 


The  wheel  upon  which  Ixion  and  criminals  were  said  to  have 
been  extended  was  a cross , although  the  name  of  the  thing  was 
dissembled  among  Christians  ; it  was  a St.  Andrew’s  cross,  of  which 
two  spokes  confined  the  arms,  and  two  the  legs.  (See  Fig.  No.  35.) 

The  allegorical  tales  of  the  triumphs  and  misfortunes  of  the 
$im-gods  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  signify  the  alternate 
exertion  of  the  generative  and  destructive  attributes. 

Hercules  is  torn  limb  from  limb  ; and  in  this  catastrophe  we  see 
the  blood-red  sunset  which  closes  the  career 
of  Hercules.1  The  Sun-god  cannot  rise  to 
the  life  of  the  blessed  gods  until  he  has 
been  slain.  The  morning  cannot  come  until 
the  Eos  who  closed  the  previous  day  has 
faded  away  and  died  in  the  black  abyss  of 
night. 

Achilleus  and  Meleagros  represent  alike 
the  short-lived  Sun , whose  course  is  one  of 
toil  for  others,  ending  in  an  early  death,  after 
a series  of  wonderful  victories  alternating!: 
with  periods  of  darkness  and  gloom.2 

In  the  tales  of  the  Trojan  war,  it  is  re- 
lated of  Achilleus  that  he  expires  at  the 
Skaian,  or  western  gates  of  the  evening.  He 
is  slain  by  Paris,  who  here  appears  as  the  Pani,  or  dark  power,  who 
blots  out  the  light  of  the  Sun  from  the  heaven.3 * 

We  have  also  the  story  of  Adonis , born  of  a virgin,  and  known 
in  the  countries  where  he  was  worshiped  as  “ The  Saviour  of  Man- 
kind,” killed  by  the  wild  boar,  afterwards  “rose  from  the  dead, 
and  ascended  into  heaven.”  This  Adonis,  Adonai — in  Hebrew 
“ My  Lord  ” — is  simply  the  Sun.  He  is  crucified  in  the  heavens, 
put  to  death  by  the  wild  boar,  ix..  Winter.  “ Babylon  called  Typhon 
or  Winter  the  boar  ; they  said  he  killed  Adonis  or  the  fertile  Sun.”  4 

The  Crucified  Dove  worshiped  by  the  ancients,  was  none 
other  than  the  crucified  Sun.  Adonis  was  called  the  Dove.  At 
the  ceremonies  in  honor  of  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  the  de- 
votees said,  “Hail  to  the  Dove!  the  Restorer  of  Light.”  6 Fig. 
No.  35  is  the  “ Crucified  Dove  ” as  described  by  Pindar,  the  great 
lyric  poet  of  Greece,  born  about  522  b.  c. 


1 Cox : Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  xxxii. 

2 Ibid.  p.  xxxiii. 

3 “ That  the  story  of  the  Trojan  war  is  almost 

wholly  mythical,  has  been  conceded  even  by 


the  stoutest  champions  of  Homeric  unity.” 
(Rev.  G.  W.  Cox.) 

4 See  Muller’s  Science  of  Religion,  p.  186. 

5 See  Calmet’s  Fragments,  vol.  ii.  pp.  21,  22. 


486 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“We  read  in  Pindar,  (says  the  author  of  a learned  work  entitle!  “ Nimrod,”) 
of  the  venerable  bird  lynx  bound  to  the  wheel,  and  of  the  pretended  punishment 
of  Ixion.  But  this  rotation  was  really  no  punishment,  being,  as  Pindar  saith, 
voluntary,  and  prepared  by  himself  and/or  himself ; or  if  it  was,  it  was  appointed 
in  derision  of  his  false  pretensions,  whereby  he  gave  himself  out  as  the  crucified 
spirit  of  the  world."  “ The  four  spokes  represent  St.  Andrew’s  cross,  adapted  to 
the  four  limbs  extended,  and  furnish  perhaps  the  oldest  profane  allusion  to  the 
crucifixion.  The  same  cross  of  St.  Andrew  was  the  Taw,  which  Ezekiel  com- 
mands them  to  mark  upon  the  foreheads  of  the  faithful,  as  appears  from  all 
Israelitish  coins  whereon  that  letter  is  engraved.  The  same  idea  was  familiar  to 
Lucian,  who  calls  T the  letter  of  crucifixion.  Certainly,  the  veneration  for  the 
cross  is  very  ancient.  lynx,  the  bird  of  Mautic  inspiration,  bound  to  the  four- 
legged wheel,  gives  the  notion  of  Divine  Love  crucified.  The  wheel  denotes  the 
world,  of  which  she  is  the  spirit,  and  the  cross  the  sacrifice  made  for  that 
world."1 

This  “ Divine  Love”  of  whom  Nimrod  speaks,  was  “The  First- 
begotten  Son  ” of  tlie  Platonists.  The  crucifixion  of  “ Divine 
Love”  is  often  found  among  the  Greeks.  Ionah  or  Juno,  ac- 
cording to  the  Iliad , was  bound  with  fetters,  and  suspended  in 
space , between  heaven  and  earth.  Ixion,  Prometheus,  Apollo  of 
Miletus,  (anciently  the  greatest  and  most  flourishing  city  of  Ionia, 
in  Asia  Minor),  were  all  crucified.2 

Semi-Pamis  was  both  a queen  of  unrivaled  celebrity,  and  also 
a goddess,  worshiped  under  the  form  of  a Dove.  Her  name  signi- 
fies the  Supreme  Dove.  She  is  said  to  have  been  slain  by  the  last 
survivor  of  her  sons,  while  others  say,  she  flew  away  as  a bird — a 
Dove.  In  both  Grecian  and  Hindoo  histories  this  mystical 
queen  Semiramis  is  said  to  have  fought  a battle  on  the  banks 
of  the  Indus,  with  a king  called  Staurobates,  in  which  she  was 
defeated,  and  from  which  she  flew  away  in  the  form  of  a Dove. 
Of  this  Nimrod  says : 

“ The  name  Staurobates,  the  king  by  whom  Semiramis  was  finally  overpow- 
ered, alluded  to  the  cross  on  which  she  perished ,”  and  that,  “ the  crucifixion  was 
made  into  a glorious  mystery  by  her  infatuated  adorers. ”3 

Here  again  we  have  the  crucified  Dove,,  the  Sun , for  it  is  well 
known  that  the  ancients  personified  the  So xi  female  as  well  as  male. 

We  have  also  the  fable  of  the  Crucified  Pose,  illustrated  in  the 
jewel  of  the  Rosicrucians.  The  jewel  of  the  Posicrucians  is  formed 


1 Nimrod  : vol.  i.  p.  278,  in  Am»c.,  i.  p.  503. 

9 At  Miletus  was  the  crucined  Apollo — 
Apollo,  who  overcome  the  Serpent  or  evil  prin- 
ciple. Thus  Callimachus,  celebrating  this 
achievement,  in  his  hymn  to  Apollo,  has  these 
remarkable  words  : 

“ Thee  thy  blest  mother  bore,  and  pleased 
assign’d 

The  willing  Saviour  of  distressed  mankind.” 


8 These  words  apply  to  Christ  Jesus,  as  well 
as  Senv'ramis,  accoiding  to  the  Christian  Father 
Ignatius.  In  his  Epistle  to  the  Church  at 
Ephesus,  he  says  : “ Now  the  virginity  of  Mary, 
and  he  who  was  born  of  her,  was  kept  in  secret, 
from  the  prince  of  this  world,  as.  was  also  the 
death  of  our  Lord  : three  o the  mysteries  the 
most  spoken  of  throughout  the  world , yet  done 
in  secret  by  God." 


EXPLANATION. 


487 


of  a transparent  red  stone,  with  a red  cross  on  one  side,  and  a rec 
rose  on  the  other — thus  it  is  a crucified  rose . “ The  Rossi,  01 
Rosy-crucians’  idea  concerning  this  emblematic  red  cross,”  says  Har- 
grave Jennings,  in  his  History  of  the  Bosicrucians , “probably 
came  from  the  fable  of  Adonis — who  was  the  Sun  whom  we  have 
so  often  seen  crucified — being  changed  into  a red  rose  by  Venus.”1 

The  emblem  of  the  Templars  is  a red  rose  on  across.  “ When  it 
can  be  done,  it  is  surrounded  with  a glory,  and  placed  on  a calvary 
(Fig.  Ho.  36).  This  is  the  Haurutz,  Hatsir,  or  Rose  of  Isuren,  of 
Tamul,  or  Sharon,  or  the  Water  Rose,  the 
Lily  Padma,  Pena,  Lotus,  crucified  in  the 
heavens  for  the  salvation  of  man? 

Christ  Jesus  was  called  the  Rose- — the 
Rose  of  Sharon — of  Isuren.  He  was  the 
renewed  incarnation  of  Divine  Wisdom. 

He  was  the  son  of  Maia  or  Maria.  He  wTas 
the  Rose  of  Sharon  and  the  Lily  of  the  Val- 
ley, which  blowetli  in  the  month  of  his 
mother  Maia.  Thus,  when  the  angel  Ga- 
briel gives  the  salutation  to  the  Virgin,  he 
presents  her  with  the  lotus  or  lily ; as  may 
be  seen  in  hundreds  of  old  pictures  in 
Italy.  We  see  therefore  that  Adonis, 

“ the  Lord,”  “ the  Virgin-born,”  u the 
Crucified,”  “the  Resurrected  Dove,”  “the  Restorer  of  Light,”  is 
one  and  the  same  with  the  “ Rose  of  Sharon,”  the  crucified  Christ 
Jesus. 

Plato  (429  b.  c.)  in  his  Pimceus , philosophizing  about  the  Son 
of  God,  says  : 

“ The  next  power  to  the  Supreme  God  was  decussated  or  figured  in  the  shape 
of  a cross  on  the  universe.  ” 

This  brings  to  recollection  the  doctrine  of  certain  so-called  Chris- 
tian heretics , who  maintained  that  Christ  Jesus  was  crucified  in  the 
heavens. 

The  Chrestos  was  the  Logos,  the  Sun  was  the  manifestation  of 
the  Logos  or  Wisdom  to  men  ; or,  as  it  was  held  by  some,  it  was  his 
peculiar  habitation.  The  Sun  being  crucified  at  the  time  of  the 
winter  solstice  was  represented  by  the  young  man  slaying  the  Bull 
(an  emblem  of  the  Sun ) in  the  Mitliraic  ceremonies,  and  the  slain 
lamb  at  the  foot  of  the  cross  in  the  Christian  ceremonies.  The 
Clirest  was  the  Logos,  or  Divine  Wisdom,  or  a portion  of  divine 


1 The  Rosicrucians,  p.  260. 


2 Ibid. 


488 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


wisdom  incarnate ; in  this  sense  he  is  really  the  Sun  or  the  solar 
power  incarnate,  and  to  him  everything  applicable  to  the  Sun  will 
apply. 

Fig.  No.  37,  taken  from  Mr.  Lundy’s  “Monumental  Christi- 
anity,” is  evidently  a representation  of  the  Christian  Saviour  cruci- 
fied in  the  heavens . Mr.  Lundy  calls  it  “ Crucifixion  in  Space,”  and 
believes  that  it  was  intended  for  the  Hindoo  Saviour  Crishna,  who 
is  also  represented  crucified  in  space  (See  Fig.  No.  8,  Ch.  XX.).  This 

(Fig.  37)  is  exactly  in  the  form 
of  a Romish  crucifix,  but  not 
fixed  to  a piece  of  wood , though 
the  legs  and  feet  are  put  to- 
gether in  the  usual  way.  There 
is  a glory  over  it,  coming  from 
above , not  shining  from  the  fig- 
ure, as  is  generally  seen  in  a 
Roman  crucifix.  It  has  a pointed 
Parthian  coronet  instead  of  a 
crown  of  thorns.  All  the  ava- 
tars, or  incarnations  of  Vishnu, 
are  painted  with  Ethiopian  or 
Parthian  coronets.  For  these 
reasons  the  Christian  author  will 
not  own  that  it  is  a representa- 
tion of  the  “ True  Son  of  Justice,”  for  he  was  not  crucified 
in  space ; but  whether  it  was  intended  to  represent  Crishna, 
Wittoba,  or  Jesus,1  it  tells  a secret : it  shows  that  some  one  was 
represented  crucified  in  the  heavens , and  undoubtedly  has  something 
to  do  with  “ The  next  power  to  the  Supreme  God,”  who,  according 
to  Plato,  “ was  decussated  or  figured  in  the  shape  of  a cross  on  the 
universe .” 

'Who  was  the  crucified  god  whom  the  ancient  Romans  wor- 
shiped, and  whom  they,  according  to  Justin  Martyr,  represented  a& 
a man  on  a cross  ? Can  we  doubt,  after  what  we  have  seen,  that 
he  was  this  same  crucified  Sol , whose  birthday  they  annually  cele- 
brated on  the  25th  of  December  ? 

In  the  poetical  tales  of  the  ancient  Scandinavians , the  same 
legend  is  found.  Frey,  the  Deity  of  the  Sun , was  fabled  to  have 
been  killed,  at  the  time  of  the  winter  solstice,  by  the  same  boar  who 
put  the  god  Adonis  to  death,  therefore  a boar  was  annually  offered 


i The  Sun-gods  Apollo,  Indra,  Wittoba  or  Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  23,  and  Moor’s  Hindu 
Crishna,  and  Christ  Jesus,  are  represented  as  Pantheon.) 
having  their  feet  pierced  with  nails  (See  Cox  : 


EXPLANATION. 


489 


to  him  at  the  great  feast  of  Yule.1  “Baldur  the  Good,”  son  of  the 
supreme  god  Odin,  and  the  virgin-goddess  Frigga,  was  also  put  to 
death  by  the  sharp  thorn  of  winter. 

The  ancient  Mexican  crucified  Saviour,  Quetzalcoatle,  another 
personification  of  the  Sun,  was  sometimes  represented  as  crucified 
in  space,  in  the  heavens , in  a circle  of  nineteen  figures,  the  number 
of  the  metonic  cycle.  A serjpent  (the  emblem  of  evil,  darkness,  and 
winter)  is  depriving  him  of  the  organs  of  generation.2 3 

We  have  seen  in  Chapter  XXXIII.  that  Christ  Jesus,  and  many 
of  the  heathen  saviours,  healers,  and  preserving  gods,  were  represent- 
ed in  the  form  of  a Serpent.  This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that,  in  one  of 
its  attributes , the  Serpent  was  an  emblem  of  the  Sun.  It  may,  at 
first,  appear  strange  that  the  Serpent  should  be  an  emblem  of  evil, 
and  yet  also  an  emblem  of  the  beneficent  divinity ; but,  as  Prof. 
Penouf  remarks,  in  his  Hibbert  Lectures , “ The  moment  we  under- 
stand the  nature  of  a myth,  all  impossibilities,  contradictions,  and 
immoralities  disappear.”  The  serpent  is  an  emblem  of  evil  when 
represented  with  his  deadly  sting  • he  is  the  emblem  of  eternity 
when  represented  casting  off  his  sJcinf  and  an  emblem  of  the  Sun 
when  represented  with  his  tail  in  his  mouth , thus  forming  a circle.4 
Thus  there  came  to  be,  not  only  good,  but  also  bad,  serpents,  both 
of  which  are  referred  to  in  the  narrative  of  the  Hebrew  exodus, 
but  still  more  clearly  in  the  struggle  between  the  good  and  the  bad 
serpents  of  Persian  mythology,  which  symbolized  Ormuzd,  or 
Mithra,  and  the  evil  spirit  Ahriman.5 

As  the  Dove  and  the  Pose,  emblems  of  the  Sun,  were  represented 
on  the  cross,  so  was  the  Serpent.6  The  famous  “ Brazen  Serpent,” 
said  to  have  been  “ set  up  ” by  Moses  in  the  wilderness,  is  called  in 
the  Targum  (the  general  term  for  the  Aramaic  versions  of  the  Old 


1 Knight : Anct.  Art  and  Mytho.,  pp.  87,  88. 

2 Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  32. 

3 “ This  notion  is  quite  consistent  with  the 
ideas  entertained  by  the  Phenicians  as  to  the 
Serpent,  which  they  supposed  to  have  the 
quality  of  putting  off  its  old  age,  and  as- 
suming a second  youth.”  Sanchoniathon  : 
Quoted  by  Wake  : Phallism,  &c.,  p.  43.) 

4 Une  serpent  qui  tient  sa  queue  dans  sa 
gueule  et  dans  le  circle  qu'il  decrit,  ces  trois 
lettres  Greques  TEE,  qui  sont  le  nombre  365. 
Le  Serpent,  qui  est  d’ordinaire  un  embleme  de 
l’eternete  est  ici  celui  de  Soleil  et  des  ses  revolu- 
tions. (Beausobre  : Hist,  de  Manich.  tom.  ii. 
p.  55.  Quoted  by  Lardner,  vol.  viii.  p.  379.) 

‘‘This  idea  existed  even  in  America.  The 

great  century  of  the  Aztecs  was  encircled  by 
a serpent  grasping  its  own  tail , and  the  great 


calendar  stone  is  entwined  by  serpents  bearing 
human  heads  in  their  distended  jaws.” 

“ The  annual  passage  of  the  Sun,  through 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  being  in  an  oblique 
path,  resembles,  or  at  least  the  ancients 
thought  so,  the  tortuous  movements  of  the 
Serpent,  and  the  facility  possessed  by  this  rep- 
tile of  casting  off  his  skin  and  producing  out 
of  itself  a new  covering  every  year,  bore  some 
analogy  to  the  termination  of  the  old  year  and 
the  commencement  of  the  new  one.  Accord- 
ingly, all  the  ancient  spheres— the  Persian, 
Indian,  Egyptian,  Barbaric,  and  Mexican — 
were  surrounded  by  the  figure  of  a serpent 
holding  its  tail  in  its  mouth .”  (Squire  : Ser- 
pent Symbol,  p.  249.) 

3 Wake  : Phallism,  p.  42. 

® See  Cox  : Aryan  Mytho.,  voL  ii.  p.  128. 


490 


BIBLE  MYTII8. 


Testament)  the  Saviour.  It  was  probably  a serpentine  crucifix,  as 
it  is  called  a cross  by  Justin  Martyr.  The  crucified  serpent  (Fig. 
No.  38)  denoted  the  quiescent  Phallos , or  the  Sun  after  it  had  lost 
its  power.  It  is  the  Sun  in  winter,  crucified  on  the  tree,  which  de- 
noted its  fructifying  power.1 * * * * *  As  Mr.  Wake  remarks,  “ There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  both  the  Pillar  (Phallus)  and  the  Serpent  were 
associated  with  many  of  the  Sun-gods  of  antiquity.”8 

This  is  seen  in  Fig.  No.  39,  taken  from  an  ancient  medal,  which 
represents  the  serpent  with  rays  of  glory  surrounding  his  head. 

The  Ophites,  who  venerated  the  serpent  as  an  emblem  of  Christ 


Jesus,  are  said  to  have  maintained  that  the  serpent  of  Genesis — 
who  brought  wisdom  into  the  world  — was  Christ  Jesus.  The 
brazen  serpent  was  called  the  Word  by  the  Chaldee  paraphrast.  The 
Word,  or  Logos,  was  Divine  Wisdom , which  was  crucified ; thus  we 
have  the  cross,  or  Linga,  or  Phallus,  with  the  serpent  upon  it.  Be- 
sides considering  the  serpent  as  the  emblem  of  Christ  Jesus,  or  of 
the  Logos,  the  Ophites  are  said  to  have  revered  it  as  the  cause  of 
all  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  In  Chapter  XII.  we  saw  that  several 
illustrious  females  were  believed  to  have  been  selected  and  impreg- 
nated by  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  some  cases,  a serpent  was  supposed 
to  be  the  form  which  it  assumed.  This  was  the  incarnation  of  the 
Lo^os. 

O 


1 Being  the  most  intimately  connected  with  death  of  Winter.  In  the  brazen  Seipent  of  the 

the  reproduction  of  life  on  earth,  the  Linga  Pentateuch,  the  two  emblems  of  the  Cross  and 

became  the  symbol  under  which  the  Sun,  in-  Serpent,  the  quiescent  and  energizing  Phallos, 

yoked  with  a thousand  names,  has  been  wor-  are  united.  (Cox  : Aryan  Mytho.,  vo  . ii.  pp. 

shiped  throughout  the  world  as  the  restorer  of  113-118.) 

the  powers  of  nature  after  the  long  sleep  or  8 Wake  : Phallism,  &c.,  p.  60. 


EXPLANATION. 


491 


The  serpent  was  held  in  great  veneration  by  the  ancients,  who, 
as  we  have  seen,  considered  it  as  the  symbol  of  the  beneficent  Deity, 
and  an  emblem  of  eternity.  As  such  it  has  been  variously  ex- 
pressed on  ancient  sculptures  and  medals  in  various  parts  of  the 
globe. 

Although  generally,  it  did  not  always,  symbolize  the  god  Sun, 
or  the  power  of  which  the  Sun  is  an  emblem  ; but,  invested  with 
various  meanings,  it  entered  widely  into  the  primitive  mythologies. 
As  Mr.  Squire  observes  : 

“ It  typified  wisdom,  power,  duration,  the  good  and  evil  principles,  life,  re- 
production — in  short,  in  Egypt,  Syria,  Greece,  India,  China,  Scandinavia, 
America,  everywhere  on  the  glohe,  it  has  been  a prominent  emblem.”1 2 

The  serpent  was  the  symbol  of  Vishnu,  the  preserving  god,  the 
Saviour,  the  Sun*  It  was  an  emblem  of  the  Sun-god  Buddha,  the 
Angel-Messiah.3  The  Egyptian  Sun-god  Osiris,  the  Saviour,  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  snake.4  The  Persian  Mithra,  the  Mediator,  Re- 
deemer, and  Saviour,  was  symbolized  by  the  serpent.5  The  Phe- 
nicians  represented  their  beneficent  Sun-god,  Agathodemon,  by  a 
serpent.6  The  serpent  was,  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  the 
emblem  of  a beneficent  genius.  Antipator  of  Sidon,  calls  the  god 
Ammon,  the  “ Renowned  Serpent.”7  The  Grecian  Hercules — the 
Sun-god — was  symbolized  as  a serpent ; and  so  was  HSsculapius  and 
Apollo.  The  Hebrews,  who,  as  we  have  seen  in  Chapter  XI.,  wor- 
shiped the  god  Sol,  represented  him  in  the  form  of  a serpent. 
This  is  the  seraph  — spoken  of  above  — as  set  up  by  Moses  (Hum. 
xxi.  3)  and  worshiped  by  the  children  of  Israel.  Se  ra  ph  is  the 
singular  of  seraphim,  meaning  Semilice — splendor,  fire,  light  — 
emblematic  of  the  fiery  disk  of  the  Sun,  and  which,  under  the  name 
of  Nehush-tan,  “ Serpent-dragon,”  was  broken  up  by  the  reforming 
Hezekiah. 

The  principal  god  of  the  Aztecs  was  Tonac- atlcoatl,  which  means 
the  Serpent  Sun.6 

The  Mexican  virgin-born  Lord  and  Saviour,  Quetzalcoatle,  was 
represented  in  the  form  of  a serpent.  In  fact,  his  name  signifies 
“ Feathered  Serpents  Quetzalcoatle  was  a personification  of  the 
Sun.9 

Under  the  aspect  of  the  active  principle,  we  may  rationally 


1 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  155. 

2 Wake  : Phallism  in  Anct.  Religs.,  p.  72. 

* Ibid.  p.  73.  Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p. 
195. 

4 Faber  : Orig.  Pagan  Idol.,  in  Squire,  p. 

158. 


« Ibid. 

6 Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  375. 

7 Ibid. 

8 Squire  : p.  161. 

• Ibid.  p.  185. 


492 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


connect  the  Serpent  and  the  Sun,  as  corresponding  symbols  of  the 
reproductive  or  creative  power.  Figure  No.  40  is  a symbolical  sign, 
representing  the  disk  of  the  Sun  encircled  by  the  serpent  Uraeus , 
meaning  the  “ King  Sun,”  or  “ Royal  Sun,”  as  it  often  surmounts 
the  persons  of  Egyptian  monarchs,  confirmed  by  the  emblem  of  life 
depending  from  the  serpent’s  neck.1 

The  mysteries  of  Osiris,  Isis,  and  Horus,  in  Egypt ; Atys  and 
Cybele,  in  Phrygia-  Ceres  and  Proserpine,  at  Eleusis;  of  Venus 
and  Adonis,  in  Phenicia  - of  Bona  Dea  and  Priapus,  in  Pome , are 
all  susceptible  of  one  explanation.  They  all  set  forth  and  illustrated, 
by  solemn  and  impressive  rites,  and  mystical 
symbols . the  grand  phenomenon  of  nature , 
especially  as  connected  with  the  creation  of 
things  and  the  perpetuation  of  life.  In  all,  it 
is  worthy  of  remark,  the  serpent  was  more  or 
less  conspicuously  introduced,  and  always  as 
symbolical  of  the  invigorating  or  active  energy 
of  nature,  the  Sun. 

We  have  seen  (in  Chapter  XX.)  that  in 
early  Christian  art  Christ  J esus  also  was  represented  as  a crucified 
Lamb.  This  crucified  lamb  is  “ the  Lamb  of  Grod  taking  away  the 
sins  of  the  world,  and  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.”2  In 
other  words,  the  crucified  lamb  typifies  the  crucified  Sun , for  the 
lamb  was  another  symbol  of  the  Sun,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

We  find,  then,  that  the  stories  of  the  crucifixions  of  the  differ- 
ent so-called  Saviours  of  mankind  all  melt  into  one,  and  that  they 
are  allegorical , for  “ Saviour  ” was  only  a title  of  the  Sun,3  and  his 
being  put  to  death  on  the  cross,  signifies  no  more  than  the  restric- 
tion of  the  power  of  the  Sun  in  the  winter  quarter.  With  Justin 
Martyr,  then,  we  can  say : 

“ There  exists  not  a people,  whether  Greek  or  barbarian,  or  any  other  race 
of  men,  by  whatsoever  appellation  or  manners  they  may  be  distinguished,  how- 
ever ignorant  of  arts  or  agriculture,  whether  they  dwell  under  the  tents,  or  wan- 


1 Squire  : p.  169. 

2 Lundy  : Monumental  Christianity,  p.  185. 

3 “ Saviour  was  a common  title  of  the  Sun- 
gods  of  antiquity.”  (Wake  : Phaliism  in  Anct. 
Religs.,  p.  55.) 

The  ancient  Greek  writers  speak  of  the 
Sun,  as  the  “ Generator  and  Nourieher  of  all 
Things the  “Ruler  of  the  World;”  the 
“ First  of  the  Gods,”  and  the  “ Supreme  Lord 
of  all  Beings.”  (Knight : Ancient  Art  and 
Mytho.,  p.  37.) 

Pausanias  (500  b.  c.)  speaks  of  “lhe  Sun 


having  the  surname  of  Saviour.”  (Ibid.  p. 
98,  note.) 

“There  is  a very  remarkable  figure  copied 
in  Payne  Knight’s  Work,  in  which  we  see  on 
a man's  shoulders  a cock's  head,  whilst  on  the 
pediment  are  placed  the  words  : “ The  Saviour 
of  the  World.”  (Inman  : Anct.  Faiths,  vol. 
i.  p.  537.)  This  refers  to  the  Sun.  The  cock 
being  the  natural  herald  of  the  day,  he  was 
therefore  sacred,  among  the  ancients,  to  the 
Sun.”  (See  Knight:  Anct.  Art  and  Mytho., 
p.  70,  and  Lardner  : vol.  viii.  p.  377.) 


EXPLANATION. 


493 


der  about  in  crowded  wagons,  among  whom  prayers  are  not  offered  up  in  the 
name  of  A Crucified  Saviour1  to  the  Father  and  creator  of  all  things.”2 3 

9.  “And  many  women  were  there  beholding  afar  off.”*  The 
tender  mother  who  had  watched  over  him  at  his  birth,  and  the  fair 
maidens  whom  he  has  loved,  will  never  forsake  him.  They  yet 
remain  with  him,  and  while  their  tears  drop  on  his  feet,  which  they 
kiss,  their  voices  cheer  him  in  his  last  hour.  In  these  we  have  the 
Dawn , who  bore  him,  and  the  fair  and  beautiful  lights  which  flush 
the  Eastern  sky  as  the  Sun  sinks  or  dies  in  the  West.4  Their  tears 
are  the  tears  of  dew,  such  as  Eos  weeps  at  the  death  of  her  child. 

All  the  Sun-gods  forsake  their  homes  and  virgin  mothers,  and 
wander  through  different  countries  doing  marvellous  things.  Fi- 
nally, at  the  end  of  their  career,  the  mother,  from  whom  they 
were  parted  long  ago,  is  by  their  side  to  cheer  them  in  their  last 
hours.5 

The  ever-faithful  women  were  to  be  found  at  the  last  scene  in 
the  life  of  Buddha.  Kasyapa  having  found  the  departed  master’s 
feet  soiled  and  wet,  asked  Handa  the  cause  of  it.  “He  was  told 
that  a weeping  woman  had  embraced  Gautama’s  feet  shortly  before 
his  death,  and  that  her  tears  had  fallen  on  his  feet  and  left  the  marks 
on  them.”6 

In  his  last  hours,  (Edijpous  (the  Sun)  has  been  cheered  by  the 
presence  of  Antigone.7 

At  the  death  of  Hercules , Iole  (the  fair-haired  Dawn)  stands 
by  his  side,  cheering  him  to  the  last.  With  her  gentle  hands  she 
sought  to  soothe  his  pain,  and  with  pitying  words  to  cheer  him  in 
his  woe.  Then  once  more  the  face  of  Hercules  flushed  with  a deep 
joy,  and  he  said  : 

“ Ah,  Iole,  brightest  of  maidens,  thy  voice  shall  cheer  me  as  I sink  down  in 
the  sleep  of  death.  I saw  and  loved  thee  in  the  bright  morning  time,  and  now 
again  thou  hast  come,  in  the  evening,  fair  as  the  soft  clouds  which  gather  around 
the  dying  Sun” 

The  black  mists  were  spreading  over  the  sky,  but  still  Hercules 
sought  to  gaze  on  the  fair  face  of  Iole,  and  to  comfort  her  in  her 
sorrow. 

“Weep  not,  Iole,”  he  said,  “ my  toil  is  done,  and  now  is  the  time  for  rest. 
I shall  see  thee  again  in  the  bright  land  which  is  never  trodden  by  the  feet  of 
night.” 

1 The  name  Jesus  is  the  same  as  Joshua,  and  tender  light  which  sheds  its  soft  hue  over 

and  signifies  Saviour.  the  Eastern  heaven  as  the  Sun  sinks  in  death 

2 Justin  Martyr  : Dialog.  Cum  Typho.  beneath  the  Western  waters.”  (Cox  : Aryan 

Quoted  in  Gibbon’s  Rome,  vol.  i.  p.  582.  Myths,  vol.  i.  p.  223.) 

3 Matt,  xxvii.  55.  6 See  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  80. 

* The  ever-faithful  woman  who  is  always  8 Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  49. 

near  at  the  death  of  the  Sun-god  is  “ the  fair  7 Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  i.  p.  223. 


494 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  same  story  is  related  in  the  legend  of  Apollo.  The  Dawn, 
from  whom  he  parted  in  the  early  part  of  his  career,  comes  to  his 
side  at  eventide , and  again  meets  him  when  his  journey  on  earth 
has  well  nigh  come  to  an  end.1 

When  the  Lord  Prometheus  was  crucified  on  Mt.  Caucasus,  his 
especially  professed  friend,  Oceanus,  the  fisherman,  as  his  name,  Pe- 
traeus,  indicates,2  being  unable  to  prevail  on  him  to  make  his  peace 
with  Jupiter,  by  throwing  the  cause  of  human  redemption  out  of 
his  hands,3 4 *  “ forsook  him  and  fled.”  None  remained  to  be  witnesses 
of  his  dying  agonies,  but  the  chorus  of  ever-amiable  and  ever-faith- 
ful  women,  which  also  bewailed  and  lamented  him,  but  were  unable 
to  subdue  his  inflexible  philanthropy/ 

10.  “ There  was  darkness  all  over  the  land’’ 5 In  the  same 
manner  ends  the  tale  of  the  long  toil  and  sorrows  of  other  Sun- 
gods.  The  last  scene  exhibits  a manifest  return  to  the  spirit  of  the 
solar  myth.  He  must  not  die  the  common  death  of  all  men,  for  no 
disease  or  corruption  can  touch  the  body  of  the  brilliant  Sun.  After 
a long  struggle  against  the  dark  clouds  who  are  arrayed  against  him, 
he  is  finally  overcome,  and  dies.  Blacker  and  blacker  grow  the 
evening  shades,  and  finally  “ there  is  darkness  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,”  and  the  din  of  its  thunder  clashes  through  the  air.6 

It  is  the  picture  of  a sunset  in  wild  confusion,  of  a sunset  more 
awful,  yet  not  more  sad,  than  that  which  is  seen  in  the  last  hours 
of  many  other  /Szm-gods. 7 It  is  the  picture  of  the  loneliness  of  the 
Sun , who  sinks  slowly  down,  with  the  ghastly  hues  of  death  upon 
his  face,  while  none  is  nigh  to  cheer  him  save  the  ever-faithful 
women. 

11.  uHe  descended  into  hell”*  This  is  the  Sun’s  descent  into 
the  lower  regions.  It  enters  the  sign  Capricornus,  or  the  Goat,  and 


1 See  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  xxxi. 

2 Petrous  was  an  interchangeable  synonym 
of  the  name  Oceanus. 

3 ‘‘Then  Peter  took  him,  and  began  to  re- 
buke him,  saying,  Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord, 
this  shall  not  be  unto  thee.”  (.Matt.  xvi.  22.) 

4 See  Potter’s  JSschylus. 

6  Matt,  xxvii.  45. 

6 As  the  Sun  dies,  or  sinks  in  the  West, 
blacker  and  blacker  grows  the  evening  shades, 
till  there  is  darkness  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
Then  from  the  high  heavens  comes  down  the 
thick  clouds,  and  the  din  of  its  thunder  crashes 
through  the  air.  (Description  of  the  death  of 
Hercules,  Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  pp.  61,  62.) 

7 It  is  the  battle  of  the  clouds  over  the 
dead  or  dying  Sun,  which  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
legendary  history  of  many  Sun-gods.  (Cox  : 


Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  91.) 

8  This  was  one  of  the  latest  additions  of 
the  Sun-myth  to  the  history  of  Christ  Jesus. 
This  has  been  proved  not  only  to  have  been 
an  invention, after  the  Apostles’  time,  but  even 
after  the  time  of  Eusebius  (a.d.  325).  The 
doctrine  of  the  descent  into  hell  was  not  in 
the  ancient  creeds  or  rules  of  faith.  It  is  not 
to  be  found  in  the  rules  of  faith  delivered  by 
Irenaeus  (a.d.  190),  by  Origen  (a.d.  230),  or  by 
Tertullian  (a.d.  200-210).  It  is  not  expressed 
in  those  creeds  which  were  made  by  the 
Councils  as  larger  explications  of  the  Apos- 
tles’ Creed  ; not  in  the  Nicene,  or  Constanti- 
nopolitan  ; not  in  those  of  Ephesus,  or  Cbalce- 
don  ; not  in  those  confessions  made  at  Sarc’ica, 
Antioch,  Selencia,  Sirmium,  &c. 


EXPLANATION. 


495 


tlie  astronomical  winter  begins.  The  days  have  reached  their  short- 
est span,  and  the  Sun  has  reached  his  extreme  southern  limit.  The 
winter  solstice  reigns,  and  the  Sun  seems  to  stand  still  in  his 
southern  course.  For  three  days  and  three  nights  he  remains  in 
hell  — the  lower  regions.1  In  this  respect  Christ  Jesus  is  like  other 
Sun-gods.2 

In  the  ancient  sagas  of  Iceland,  the  hero  who  is  the  Sun  person- 
ified, descends  into  a tomb,  where  he  fights  a vampire.  After  a 
desperate  struggle,  the  hero  overcomes,  and  rises  to  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  “ This,  too,  represents  the  Sun  in  the  northern  realms, 
descending  into  the  tomb  of  winter,  and  there  overcoming  the  power 
of  darkness.”3 

12.  He  rose  again  from  the  dead , and  ascended  into  heaven . 
Resurrections  from  the  dead,  and  ascensions  into  heaven,  are  gen- 
erally acknowledged  to  be  solar  features,  as  the  history  of  many 
solar  heroes  agree  in  this  particular. 

At  the  winter  solstice  the  ancients  wept  and  mourned  for  Tam- 
muz , the  fair  Adonis,  and  other  Sun-gods,  done  to  death  by  the 
boar,  or  crucified  — slain  by  the  thorn  of  winter  — and  on  the  third 
day  they  rejoiced  at  the  resurrection  of  their  “ Lord  of  Light.”4 

With  her  usual  policy,  the  Church  endeavored  to  give  a Christian 
significance  to  the  rites  which  they  borrowed  from  heathenism,  and 
in  this  case,  the  mourning  for  Tammuz,  the  fair  Adonis,  became  the 
mourning  for  Christ  Jesus,  and  joy  at  the  rising  of  the  natural  Sun 
became  joy  at  the  rising  of  the  “ Sun  of  Righteousness  ” — at  the 
resurrection  of  Christ  Jesus  from  the  grave. 

This  festival  of  the  Resurrection  was  generally  held  by  the  an- 
cients on  the  25th  of  March,  when  the  awakening  of  Spring  may  be 
said  to  be  the  result  of  the  return  of  the  Sun  from  the  lower  or  far- 
off  regions  to  which  he  had  departed.  At  the  equinox  — say,  the 


1 At  the  end  of  bis  career,  the  Sun  enters 
the  lowest  regions , the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
therefore  nearly  all  Sun-gods  are  made  to 
“descend  into  hell,”  and  remain  there  for 
three  days  and  three  nights,  for  the  reason 
that  from  the  22d  to  the  25th  of  December,  the 
Sun  apparently  remains  in  the  same  place. 
Thus  Jonah,  a personification  of  the  Sun  (see 
Chap.  IX.),  who  remains  three  days  and  three 
nights  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth — typified  by 
a fish — is  made  to  say  : “ Out  of  the  belly  of 
hell  cried  I,  and  thou  heardst  my  voice.” 

2 See  Chapter  XXII. 

8 Baring-Gould  : Curious  Myths,  p.  260. 

“ The  mighty  Lord  appeared  in  the  form  of 
a man,  and  enlightened  those  places  which  had 
ever  before  been  in  darkness  ; and  broke  asun- 


der the  fetters  which  before  could  not  be  broken; 
and  with  his  invincible  power  visited  those  who 
sat  in  the  deep  darkness  by  iniquity,  and  the 
shadow  of  death  by  sin.  Then  the  King  of 
Glory  trampled  upon  Death,  seized  the  Prince 
of  Hell,  and  deprived  him  of  all  his  power.” 
(Description  of  Christ's  Descent  into  Hell. 
Nicodemus : Apoc.) 

4 “ The  women  weeping  for  Tammuz  was 
no  more  than  expressive  of  the  Sun’s  loss  of 
power  in  the  winter  quarter.”  (King’s  Gnos- 
tics, p.  102.  See  also,  Cox : Aryan  Mytho., 
vol.  ii.  p.  113.) 

After  remaining  for  three  days  and  three 
nights  in  the  lowest  regions,  the  Sun  begins  to 
ascend,  thus  he  “ rises  from  the  dead,”  as  it 
were,  and  “ ascends  into  heaven.” 


496 


BIBLE  MYTHS 


vernal — at  Easter , the  Sun  has  been  below  the  equator,  and  sud- 
denly rises  above  it.  It  has  been,  as  it  were,  dead  to  us,  but  now 
it  exhibits  a resurrection.1  The  Saviour  rises  triumphant  over  the 
powers  of  darkness,  to  life  and  immortality,  on  the  25th  of  March, 
when  the  Sun  rises  in.  Aries. 

Throughout  all  the  ancient  world,  the  resurrection  of  the  god 
Sol , under  different  names,  was  celebrated  on  March  25th,  with 
great  rejoicings.2 

In  the  words  of  the  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Cox : 

“ The  wailing  of  the  Hebrew  women  at  the  death  of  Tammuz,  the  crucifixion 
and  resurrection  of  Osiris,  the  adoration  of  the  Babylonian  Mylitta,  the  Sacti 
ministers  of  Hindu  temples,  the  cross  and  crescent  of  Isis,  the  rites  of  the  Jew- 
ish altar  of  Baal-Peor,  wholly  preclude  all  doubt  of  the  real  nature  of  the  great 
festivals  and  mysteries  of  Phenicians,  Jews,  Assyrians,  Egyptians,  and  Hin- 
dus.”3 

All  this  was  Sun  and  Nature  worship,  symbolized  by  the  Linga 
and  Yoni.  As  Mr.  Bonwick  says  : 

“ The  philosophic  theist  who  reflects  upon  the  story,  known  from  the  walls 
of  China,  across  Asia  and  Europe,  to  the  plateau  of  Mexico,  cannot  resist  the 
impression  that  no  materialistic  theory  of  it  can  be  satisfactory.”4 

Allegory  alone  explains  it. 

“ The  Church,  at  an  early  date,  selected  the  heathen  festivals  of  Sun  worship 
for  its  own,  ordering  the  birth  at  Christmas,  a fixed  time,  and  the  resurrection  at 
Easter,  a varying  time,  as  in  all  Pagan  religions  ; since,  though  the  Sun  rose  di- 
rectly afte'r  the  vernal  equinox,  the  festival,  to  be  correct  in  a heathen  point  of 
view,  had  to  be  associated  with  the  new  moon.”5 

The  Christian,  then,  may  well  say : 

“When  thou  hadst  overcome  the  sharpness  of  winter,  thou  didst  open  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  (i.  e.,  bring  on  the  reign  of  summer),  to  all  believers.” 

13.  Christ  Jesus  is  Creator  of  all  things.  We  have  seen  (in 
Chapter  XXYI.)  that  it  was  not  God  the  Father,  who  was  supposed 
by  the  ancients  to  have  been  the  Creator  of  the  world,  but  God  the 
Son,  the  Redeemer  and  Saviour  of  Mankind.  Now,  this  Redeemer 
and  Saviour  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  Sun,  and  Prof.  Max  Muller 
tells  us  that  in  the  Yedic  mythology,  the  Sun  is  not  the  bright  De- 
va  only,  “ who  performs  his  daily  task  in  the  sky,  but  he  is  supposed 
to  perform  much  greater  work.  He  is  looked  upon,  in  fact,  as  the 
Ruler , as  the  Establisher , as  the  Creator  of  the  world”* 

Having  been  invoked  as  the  “ Life-bringer,”  the  Sun  is  also 


1 Bonwick : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  174. 

2 Anacalypsis,  vol.  ii.  p.  100. 

3 Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  125. 


4 Egyptian  Belief,  p.  182. 

* Ibid. 

• Origin  of  Religions,  p.  264. 


EXPLANATION. 


497 


called  — in  tlie  Rig- Veda — “ the  Breath  or  Life  of  all  that  move 
and  rest ;”  and  lastly  he  becomes  “ The  Maher  of  all  things ,”  by 
whom  all  the  worlds  have  been  brought  together.1 

There  is  a prayer  in  the  Vedas , called  Gayatree , which  consists 
of  three  measured  lines,  and  is  considered  the  holiest  and  most 
efficacious  of  all  their  religious  forms.  Sir  William  Jones  translates 
it  thus : 

“ Let  us  adore  the  supremacy  of  that  spiritual  Sun,  the  godhead,  who  illumi- 
nates all.  who  re-creates  all,  from  whom  all  proceed,  to  whom  all  must  return  ; 
whom  we  invoke  to  direct  our  undertakings  aright  in  our  progress  toward  his 
holy  seat.” 

With  Seneca  (a  Roman  philosopher,  born  at  Cordova,  Spain,  61 
b.  c.)  then,  we  can  say  : 

“You  may  call  the  Creator  of  all  things  by  different  names  (Bacchus,  Hercu- 
les, Mercury,  etc.),  but  they  are  only  different  names  of  the  same  divine  being, 
the  Sun.  ” 

14.  He  is  to  be  Judge  of  the  guich  and  the  dead.  Who  is  better 
able  than  the  Sun  to  be  the  judge  of  man’s  deeds,  seeing,  as  he  does, 
from  his  throne  in  heaven,  all  that  is  done  on  earth?  The  Vedas 
speak  of  Surya — the  pervading,  irresistible  luminary — as  seeing 
all  things  and  hearing  all  things,  noting  the  good  and  evil  deeds  of 
men .a 

According  to  Hindoo  mythology,  says  Prof.  Max  Muller : 

“ The  Sun  sees  everything,  both  what  is  good  and  what  is  evil ; and  how 
natural  therefore  that  (in  the  Indian  Veda)  both  the  evil-doer  should  be  told  that 
the  sun  sees  what  no  human  eye  may  have  seen,  and  that  the  inDocent,  when 
all  other  help  fails  him,  should  appeal  to  the  sun  to  attest  his  guiltlessness.  ” 

“Frequent  allusion  is  made  (in  the  Rig-Veda),  to  the  sun’s  power  of  seeing 
everything.  The  stars  flee  before  the  all-seeing  sun,  like  thieves.  He  sees  the 
right  and  the  wrong  among  men.  He  who  looks  upon  the  world  knows  also 
the  thoughts  in  all  men.  As  the  sun  sees  everything  and  knows  everything,  he 
is  asked  to  forget  and  forgive  what  he  alone  has  seen  and  knows.”3 

On  the  most  ancient  Egyptian  monuments,  Osiris,  the  Sun  per- 
sonified, is  represented  as  Judge  of  the  dead.  The  Egyptian  “ Book 
of  the  Dead,”  the  oldest  Bible  in  the  world,  speaks  of  Osiris  as 
“ seeing  all  things,  and  hearing  all  things,  noting  the  good  and  evil 
deeds  of  men.” 

15.  He  will  come  again  sitting  on  a white  horse. 

The  “second  coming”  of  Vishnu  (Crishna),  Christ  Jesus,  and 
other  Sun-gods,  are  also  astronomical  allegories.  The  white  horse , 


Origin  of  Religions,  p. 


8 Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  i.  p.  384. 


3 Origin  of  Religion,  pp.  264-268. 


32 


498 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


which  figures  so  conspicuously  in  the  legend,  was  the  universal  sym- 
bol of  the  Sun  among  Oriental  nations. 

Throughout  the  whole  legend,  Christ  Jesus  is  the  toiling  Sun, 
laboring  for  the  benefit  of  others,  not  his  own,  and  doing  hard  serv- 
ice for  a mean,  and  cruel  generation.  Watch  his  sun-like  career 
of  brilliant  conquest,  checked  with  intervals  of  storm,  and  declining 
to  a death  clouded  with  sorrow  and  derision.  He  is  in  constant 
company  with  his  twelve  apostles,  the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac \ 
During  the  course  of  his  life’s  journey  he  is  called  “ The  God  of 
Earthly  Blessing,”  “ The  Saviour  through  whom  a new  life  springs,” 
“ The  Preserver,”  “ The  Redeemer, ” &c.  Almost  at  his  birth  the 
Serpent  of  darkness  attempts  to  destroy  him.  Temptations  to  sloth 
and  luxury  are  offered  him  in  vain.  He  has  his  work  to  do,  and 
nothing  can  stay  him  from  doing  it,  as  nothing  can  arrest  the  Sun 
in  his  journey  through  the  heavens.  Like  all  other  solar  heroes,  he 
has  his  faithful  women  who  love  him,  and  the  Marys  and  Martha 
here  play  the  part.  Of  his  toils  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  speak  in 
detail.  They  are  but  a thousand  variations  on  the  story  of  the  great 
conflict  which  all  the  Sun-gods  wage  against  the  demon  of  darkness. 
He  astonishes  his  tutor  when  sent  to  school.  This  we  might  expect 
to  be  the  case,  when  an  incomparable  and  incommunicable  wisdom 
is  the  heritage  of  the  Sun.  He  also  represents  the  wisdom  and  be- 
neficence of  the  bright  Being  who  brings  life  and  light  to  men.  As 
the  Sun  wakens  the  earth  to  life  when  the  winter  is  done,  so  Crish- 
na,  Buddha,  Horus,  JEsculapius,  and  Christ  Jesus  were  raisers  of 
the  dead.  When  the  leaves  fell  and  withered  on  the  approach  of 
winter,  the  “ daughter  of  the  earth  ” would  be  spoken  of  as  dying 
or  dead,  and,  as  no  other  power  than  that  of  the  Sun  can  recall  veg- 
etation to  life,  this  child  of  the  earth  would  be  represented  as 
buried  in  a sleep  from  which  the  touch  of  the  Sun  alone  could 
rouse  her. 

Christ  Jesus,  then,  is  the  Sun,  in  his  short  career  and  early 
death.  He  is  the  child  of  the  Dawn,  whose  soft,  violet  hues  tint 


1 The  number  twelve  appears  in  many  of 
the  Sun-myths.  It  refers  to  the  twelve  hours 
of  the  day  or  night,  or  the  twelve  moons  of  the 
lunar  year.  (Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  i. 
p.  165.  Bonwick  : Egyptian  Belief,  p.  175.) 

Osiris,  the  Egyptian  Saviour,  had  twelve 
apostles.  (Bonwick,  p.  175.) 

In  all  religions  of  antiquity  the  number 
twelve , which  applies  to  the  twelve  signs  of  the 
zodiac,  are  reproduced  in  all  kinds  and  sorts 
of  forms.  For  instance  : such  are  the  twelve 
great  gods  ; the  twelve  apostles  of  Osiris  ; the 
twelve  apostles  of  Jesus  ; the  twelve  sons  of 


Jacob,  or  the  twelve  tribes ; the  twelve  altars 
of  James  ; the  twelve  labors  of  Hercules ; the 
twelve  shields  of  Mars  ; the  twelve  brothers 
Arvaux  ; the  twelve  gods  Consents  ; the  twelve 
governors  in  the  Manichean  System ; the 
adectyas  of  the  East  Indies  ; the  twelve  asses 
of  the  Scandinavians  ; the  city  of  the  twelve 
gates  in  the  Apocalypse  ; the  twelve  wards  of 
the  city  ; the  twelve  sacred  cushions,  on  which 
the  Creator  sits  in  the  cosmogony  of  the  Jap- 
anese ; the  twelve  precious  stones  of  the  rational , 
or  the  ornament  worn  by  the  high  priest  of  the 
Jews,  &c.,  &c.  (See  Dupuis,  pp.  39,  40.) 


EXPLANATION. 


499 


the  clouds  of  early  morn ; his  father  being  the  Sky,  the  “ Heavenly 
Father,”  who  has  looked  down  with  love  upon  the  Dawn,  and  over- 
shadowed her.  When  his  career  on  earth  is  ended,  and  he  expires, 
the  loving  mother,  who  parted  from  him  in  the  morning  of  his  life, 
is  at  his  side,  looking  on  the  death  of  the  Son  whom  she  cannot 
save  from  the  doom  which  is  on  him,  while  her  tears  fall  on  his 
body  like  rain  at  sundown.  From  her  he  is  parted  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  course ; to  her  he  is  united  at  its  close.  But  Christ 
Jesus,  like  Crishna,  Buddha,  Osiris,  Horus,  Mithras,  Apollo,  Atys 
and  others,  rises  again , and  thus  the  myth  takes  us  a step  beyond 
the  legend  of  Serpedon  and  others,  which  stop  at  the  end  of  the 
aeastward  journey,  when  the  night  is  done. 

According  to  the  Christian  calendar,  the  birthday  of  John  the 
Baptist  is  on  the  day  of  the  summer  solstice,  when  the  sun  begins 
to  decrease.  How  true  to  nature  then  are  the  words  attributed  to 
him  in  the  fourth  Gospel,  when  he  says  that  he  must  decrease , and 
Jesus  increase. 

Among  the  ancient  Teutonic  nations,  fires  were  lighted,  on  the 
tops  of  hills,  on  the  24th  of  June,  in  honor  of  the  wending  Sun. 
This  custom  is  still  kept  up  in  Southern  Germany  and  the  Scotch 
highlands,  and  it  is  the  day  selected  by  the  Koman  Catholic  church 
to  celebrate  the  nativity  of  John  the  Baptist.1 

Mosheim,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  speaking  of  the  uncertainty 
of  the  time  when  Christ  Jesus  was  born,  says : “ The  uncertainty 
of  this  point  is  of  no  great  consequence.  We  know  that  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness  has  shone  upon  the  world ; and  although  we  can- 
not fix  the  precise  period  in  which  he  arose,  this  will  not  preclude 
us  from  enjoying  the  direction  and  influence  of  his  vital  and  salu- 
tary beams.” 

These  sacred  legends  abound  with  such  expressions  as  can  have 
no  possible  or  conceivable  application  to  any  other  than  to  the 
“ God  of  day.”  He  is  “a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  to  be 
the  glory  (or  brightness)  of  his  people.”2  He  is  come  “ a light  into 
the  world,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  should  not  abide  in 
darkness.”3  He  is  “ the  light  of  the  world.”4  He  “is  light,  and  in 
him  no  darkness  is.”5 

“Lighten  our  darkness,  we  beseech  thee,  Adonai,  and  by  thy  great  mercy 
defend  us  from  all  perils  and  dangers  of  this  night.” — Collect,  in  Evening  Service. 

“ God  of  God,  light  of  light,  very  God  of  very  God.” — Nicene  Creed. 


1 See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities,  p.  505. 

3 Luke,  ii.  32. 

3 John,  xii.  46. 


* John,  ix.  y. 
‘ I.  John,  i.  5. 


500 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“Merciful  Adonai,  we  beseech  thee  to  cast  thy  bright  beams  of  light  upon  thy 
Church.” — Collect  of  St.  John. 

“To  thee  all  angels  cry  aloud,  the  heavens,  and  all  the  powers  therein.” 

“ Heaven  and  earth  are  full  of  the  majesty  of  thy  glory” (or  brightness). 

“ The  glorious  company  of  the  ( twelve  months,  or)  apostles  praise  thee.” 

“ Thou  art  the  King  of  Glory,  O Christ !” 

“ When  thou  tookest  upon  thee  to  deliver  man,  thou  passest  through  the  con- 
stellation, or  zodiacal  sign — the  Virgin.” 

“When  thou  hadst  overcome  the  sharpness  of  winter,  thou  didst  open  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  (i.  e.,  bring  on  the  reign  of  the  summer  months)  to  all  be- 
lievers.” 

“ All  are  agreed,”  says  Cicero,  “ that  Apollo  is  none  other  than 
the  Sun,  because  the  attributes  which  are  commonly  ascribed  to 
Apollo  do  so  wonderfully  agree  thereto.” 

Just  so  surely  as  Apollo  is  the  Sun,  so  is  the  Lord  Christ  Jesus 
the  Sun.  That  which  is  so  conclusive  respecting  the  Pagan  deities, 
applies  also  to  the  God  of  the  Christians ; but,  like  the  Psalmist  of 
old,  they  cry,  “ Touch  not  my  Christ,  and  do  my  prophets  no 
harm.” 

Many  Christian  writers  have  seen  that  the  history  of  their  Lord 
and  Saviour  is  simply  the  history  of  the  Sun,  but  they  either  say 
nothing,  or,  like  Dr.  Parkhurst  and  the  Pev.  J.  P.  Lundy,  claim 
that  the  Sun  is  a type  of  the  true  Sun  of  Kighteousness.  Mr. 
Lundy,  in  his  “ Monumental  Christianity,”  says  : 

“ Is  there  no  bright  Sun  of  Righteousness  — no  personal  and  loving  Son  of 
God,  of  whom  the  material  Sun  has  been  the  type  or  symbol,  in  all  ages  and  among 
all  nations?  What  power  is  it  that  comes  from  the  Sun  to  give  light  and  heat 
to  all  created  things  ? If  the  symbolical  Sun  leads  such  a great  earthly  and 
heavenly  flock,  what  must  be  said  to  the  true  and  only  begotten  Son  of  God  ? If 
Apollo  was  adopted  by  early  Christian  art  as  a type  of  the  Good  Shepherd  of  the 
New  Testament,  then  this  interpretation  of  the  Sun-god  among  all  nations  must  be 
the  solution  of  the  universal  mythos,  or  what  other  solution  can  it  have?  To  what 
other  historical  personage  but  Christ  can  it  apply  ? If  this  mythos  has  no  spiritual 
meaning,  then  all  religion  becomes  mere  idolatry,  or  the  worship  of  material  things .”1 

Mr.  Lundy,  who  seems  to  adhere  to  this  once-upon-a-time  favor- 
ite theory,  illustrates  it  as  follows : 

“ The  young  Isaac  is  his  (Christ’s)  Hebrew  type,  bending  under  the  wood,  as 
Christ  fainted  under  the  cross  ; Daniel  is  his  type,  stripped  of  all  earthly  fame 
and  greatness,  and  cast  naked  into  the  deepest  danger,  shame  and  humiliation.” 
“ Noah  is  his  type,  in  saving  men  from  utter  destruction,  and  bringing  them 
across  the  sea  of  death  to  a new  world  and  a new  life.”  “ Orpheus  is  a type  of 
Christ.  Agni  and  Crishna  of  India  ; Mithra  of  Persia  ; Horus  and  Apollo  of 
Egypt,  are  all  types  of  Christ.”  “ Samson  carrying  off  the  gates  of  Gaza  and  de- 
feating the  Philistines  by  his  own  death,  was  considered  as  a type  of  Christ 


1 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  117. 


EXPLANATION. 


501 


"bursting  open  and  carrying  away  the  gates  of  Hades,  and  conquering  His  and 
our  enemies  by  his  death  and  resurrection.”1 

According  to  this  theory,  the  whole  Pagan  religion  was  typical 
of  Christ  and  Christianity.  Why  then  were  not  the  Pagans  the 
Lord’s  chosen  people  instead  of  the  children  of  Israel  ? 

The  early  Christians  were  charged  with  being  a sect  of  Sun 
worshipers?  The  ancient  Egyptians  worshiped  the  god  Serapis , 
and  Serapis  was  the  Sun.  Fig.  No.  11,  page  191,  shows  the  man- 
ner in  which  Serapis  was  personified.  It  might  easily  pass  for  a 
representation  of  the  Sun-god  of  the  Christians.  Mr.  King  says,  in 
his  u Gnostics,  and  their  Remains 

“ There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  head  of  Serapis,  marked  as  the  face  is  by  a 
grave  and  pensive  majesty,  supplied  the  first  idea  for  the  conventional  portraits  of 
the  Saviour 

The  Imperial  Russian  Collection  boasts  of  a head  of  Christ 
Jesus  which  is  said  to  be  very  ancient.  It  is  a fine  intaglio  on 
emerald.  Mr.  King  says  of  it : 

“It  is  in  reality  a head  of  Serapis,  seen  in  front  and  crowned  with  Persia 
boughs,  easily  mistaken  for  thorns,  though  the  bushel  on  the  head  leaves  no 
doubt  as  to  the  real  personage  intended.  ”4 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  in  connection  with  this,  that  the  wor- 
shipers of  Serapis,  or  the  Sun,  were  called  Christians? 

Mrs.  Jameson,  speaking  on  this  subject,  says  : 

“We  search  in  vain  for  the  lightest  evidence  of  his  (Christ’s)  human,  indi- 
vidual semblance,  in  the  writing  of  those  disciples  who  knew  him  so  well.  In 
this  instance  the  instincts  of  earthly  affection  seem  to  have  been  mysteriously 
overruled.  He  whom  all  races  of  men  were  to  call  brother,  was  not  to  be  too 
closely  associated  with  the  particular  lineaments  of  any  one.  St.  John,  the  be- 
loved disciple,  could  lie  on  the  breast  of  Jesus  with  all  the  freedom  of  fellowship, 
but  not  even  he  has  left  a word  to  indicate  what  manner  of  man  was  the  Divine 
Master  after  the  flesh.  . . . Legend  has,  in  various  form,  supplied  this  nat- 

ural craving,  but  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  add,  that  all  accounts  of  pictures  of 
our  Lord  taken  from  Himself  are  without  historical  foundation.  We  are  there- 
fore left  to  imagine  the  expression  most  befitting  the  character  of  him  who  took 
upon  himself  our  likeness,  and  looked  at  the  woes  and  sins  of  mankind  through 
the  eyes  of  our  mortality.”6 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Geikie  says,  in  his  “ Life  of  Christ 

“No  hint  is  given  in  the  New  Testament  of  Christ’s  appearance  ; and  the 
early  Church,  in  the  absence  of  all  guiding  facts,  had  to  fall  back  on  imagina- 
tion.” 


1 See  Monumental  Christianity,  pp.  186, 191,  4 Ibid.  p.  137. 

192.  238,  and  296.  « See  Chapter  XX. 

e See  Bonwick’s  Egyptian  Belief,  p,  283.  6 Hist,  of  Our  Lord  in  Art,  vol.  i.  p.  81. 

8 King’s  Gnostics,  p.  68. 


502 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ In  its  first  years,  the  Christian  church  fancied  its  Lord’s  visage  and  form 
marred  more  than,  those  of  other  men  ; and  that  he  must  have  had  no  attractions 
of  personal  beauty.  Justin  Martyr  (a.  d.  150-160)  speaks  of  him  as  without 
beauty  or  attractiveness , and  of  mean  appearance.  Clement  of  Alexandria  (a.  d. 
200),  describes  him  as  of  an  uninviting  appearance,  and  almost  repulsive.  Tertullian 
(a.  d.  200-210)  says  he  had  not  even  ordinary  human  beauty,  far  less  heavenly. 
Origen  (a.  r>.  230)  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  was  ‘ small  in  body  and  deformed ,* 
as  well  as  low-born,  and  that,  ‘ his  only  beauty  was  in  his  soul  and  life.'  ”l 

One  of  the  favorite  ways  finally,  of  depicting  him,  was,  as  Mr. 
Lnndy  remarks  : 

“Under  the  figure  of  a beautiful  and  adorable  youth,  of  about  fifteen  or 
eighteen  years  of  age,  beardless,  with  a sweet  expression  of  countenance,  and 
long  and  abundant  hair  flowing  in  curls  over  his  shoulders.  His  brow  is  sometimes 
encircled  by  a diadem  or  bandeau,  like  a young  priest  of  the  Pagan  gods  ; that  is, 
in  fact,  the  favorite  figure.  On  sculptured  sarcophagi,  in  fresco  paintings  and 
Mosaics,  Christ  is  thus  represented  as  a graceful  youth,  just  as  Apollo  was  figured 
by  the  Pagans,  and  as  angels  are  represented  by  Christians.”2 

Thus  we  see  that  the  Christians  took  the  paintings  and  statues 
of  the  Sun-gods  Serapis  and  Apollo  as  models , when  they  wished 
to  represent  their  Saviour.  That  the  former  is  the  favorite  at  the 
present  day  need  not  be  doubted  when  we  glance  at  Tig.  No.  11, 
page  194. 

Mr.  King,  speaking  of  this  god,  and  his  worshipers,  says  : 

“ There  is  very  good  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  East  the  worship  of  Serapis 
was  at  first  combined  with  Christianity,  and  gradually  merged  into  it  with  an 
entire  change  of  name,  not  substance,  carrying  with  it  many  of  its  ancient  no- 
tions and  rites.”3 

Again  he  says  : 

“In  the  second  century  the  syncretistic  sects  that  had  sprung  up  in  Alexan- 
dria, the  very  hotbed  of  Gnosticism,  found  out  in  Serapis  a prophetic  type  of 
Christ,  or  the  Lord  and  Creator  of  all.”4 

The  early  Christians , or  worshipers  of  the  Sun,  under  the  name 
of  “Christ”  had,  as  all  Sun-worsliipers,  a peculiar  regard  to  the 
East — the  quarter  in  which  their  god  rose — to  which  point  they 
ordinarily  directed  their  prayers? 

The  followers  of  Mithra  always  turned  towards  the  East,  when 
they  worshiped  ; the  same  was  done  by  the  Brahmans  of  the  East, 
and  the  Christians  of  the  West.  In  the  ceremony  of  baptism,  the 
catechumen  was  placed  with  his  face  to  the  West,  the  symbolical 
representation  of  the  prince  of  darkness,  in  opposition  to  the 
East,  and  made  to  spit  towards  it  at  the  evil  one,  and  renounce  his 
works. 


1 Geikie  : Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.  p.  151. 

2 Monumental  Christianity,  p.  231. 

* King’s  Gnostics,  p.  48. 


* Ibid.  p.  68. 

• See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  13. 


EXPLANATION. 


503 


Tertullian  says,  that  Christians  were  taken  for  worshipers  of  the 
Sun  because  they  prayed  towards  the  East,  after  the  manner  of  those 
who  adored  the  Sun.  The  Essenes  — whom  Eusebius  calls  Chris- 
tians— always  turned  to  the  east  to  pray.  The  Essenes  met  once 
a week,  and  spent  the  night  in  singing  hymns,  &c.,  which  lasted 
till  sun-rising.  As  soon  as  dawn  appeared,  they  retired  to  their 
cells,  after  saluting  one  another.  Pliny  says  the  Christians  of 
Bithynia  met  before  it  was  light,  and  sang  hymns  to  Christ,  as  to  a 
God.  After  their  service  they  saluted  one  another.  Surely  the 
circumstances  of  the  two  classes  of  people  meeting  before  daylight, 
is  a very  remarkable  coincidence.  It  is  just  what  the  Persian  Magi, 
who  were  Sun  worshipers,  were  in  the  habit  of  doing. 

When  a Manichgean  Christian  came  over  to  the  orthodox  Chris- 
tians, he  was  required  to  curse  his  former  friends  in  the  following 
terms  : 

“ I curse  Zarades  (Zoroaster  ?)  who,  Maues  said,  had  appeared  as  a god 
before  his  time  among  the  Indians  and  Persians,  and  whom  he  calls  the  Sun. 
I curse  those  who  say  Christ  is  the  Sun,  and  who  make  prayers  to  the  Sun,  and 
who  do  not  pray  to  the  true  God,  only  towards  the  East,  but  who  turn  themselves 
round,  following  the  motions  of  the  Sun  with  their  innumerable  supplications. 
I curse  those  person  who  say  that  Zarades  and  Budas  and  Christ  and  the  Sun  are 
all  one  and  the  same” 

There  are  not  many  circumstances  more  striking  than  that  of 
Christ  Jesus  being  originally  worshiped  under  the  form  of  a Lamb 
— the  actual  “ Lamb  of  God,  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world.”  As  we  have  already  seen  (in  Chap.  XX.),  it  was  not  till 
the  Council  of  Constantinople,  called  In  Trullo , held  so  late  as  the 
year  707,  that  pictures  of  Christ  Jesus  were  ordered  to  be  drawn 
in  the  form  of  a man.  It  was  ordained  that,  in  the  place  of  the  fig- 
ure of  a Lamb,  the  symbol  used  to  that  time,  the  figure  of  a man 
nailed  to  a cross,  should  in  future  be  used.1  From  this  decree,  the 
identity  of  the  worship  of  the  Celestial  Lamb  and  the  Christian 
Saviour  is  certified  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt,  and  the  mode 
by  which  the  ancient  superstitions  were  propagated  is  satisfactorily 
shown.  Nothing  can  more  clearly  prove  the  general  practice  than 
the  order  of  a council  to  regulate  it. 

The  worship  of  the  constellation  of  Aries  was  the  worship  of 
the  Sun  in  his  passage  through  that  sign.  “ This  constellation  was 


1 Following  are  the  words  of  the  decree 
now  in  the  Vatican  library:  “In  quibusdam 
sanctorum  imaginum  picturis  agnus  exprimitur, 
&c.  Nos  igitur  ve teres  figuras  atque  umbras, 
et  veritatis  notas,  et  signa  ecclesiae  tradita, 
complectentes,  gratiam,  et  veritatem  anteponi- 


mus,  quam  ut  plenitudinem  legis  acceptimus. 
Itaque  id  quod  perfectum  est,  in  picturis  etiam 
omnium  oculis  subjiciamus,  agnum  ilium  qui 
mundi  peccatum  tollit,  Christum  Deum  nos- 
trum, loco  veteris  Ayni,  humana  forma  posthae 
exprimendum  decrevimus,”  &c. 


504 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


called  by  the  ancients  the  Lamb  of  God.  He  was  also  called  the 
Saviour , and  was  said  to  save  mankind  from  their  sins.  He  was 
always  honored  with  the  appellation  of  Dominus  or  Lord.  He  was 
called  The  Lamb  of  God  which  taheth  away  the  sins  of  the  world. 
The  devotees  addressed  him  in  their  litany,  constantly  repeating  the 
words,  4 0 Lamb  of  God , that  taheth  away  the  sins  of  the  world* , 
have  mercy  upon  us.  Grant  us  thy  peace?  55 

On  an  ancient  medal  of  the  Phenicians , brought  by  Dr.  Clark 
from  Citium  (and  described  in  his  “ Travels,5’  vol.  ii.  cli.  xi.)  this 
Lamb  of  God  is  described  with  the  Cross  and  the  Rosary,  which 
shows  that  they  were  both  used  in  his  worship. 

Yearly  the  Sun-god,  as  the  zodiacal  horse  (Aries)  was  supposed 
by  the  Yedic  Aryans  to  die  to  save  all  flesh.  Hence  the  practice 
of  sacrificing  horses.  The  “ guardian  spirits 55  of  the  prince  Sakya 
Buddha  sing  the  following  hymn  : 

“ Once  when  thou  wast  the  white  hone? 

In  pity  for  the  suffering  of  man, 

Thou  didst  fly  across  heaven  to  the  region  of  the  evil  demons, 

To  secure  the  happiness  of  mankind. 

Persecutions  without  end, 

Kevilings  and  many  prisons, 

Death  and  murder  ; 

These  hast  thou  suffered  with  love  and  patience, 

Forgiving  thine  executioners .”1 2 

We  have  seen,  in  Chapter  XXXIII.,  that  Christ  Jesus  was  also 
symbolized  as  a Fish , and  that  it  is  to  be  seen  on  all  the  ancient 
Christian  monuments.  But  what  has  the  Christian  Saviour  to  do 
with  a Fish  f Why  was  he  called  a Fish  f The  answer  is,  because 
the  fish  was  another  emblem  of  the  Sun.  Abarbanel  says  : 

“The  sign  of  his  (Christ’s)  coming  is  the  junction  of  Saturn  and  Jupiter,  in 

the  Sign  Pisces.”3 

Applying  the  astronomical  emblem  of  Pisces  to  Jesus,  does  not 
seem  more  absurd  than  applying  the  astronomical  emblem  of  the 
Lamb.  They  applied  to  him  the  monogram  of  the  Sun,  IHS,  the 
astronomical  and  alchemical  sign  of  Aries,  or  the  ram,  or  Lamb  T ; 
and,  in  short,  what  was  there  that  was  Heathenish  that  they  have 
not  applied  to  him  ? 

The  preserving  god  Yishnu,  the  Sun,  was  represented  as  a fish, 
and  so  was  the  Syrian  Sun-god  Dagon,  who  was  also  a Preserver  or 
Saviour.  The  Fish  was  sacred  among  many  nations  of  antiquity, 

1 “ The  solar  horse,  with  two  serpents  upon  p.  110.) 
bis  head  (the  Buddhist  Aries)  is  Buddha’s  sym-  2 Quoted  by  Lillie  : Buddha  and  Early  Budd- 

bol,  and  Aries  is  the  symbol  of  Christ.”  hism,  p.  93. 

(Arthur  Lillie  : Buddha  and  Early  Buddhism,  8 Quoted  by  King  : The  Gnostics  &c.,  p.  138. 


EXPLANATION. 


505 


and  is  to  be  seen  on  their  monuments.  Thus  we  see  that  every- 
thing at  last  centres  in  the  Sun. 

Constantine,  the  first  Christian  emperor,  had  on  his  coins  the 
figure  of  the  Sun,  with  the  legend : “ To  the  Invincible  Sun,  my 
companion  and  guardian,”  as  being  a representation,  says  Mr.  King, 
“ either  of  the  ancient  Phoebus,  or  the  new  Sun  of  Righteousness, 
equally  acceptable  to  both  Christian  and  Gentile,  from  the  double 
interpretation  of  which  the  type  was  susceptible.”1 

The  worship  of  the  Sun,  under  the  name  of  Mithra,  “ long  sur- 
vived in  Rome,  under  the  Christian  emperors , 
and,  doubtless,  much  longer  in  the  remoter  dis- 
tricts of  the  semi-indepenaent  provinces.”2 

Christ  Jesus  is  represented  with  a halo  of 
glory  surrounding  his  head,  a florid  complexion, 
long  golden  locks  of  hair,  and  a flowing  robe. 

Now,  all  /iSWi-gods,  from  Crishna  of  India  (Fig. 

No.  41)  to  Baldur  of  Scandinavia,  are  repre- 
sented with  a halo  of  glory  surrounding  their 
heads,  and  the  flowing  locks  of  golden  hair,  and 
the  flowing  robe,  are  not  wanting.3  By  a process  of  metaphor,  the  rays 


1 Quoted  by  King  : The  Gnostics,  &c.,p.  49. 

2 Ibid.  p.  45. 

* Indi  a,  the  crucified  Sun-god  of  the  Hin- 
doos, was  represented  with  golden  locks. 
(Cox  : Aryan  Myths,  vol,  i.  p.  341.) 

Mithras,  the  Persian  Saviour,  was  repre- 
sented with  long  flowing  locks. 

lzdubar,  the  god  and  hero  of  the  Chaldeans, 
was  represented  with  long  flowing  locks  of 
hair  (Smith : Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis, 
p.  193),  and  so  was  his  counterpart,  the  Hebrew 
Samson. 

“ The  Sakya-prince  (Buddha)  is  described 
as  an  Aryan  by  Buddhistic  tradition ; his  face 
was  reddish,  his  hair  of  light  color  and  curly, 
his  general  appearance  of  great  beauty.” 
(Bunsen  : The  Angel-Messiah,  p.  15.) 

“ Serapis  has,  in  some  instances,  long  hair 
formally  turned  back,  and  disposed  in  ringlets 
hanging  down  upon  his  breast  and  shoulders 
like  that  of  a woman.  His  whole  person,  too, 
is  always  enveloped  in  drapery  reaching  to  his 
feet.”  (Knight : Ancient  Art  and  Mythology, 
p.  104.) 

“As  for  yellow  hair,  there  is  no  evidence 
that  Greeks  have  ever  commonly  possessed  it ; 
but  no  other  color  would  do  for  a solar  hero, 
and  it  accordingly  characterizes  the  entire 
company  of  them,  wherever  found.”  (Fiske  : 
Myths  and  Mythmakers,  p.  202.) 

Helios  (the  Sun)  is  called  by  the  Greeks  the 
“yellow-haired.”  (Goldzhier  : Hebrew Mytho., 
p.  137.) 

The  Sun’s  ravs  is  signified  by  the  flowing 


golden  locks  which  stream  from  the  head  of 
Kephalos,  and  fall  over  the  shoulders  of  Bel- 
lerphon.  (Cox : Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  i.  p. 
107.) 

Perseus,  son  of  the  virgin  Danae,  was  called 
the  “ Golden  Child.”  (Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  58.) 
“ The  light  of  early  morning  is  not  more  pure 
than  was  the  color  on  his  fair  cheeks,  and  the 
golden  locks  streamed  bright  over  his  shoul- 
ders, like  the  rays  of  the  sun  when  they  rest  on 
the  hills  at  midday.”  (Tales  of  Ancient 
Greece,  p.  83.) 

The  Saviour  Dionysus  wore  a long  flowing 
robe,  and  had  long  golden  hair,  which  streamed 
from  his  head  over  his  shoulders.  (Aryan 
Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  293.) 

Ixion  was  the  “Beautiful  and  Mighty,” 
with  golden  hair  flashing  a glory  from  his  head, 
dazzling  as  the  rays  which  stream  from  Helios, 
when  he  drives  his  chariot  up  the  heights  of 
heaven  ; and  his  flowing  robe  glistened  as  he 
moved,  like  the  vesture  which  the  Sun-god 
gave  to  the  wise  maiden  Medeia,  who  dwelt  in 
Kolchis.  (Tales  of  Ancient  Greece,  p.  47.) 

Theseus  enters  the  city  of  Athens,  as  Christ 
Jesus  is  said  to  have  entered  Jerusalem,  with  a 
long  flowing  robe,  and  with  his  golden  hair  tied 
gracefully  behind  his  head.  His  ‘ ‘ soft  beauty  ’ ’ 
excites  the  mockery  of  the  populace,  who 
pause  in  their  work  to  jest  with  Uim.  (Cox : 
Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  63.) 

Thus  we  see  that  long  locks  of  golden  hair, 
and  a flowing  robe,  are  mythological  attributes 
of  the  Sun. 


6 06 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


of  the  Sun  were  changed  into  golden  hair,  into  spears  and  lances, 
and  robes  of  light.  From  the  shoulders  of  Phoibus  Lykegenes,  the 
light-born,  flow  the  sacred  locks  over  which  no  razor  might  pass. 
On  the  head  of  Hisos,  as  on  that  of  Samson,  they  became  a palla- 
dium invested  with  a mysterious  power.  From  Helios,  the  Sun, 
who  can  scorch  as  well  as  warm,  comes  the  robe  of  Medeia,  which 
appears  in  the  poisoned  garments  of  Deianeira.1 

We  see,  then,  that  Christ  Jesus,  like  Christ  Buddha,2  Crishna, 
Mithra,  Osiris,  Horus,  Apollo,  Hercules  and  others,  is  none  other 
than  a personification  of  the  Sun,  and  that  the  Christians,  like  their 
predecessors  the  Pagans,  are  really  Sun  worshipers.  It  must  not 
be  inferred,  however,  that  we  advocate  the  theory  that  no  such  per- 
son as  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ever  lived  in  the  flesh.  The  man  Jesus 
is  evidently  an  historical  personage,  just  as  the  Sakaya  prince 
Buddha,  Cyrus,  King  of  Persia,  and  Alexander,  King  of  Macedonia, 
are  historical  personages;  but  the  Christ  Jesus,  the  Christ  Buddha, 
the  mythical  Cyrus,  and  the  mythical  Alexander,  never  lived  in  the 
flesh.  The  Sun-myth  has  been  added  to  the  histories  of  these  per- 
sonages, in  a greater  or  less  degree,  just  as  it  has  been  added  to  the 
history  of  many  other  real  personages.  If  it  be  urged  that  the 
attribution  to  Christ  Jesus  of  qualities  or  powers  belonging  to  the 
Pagan  deities  would  hardly  seem  reasonable,  the  answer  must  be 
that  nothing  is  done  in  his  case  which  has  not  been  done  in  the 
case  of  almost  every  other  member  of  the  great  company  of  the 
gods.  The  tendency  of  myths  to  reproduce  themselves , with  differ- 
ences only  of  names  and  local  coloring , becomes  especially  mani- 
fest after  perusing  the  legendary  histories  of  the  gods  of  antiquity. 
It  is  a fact  demonstrated  by  history,  that  when  one  nation  of  an- 
tiquity came  in  contact  with  another,  they  adopted  each  other’s 
myths  without  hesitation.  After  the  Jews  had  been  taken  captives 
to  Babylon,  around  the  history  of  their  King  Solomon  accumulated 
the  fables  which  were  related  of  Persian  heroes.  When  the  fame 
of  Cyrus  and  Alexander  became  knowm  over  the  then  known  world, 
the  popular  Sun-myth  was  interwoven  with  their  true  history.  The 
mythical  history  of  Perseus  is,  in  all  its  essential  features,  the  his- 
tory of  the  Attic  hero  Theseus,  and  of  the  Theban  (Edipus,  and 
they  all  reappear  with  heightened  colors  in  the  myths  of  Hercules. 
We  have  the  same  thing  again  in  the  mythical  and  religious  history 
of  Crishna ; it  is,  in  nearly  all  its  essential  features,  the  history  of 


1 Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  i.  p.  49.  “Anointed,”  or  the  “Messiah,”  and  that  many 

2 We  have  already  seen  (in  Chapter  XX.)  other  personages  beside  Jesus  of  Nazareth  had 

that  the  word  “ Christ  ” signifies  the  this  title  affixed  to  their  names. 


EXPLANATION. 


507 


Buddha,  and  reappears  again,  with  heightened  colors,  in  the  history 
of  Christ  Jesus.  The  myths  of  Buddha  and  Jesus  differ  from  the 
legends  of  the  other  virgin-born  Saviours  only  in  the  fact  that  in 
their  cases  it  has  gathered  round  unquestionably  historical  person- 
ages. In  other  words,  an  old  myth  has  been  added  to  names  un- 
doubtedly historical.  But  it  cannot  be  too  often  repeated  that  from 
the  myth  we  learn  nothing  of  their  history.  How  much  we  really 
know  of  the  man  Jesus  will  be  considered  in  our  next,  and  last, 
chapter.1  That  his  biography,  as  recorded  in  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  contains  some  few  grains  of  actual  history,  is  all  that 
the  historian  or  philosopher  can  rationally  venture  to  urge.  Bat 
the  very  process  which  has  stripped  these  legends  of  all  value  as  a 
chronicle  of  actual  events  has  invested  them  with  a new  interest. 
Less  than  ever  are  they  worthless  fictions  which  the  historian  or 
philosopher  may  afford  to  despise.  These  legends  of  the  birth,  life, 
and  death  of  the  Sun,  present  to  us  a form  of  society  and  a condi- 
tion of  thought  through  which  all  mankind  had  to  pass  before  the 
dawn  of  history.  Yet  that  state  of  things  was  as  real  as  the  time 
in  which  we  live.  They  who  spoke  the  language  of  these  early 
tales  were  men  and  women  with  joys  and  sorrows  not  unlike  our 
own.  In  the  following  verses  of  Martianus  Capella,  the  universal 
veneration  for  the  Sun  is  clearly  shown  : 

“Latium  invokes  thee,  Sol,  because  thou  alone  art  in  honor,  after  the  Father, 
the  centre  of  light ; and  they  affirm  that  thy  sacred  head  bears  a golden  bright- 
ness in  twelve  rays,  because  thou  formest  that  number  of  months  and  that  num- 
ber of  hours.  They  say  that  thou  guidest  four  winged  steeds,  because  thou 
alone  rulest  the  chariot  of  the  elements.  For,  dispelling  the  darkness,  thou  re- 
vealest  the  shining  heavens.  Hence  they  esteem  thee,  Phoebus,  the  discoverer  of 
the  secrets  of  the  future  ; or,  because  thou  preventest  nocturnal  crimes.  Egypt 
worships  thee  as  Serapis,  and  Memphis  as  Osiris.  Thou  art  worshiped  by  dif- 
ferent rites  as  Mithra,  Dis,  and  the  cruel  Typhon.  Thou  art  alone  the  beautiful 
Atys,  and  the  fostering  son  of  the  bent  plough.  Thou  art  the  Ammon  of  arid 
Libya,  and  the  Adonis  of  Byblos.  Thus  under  a varied  appelation  the  whole  world 
worship  thee.  Hail ! thou  true  image  of  the  gods,  and  of  thy  father’s  face  ! thou 
whose  sacred  name,  surname,  and  omen,  three  letters  make  to  agree  with  the 
number  608. 2 Grant  us,  oh  Father,  to  reach  the  eternal  intercourse  of  mind, 
and  to  know  the  starry  heaven  under  this  sacred  name.  May  the  great  and  uni- 
versally adorable  Father  increase  these  his  favors.” 


1 The  theory  which  has  been  set  forth  in  Sun,  are  the  celebrated  I.  S.  H.,  which  are  to  be 
this  chapter,  is  also  more  fully  illustrated  in  seen  in  Roman  Catholic  churches  at  the  present 

Appendix  C.  day,  and  which  are  now  the  monogram  of  the 

8 These  three  letters,  the  monogram  of  the  Sun-god  Christ  Jesus.  (See  Chapter  XXXVI.) 


CHAPTER  XL. 


CONCLUSION. 

We  now  come  to  the  last,  but  certainly  not  least,  question  to  be 
answered ; which  is,  what  do  we  really  know  of  the  man  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ? How  much  of  the  Gospel  narratives  can  we  rely  upon 
as  fact  ? 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  so  enveloped  in  the  mists  of  the  past,  and 
his  history  so  obscured  by  legend,  that  it  may  be  compared  to 
footprints  in  the  sand.  We  know  some  one  has  been  there,  but  as 
to  what  manner  of  man  he  may  have  been,  we  certainly  know  little 
as  fact.  The  Gospels,  the  only  records  we  have  of  him ,x  have  been 
proven,  over  and  over  again,  unhistorical  and  legendary ; to  state 
anything  as  positive  about  the  man  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
assumption  ; we  can  therefore  conjecture  only.  Liberal  writers  phil- 
osophize and  wax  eloquent  to  little  purpose,  when,  after  demolish- 
ing the  historical  accuracy  of  the  New  Testament,  they  end  their 
task  by  eulogizing  the  man  Jesus,  claiming  for  him  the  highest 
praise,  and  asserting  that  he  was  the  best  and  grandest  of  our  race  ;1 2 
but  this  manner  of  reasoning  (undoubtedly  consoling  to  msmy) facts 
do  not  warrant.  We  may  consistently  revere  his  name,  and  place 
it  in  the  long  list  of  the  great  and  noble,  the  reformers  and  religious 
teachers  of  the  past,  all  of  whom  have  done  their  part  in  bringing 
about  the  freedom  we  now  enjoy,  but  to  go  beyond  this,  is,  to  our 
thinking,  unwarranted. 

If  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  related  in  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament,  be  in  part  the  story  of  a man  who  really  lived  and 
suffered,  that  story  has  been  so  interwoven  with  images  borrowed 


1 “ For  knowledge  of  the  man  Jesus,  of  his  thought  him,  at  moments,  beside  himself;” 

idea  and  his  aims,  and  of  the  outvrard  form  of  and  that,  “ his  enemies  declared  him  possessed 

his  career,  th  eNew  Testament  is  our  only  hope.  by  a devil,”  says  : “The  man  here  delineated 

If  this  hope  fails,  the  pillared  firmament  of  his  merits  a place  at  the  summit  of  human  gran- 

starry  fame  is  rottenness  ; the  base  of  Christi-  deur.”  “This  is  the  Supreme  man,  a sublime 

anity,  so  far  as  it  was  personal  and  individual,  personage;”  “to  call  him  divine  is  no  exag- 

is  built  on  stubble.”  (John  W.  Chadwick.)  gcration.”  Other  liberal  writers  have  written 

a M.  Renan,  after  declaring  Jesus  to  be  a in  the  same  strain.  * 

“fanatic”  and  admitting  that,  “his  friends 

508 


CONCLUSION. 


509 


from  myths  of  a bygone  age,  as  to  conceal  forever  any  fragments 
of  history  which  may  lie  beneath  them.  Gautama  Buddha  was  un- 
doubtedly an  historical  personage,  yet  the  Sun -god  myth  has  been 
added  to  his  history  to  such  an  extent  that  we  really  know  nothing 
positive  about  him.  Alexander  the  Great  was  an  historical  person- 
age, yet  his  history  is  one  mass  of  legends.  So  it  is  with  Julius 
Cesar,  Cyrus,  King  of  Persia,  and  scores  of  others.  “ The  story  of 
Cyrus’  perils  in  infancy  belongs  to  solar  mythology  as  much  as  the 
stories  of  the  magic  slipper,  of  Charlemagne  and  Barbarossa.  Bis 
grandfather,  Astyages,  is  purely  a mythical  creation,  his  name  being 
identical  with  that  of  the  night  demon,  Azidahaka,  who  appears  in 
the  Shah-Nameh  as  the  biting  serpent.” 

The  actual  Jesus  is  inaccessible  to  scientific  research.  His  image 
cannot  be  recovered.  He  left  no  memorial  in  writing  of  himself ; 
his  followers  were  illiterate ; the  mind  of  his  age  was  confused. 
Paul  received  only  traditions  of  him,  how  definite  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing,  apparently  not  significant  enough  to  be  treasured,  nor 
consistent  enough  to  oppose  a barrier  to  his  own  speculations.  As 
M.  Kenan  says : “ The  Christ  who  communicates  private  revelations 
to  him  is  a phantom  of  his  own  making  ;”  “ it  is  himself  he  listens 
to,  while  fancying  that  he  hears  Jesus”' 

In  studying  the  writings  of  the  early  advocates  of  Christianity, 
and  Fathers  of  the  Christian  Church,  where  we  would  naturally  look 
£jr  the  language  that  would  indicate  the  real  occurrence  of  the  facts 
of  the  Gospel  — if  real  occurrences  they  had  ever  been — we  not 
only  find  no  such  language,  but  everywhere  find  every  sort  of 
sophistical  ambages,  ramblings  from  the  subject,  and  evasions  of 
the  very  business  before  them,  as  if  on  purpose  to  balk  our  research, 
and  insult  our  skepticism.  If  we  travel  to  the  very  sepulchre  of 
Christ  Jesus,  it  is  only  to  discover  that  he  was  never  there : history 
seeks  evidence  of  his  existence  as  a man,  but  finds  no  more  trace  of 
it  than  of  the  shadow  that  flits  across  the  wall.  “The  Star  of 
Bethlehem  ” shone  not  upon  her  path,  and  the  order  of  the  universe 
was  suspended  without  her  observation. 

She  asks,  with  the  Magi  of  the  East,  “ Where  is  he  that  is  born 
King  of  the  Jews?”  and,  like  them,  finds  no  solution  of  her  in- 
quiry, but  the  guidance  that  guides  as  well  to  one  place  as  another ; 
descriptions  that  apply  to  JEsculapius,  Buddha  and  Crishna,  as  well 

1 “ The  Christ  of  Paul  was  not  a person,  evolved  from  his  own  feeling  and  imagination, 
but  an  idea;  he  took  no  pains  to  learn  the  facts  and  taking  on  new  powers  and  attributes  from 
about  the  individual  Jesus.  He  actually  year  to  year  to  suit  each  new  emergency.” 
boasted  that  the  Apostles  had  taught  him  (John  W.  Chadwick.) 
nothing.  His  Christ  was  an  ideal  conception, 


510 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


as  to  Jesus ; prophecies,  without  evidence  that  they  were  ever 
prophesied  ; miracles,  which  those  who  are  said  to  have  seen,  are 
said  also  to  have  denied  seeing;  narratives  without  authorities,  facts 
without  dates,  and  records  without  names.  In  vain  do  the  so-called 
disciples  of  Jesus  point  to  the  passages  in  Josephus  and  Tacitus;1 
in  vain  do  they  point  to  the  spot  on  which  he  was  crucified ; to  the 
fragments  of  the  true  cross,  or  the  nails  with  which  he  was  pierced, 
and  to  the  tomb  in  which  he  was  laid.  Others  have  done  as  much 
for  scores  of  mythological  personages  who  never  lived  in  the  flesh. 
Did  not  Damis,  the  beloved  disciple  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  while 
on  his  way  to  India,  see,  on  Mt.  Caucasus,  the  identical  chains  with 
which  Prometheus  had  been  bound  to  the  rocks  ? Did  not  the 
Scythians2 3  say  that  Hercules  had  visited  their  country  ? and  did 
they  not  show  the  print  of  his  foot  upon  a rock  to  substantiate  their 
story  V Was  not  his  tomb  to  be  seen  at  Cadiz,  where  his  bones  were 
shown?4 *  Was  not  the  tomb  of  Bacchus  to  be  seen  in  Greece?8 
Was  not  the  tomb  of  Apollo  to  be  seen  at  Delphi?6  Was  not  the 
tomb  of  Achilles  to  be  seen  at  Dodona,  where  Alexander  the  Great 
honored  it  by  placing  a crown  upon  it  V Was  not  the  tomb  of  vEs- 
culapius  to  be  seen  in  Arcadia,  in  a grove  consecrated  to  him,  near 
the  river  Lusius  ?8  Was  not  the  tomb  oi  Deucalion — he  who  was 
saved  from  the  Deluge — long  pointed  out  near  the  sanctuary  of 
Olympian  Jove,  in  Athens?9  Was  not  the  tomb  of  Osiris  to  be 
seen  in  Egypt,  where,  at  stated  seasons,  the  priests  went  in  solemn 
procession,  and  covered  it  with  flowers?10  Was  not  the  tomb  of 
Jonah — he  who  was  “ swallowed  up  by  a big  fish” — to  be  seen  at 
Nebi-Yunus,  near  Mosul  ?n  Are  not  the  tombs  of  Adam,  Eve,  Cain, 
Abel,  Seth,  Abraham,  and  other  Old  Testament  characters,  to  be 
seen  even  at  the  present  day  ?12  And  did  not  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tine dedicate  a beautiful  church  over  the  tomb  of  St.  George,  the 
warrior  saint  ?13  Of  what  value,  then,  is  such  evidence  of  the  exist- 
ence of  such  an  individual  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth?  The  fact  is,  “the 
records  of  his  life  are  so  very  scanty,  and  these  have  been  so  shaped 
and  colored  and  modified  by  the  hands  of  ignorance  and  superstition 


1 This  subject  is  considered  in  Appendix  D. 

2 Scythia  was  a name  employed  in  ancient 
times,  to  denote  a vast,  indefinite,  and  almost 
unknown  territory  north  and  east  of  the  Black 
Sea,  the  Caspian,  and  the  Sea  of  Aral. 

3 See  Herodotus,  book  4,  ch.  82. 

4 See  Dupuis,  p.  264. 

6 See  Knight's  Anct.  Art  and  Mythology,  p. 

96,  and  Mysteries  of  Adoni,  p.  90 


6 See  Dupuis,  p.  264. 

7 See  Bell’s  Pantheon,  vol.  i.  p.  7. 

8 See  Ibid.  yol.  i.  p.  27. 

» Ibid. 


10  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  2,  and  Bonwick,  p.  155. 

11  See  Chambers,  art.  “Jonah.” 

13  See  Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  i.  p.  152,  and 
Goldzhier,  p.  280. 

13  See  Curious  Myths,  p.  264. 


CONCL  fSION. 


511 


and  party  prejudice  and  ecclesiastical  purpose,  that  it  is  hard  to  be 
sure  of  the  original  outlines.” 

In  the  first  two  centuries  the  professors  of  Christianity  were  di- 
vided into  many  sects,  but  these  might  be  all  resolved  into  two 
divisions — one  consisting  of  JSTazarenes,  Ebionites,  and  orthodox  ; 
the  other  of  Gnostics , under  which  all  the  remaining  sects  arranged 
themselves.  The  former  are  supposed  to  have  believed  in  Jesus 
crucified,  in  the  common,  literal  acceptation  of  the  term  ; the  latter 
— believers  in  the  Christ  as  an  JEon — though  they  admitted  the 
crucifixion,  considered  it  to  have  been  in  some  mystic  way — per- 
haps what  might  be  called  sjpiritualiter , as  it  is  called  in  the  Revela- 
tion : but  notwithstanding  the  different  opinions  they  held,  they  all 
denied  that  the  Christ  did  really  die,  in  the  literal  acceptation  of  the 
term,  on  the  cross.1  The  Gnostic,  or  Oriental,  Christians  undoubt- 
edly took  their  doctrine  from  the  Indian  crucifixion ? (of  which  we 
have  treated  in  Chapters  XX.  and  XXXIX.),  as  well  as  many  other 
tenets  with  which  we  have  found  the  Christian  Church  deeply 
tainted.  They  held  that : 

“To  deliver  the  soul,  a captive  in  darkness,  the  ‘ Prince  of  Light,’  the  ‘ Genius 
of  the  Sun,’  charged  with  the  redemption  of  the  intellectual  world,  of  which  the 
Sun  is  the  type,  manifested  itself  among  men  ; that  the  light  appeared  in  the 
darkness,  but  the  darkness  comprehended  it  not  ; that,  in  fact,  light  could  not 
unite  with  darkness  ; it  put  on  only  the  appearance  of  the  human  body  ; that  at 
the  crucifixion  Christ  Jesus  only  appeared  to  suffer.  His  person  having  disap- 
peared, the  bystanders  saw  in  his  place  a cross  of  light,  over  which  a celestial 
voice  proclaimed  these  words  ; 4 The  Cross  of  Light  is  called  Logos,  Christos, 
the  Gate,  the  Joy.’  ” 

Several  of  the  texts  of  the  Gospel  histories  were  quoted  with 
great  plausibility  by  the  Gnostics  in  support  of  their  doctrine.  The 
story  of  Jesus  passing  through  the  midst  of  the  Jews  when  they 
were  about  to  cast  him  headlong  from  the  brow  of  a hill  (Luke  iv. 
29,  30),  and  when  they  were  going  to  stone  him  (John  iii.  59 ; x.  31, 
39),  were  examples  not  easily  refuted. 

The  Manicliean  Christian  Bishop  Faustus  expresses  himself  in 
the  following  manner : 

“ Do  you  receive  the  gospel  ? (ask  ye).  Undoubtedly  I do  ! Why  then, 


^‘Whilst,  in  one  part  of  the  Christian 
world,  the  chief  objects  of  interest  were  the 
human  nature  and  human  life  of  Jesus,  in  an- 
other part  of  the  Christian  world  the  views 
taken  of  his  person  because  so  idealistic , that 
his  humanity  was  reduced  to  a phantom  without 
reality.  The  various  Gnostic  systems  generally 
agreed  in  saying  that  the  Christ  was  an  jflon, 
the  redeemer  of  the  spirits  of  men,  and  that 


he  had  little  or  no  contact  with  their  corporeal 
nature.”  (A.  Reville  : Hist,  of  the  Dogma  of 
the  Deity  of  Jesus.) 

2 Epiphanius  says  that  there  were  twenty 
heresies  before  Christ,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  there  is  much  truth  in  the  observa- 
tion, for  most  of  the  rites  and  doctrines  of  the 
Christians  of  all  sects  existed  before  the  time 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 


512 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


you  also  admit  that  Christ  was  born  ? Not  so  ; for  it  by  no  means  follows  that 
in  believing  the  gospel,  I should  therefore  believe  that  Christ  was  born  ! Do 
you  then  think  that  he  was  of  the  Virgin  Mary  ? Manes  hath  said,  ‘ Far  be  it 
that  I should  ever  own  that  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ etc.1 2 

Tertullian’s  manner  of  reasoning  on  the  evidences  of  Christi- 
anity is  also  in  the  same  vein,  as  we  saw  in  onr  last  chapter.3 

Mr.  King,  speaking  of  the  Gnostic  Christians,  says  : 

“Their  chief  doctrines  had  been  held  for  centuries  before  (their  time)  in  many 
of  the  cities  in  Asia  Minor.  There,  it  is  probable,  they  first  came  into  existence 
as  Mystce , upon  the  establishment  of  direct  intercourse  with  India,  under  the  Se- 
leucidae  and  Ptolemies.  The  college  of  Essenes  and  Megabyzce  at  Ephesus,  the 
Orpines  of  Thrace,  the  Curets  of  Crete,  are  all  merely  branches  of  one  antique  and 
common  religion,  and  that  originally  Asiatic  ”z 

These  early  Christian  Mystics  are  alluded  to  in  several  instances 
in  the  New  Testament.  For  example  : 

“ Every  spirit  that  confesseth  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  of  God  ; 
and  every  spirit  that  confesseth  not  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh  is  not 
of  God.”4  For  many  deceivers  are  entered  into  the  world,  who  confess  not  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh.”5 

This  is  language  that  could  not  have  been  used,  if  the  reality  of 
Christ  Jesus5  existence  as  a man  could  not  have  been  denied,  or,  it 
would  certainly  seem,  if  the  apostle  himself  had  been  able  to  give 
any  evidence  whatever  of  the  claim. 

The  quarrels  on  this  subject  lasted  for  a long  time  among  the 
early  Christians.  Hernias , speaking  of  this,  says  to  the  brethren : 

“ Take  heed,  my  children,  that  your  dissensions  deprive  you  not  of  your  lives. 
How  will  ye  instruct  the  elect  of  God,  when  ye  yourselves  want  correction  ? 
Wherefore  admonish  one  another,  and  be  at  peace  among  yourselves  ; that  I, 
standing  before  your  father,  may  give  an  account  of  you  unto  the  Lord.”6 

Ignatius , in  his  Epistle  to  the  Smyrnseans,  says  :7 

“ Only  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  I undergo  all,  to  suffer  together  with 
him  ; he  who  was  made  a perfect  man  strengthening  me.  Whom  some,  not 
knowing,  do  deny  ; or  rather  have  been  denied  by  him,  being  the  advocates  of 
death,  rather  than  of  the  truth.  Whom  neither  the  prophecies,  nor  the  law  of 
Moses,  have  persuaded  ; nor  the  Gospel  itself  even  to  this  day,  nor  the  sufferings 


1 “ Accipis  avengelium  ? et  maxime.  Pro- 
inde  ergo  et  natum  accipis  Christum.  Non  ita 
est.  Neque  enim  sequitur  ut  si  evangelium 
accipio,  idcirco  et  natum  accipiam  Christum. 
Ergo  non  putas  eum  ex  Maria  Virgine  esse  ? 
Manes  dixit,  Absit  ut  Dominum  nostrum  Jesum 
Christum  per  naturalia  pudenda  mulieris  de 
scendisse  confitear.”  (Lardner’s  Works,  voi. 
iv.  p.  20.) 

2 “ I maintain,”  says  he,  “that  the  Son  of 

God  was  born : why  am  I not  ashamed  of  main- 

taining such  a thing  ’ Why  1 because  it  is 


itself  a shameful  thing— I maintain  that  the  Son 
of  God  died : well,  that  is  wholly  credible  be- 
cause it  is  monstrously  absurd.  I maintain 
that  after  having  been  buried,  he  rose  again  : 
and  that  I take  to  be  absolutely  true,  because 
it  was  manifestly  impossible .” 

8 King’s  Gnostics,  p.  1. 

* I.  John,  iv.  2,  3. 

6 II.  John,  7. 

• 1st  Book  Hennas  : Apoc  , ch.  ill. 

7 Chapter  II. 


CONCLUSION 


613 


of  any  one  of  us.  For  they  think  also  the  same  thing  of  us  ; for  what  does  a man 
profit  me,  if  he  shall  praise  me,  and  blaspheme  my  Lord  ; not  confessing  that  he 
was  truly  made  man  t ” 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Philadelphians  he  says  :l 

“I  have  heard  of  some  who  say,  unless  1 find  it  written  in  the  originals , I will 
not  believe  it  to  be  written  in  the  Gospel.  And  when  I said,  It  is  written,  they 
answered  what  lay  before  them  in  their  corrupted  copies.” 

Poly  carp , in  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  says  :a 

“ Whosoever  does  not  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  come  in  the  flesh,  he  is 
Antichrist : and  whosoever  does  not  confess  his  sufferings  upon  the  cross,  is  from 
the  devil.  And  whosoever  perverts  the  oracles  of  the  Lord  to  his  own  lusts  ; 
and  says  that  there  shall  neither  be  any  resurrection,  nor  judgment,  he  is  the 
first-born  of  Satan.” 

Ignatius  says  to  the  Magnesians  :* 

“Be  not  deceived  with  strange  doctrines  ; nor  with  old  fables  which  are  un- 
profitable. For  if  we  still  continue  to  live  according  to  the  Jewish  law,  we  do 
confess  ourselves  not  to  have  received  grace.  For  even  the  most  holy  prophets 
lived  according  to  Jesus  Christ.  . . . Wherefore  if  they  who  were  brought  up 
in  these  ancient  laws  came  nevertheless  to  the  newness  of  hope  ; no  longer  ob- 
serving Sabbaths,  but  keeping  the  Lord’s  Day,  in  which  also  our  life  is  sprung  up 
by  him,  and  through  his  death,  whom  yet  some  deny.  By  which  mystery  we  have 
been  brought  to  believe,  and  therefore  wait  that  we  may  be  found  the  disciples 

of  Jesus  Christ,  our  only  master These  things,  my  beloved,  I write 

unto  you,  not  that  I know  of  any  among  you  that  he  under  this  error  ; but  as  one 
of  the  least  among  you,  I am  desirous  to  forewarn  you  that  ye  fall  not  into  the 
snares  of  vain  doctrine.” 

After  reading  this  we  can  say  with  t\e  writer  of  Timothy,4 
“ Without  controversy,  great  is  the  mystery  of  godliness.” 

Beside  those  who  denied  that  Christ  Jesus  had  ever  been  mani- 
fest in  the  flesh , there  were  others  who  denied  that  he  had  been 
crucified.6  This  is  seen  from  the  words  of  Justin  Martyr,  in  his 
Apology  for  the  Christian  Religion,  written  a.  d.  141,  where  he 
says  : 

“As  to  the  objection  to  our  Jesus’s  being  crucified,  I say,  suffering  was  com- 
mon to  all  the  Sons  of  Jove.”6 

This  is  as  much  as  to  say : “ You  Pagans  claim  that  your  incar- 
nate gods  and  Saviours  suffered  and  died,  then  why  should  not  we 
claim  the  same  for  our  Saviour  ? ” 


* Chapter  H.  a Chapter  HL 

,3  Chapter  HI. 

4 I.  Timothy,  iii.  16. 

6 Irenaeus,  speaking  of  them,  says  : “ They 
hold  that  men  ought  not  to  confess  him  who 
was  crucified , but  him  who  came  in  the  form 
of  man,  and  was  supposed  to  be  crucified , and 
w£8  called  Jesus.”  (See  Lardner  : vol.  viii.  p. 


353.)  They  could  not  conceive  of  “ the  first- 
begotten  Son  of  God  ” being  put  to  death  on 
a cross,  and  suffering  like  an  ordinary  being, 
so  they  thought  Simon  of  Cyrene  must  have 
been  substituted  for  him,  as  the  ram  was 
substituted  in  the  place  of  Isaac.  (See  Ibid, 
p.  357.) 

• ^pol.  1,  ch.  xxi. 


514 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


The  Koran , referring  to  the  Jews,  says  : 

“ They  have  not  believed  in  Jesus,  and  have  spoken  against  Mary  a grievous 
calumny,  and  have  said  : ‘ Verily  we  have  slain  Christ  Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary *  * 
(the  apostle  of  God).  Tet  they  slew  him  not,  neither)'  crucified  him,  hut  he  was  rej>- 
resented  by  one  in  his  likeness.  And  verily  they  who  disagreed  concerning  him  wvr« 
in  a doubt  as  to  this  matter,  and  had  no  sure  knowledge  thereof,  but  followed  only  an. 
uncertain  opinion”' 

This  passage  alone,  from  the  Mohammedan  Bible,  is  sufficient 
to  show,  if  other  evidence  were  wanting,  that  the  early  Christians 
“ disagreed  concerning  him,”  and  that  “ they  had  no  sure  knowledge 
thereof,  hut  followed  only  an  uncertain  opinion.” 

In  the  books  which  are  now  called  Apooyphaly  hut  which  were 
the  most  quoted,  and  of  equal  authority  with  the  others,  and  which 
were  voted  not  the  W’ord  of  God — for  obvious  reasons — and  were 
therefore  cast  out  of  the  canon,  we  find  many  allusions  to  the  strife 
among  the  early  Christians.  For  instance ; in  the  “ First  Epistle 
of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,”3  we  read  as  follows  : 

“ Wherefore  are  there  strifes,  and  anger,  and  divisions,  and  schisms,  and 
wars,  among  us  ? . . . Why  do  we  rend  and  tear  in  pieces  the  members  of 
Christ,  and  raise  seditions  against  our  own  body  ? and  are  come  to  such  a height 
of' madness,  as  to  forget  that  we  are  members  one  of  another.” 

In  his  Epistle  to  the  Trallians,  Ignatius  says  :s 

“ I exhort  you,  or  rather  not  I,  but  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  use 
none  but  Christian  nourishment  ; abstaining  from  pasture  which  is  of  another 
kind.  I mean  Heresy.  For  they  that  are  heretics,  confound  together  the  doc- 
trine  of  Jesus  Christ  with  their  own  poison  ; whilst  they  seem  worthy  of  belief. 

. . . Stop  your  ea»  s,  therefore,  as  often  as  any  one  shall  speak  contrary  to 

Jesus  Christ,  who  was  of  the  race  of  David,  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  Who  was  truly 
born,  and  did  eat  and  drink;  was  ttaly  persecuted  under  Pontius  Pilate;  was 
truly  crucified  and  dead ; both  those  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  and  under  the  earth, 
being  spectators  of  it.  . . . But  if,  as  some  who  are  atheists,  that  is  to  say, 

infidels,  pretend,  that  he  only  seemed  to  suffer,  why  then  am  I bound  ? Why  do  I 
desire  to  fight  with  beasts  ? Therefore  do  I die  in  vain.” 

We  find  St.  Paul,  the  very  first  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  ex- 
pressly avowing  that  he  was  made  a minister  of  the  gospel , which 
had  already  "been  preached  to  every  creature  under  heaven  * and 
preaching  a God  manifest  in  the  flesh , who  had  been  believed  on 
in  the  world*  therefore,  before  the  commencement  of  his  ministry; 
and  who  could  not  have  been  the  man  of  Nazareth,  who  had  cer- 
tainly not  been  preached,  at  that  time , nor  generally  believed  on  in 
the  world,  till  ages  after  that'time.6  "We  find  also  that : 


1 Koran,  ch.  iv. 
* Chapter  XX. 

8 Chapter  II. 


« Col.  i.  23. 

• I.  Timothy,  iil.  16. 

• The  authenticity  of  these  Epistles  haa 


CONCLUSION. 


515 


1.  This  Paul  owns  himself  a deacon. , the  lowest  ecclesiastical 
grade  of  the  Therapeutan  church. 

2.  The  Gospel  of  which  these  Epistles  speak,  had  been  ex- 
tensively preached  and  fully  established  before  the  time  of  Jesus, 
by  the  Therapeuts  or  Essenes,  who  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  the 
Angel-Messiah,  the  ASon  from  heaven.* 1 

Leo  the  Great,  so-called  (a.  d.  440-461),  writes  thus : 

“ Let  those  who  with  impious  murmurings  find  fault  with  the  Divine  dispen- 
sations, and  who  complain  about  the  lateness  of  our  Lord’s  nativity,  cease  from 
their  grievances,  as  if  what  was  carried  out  in  later  ages  of  the  world,  had  not 
been  impending  in  time  past.  ... 

“ What  the  Apostles  preached,  the  prophets  (in  Israel)  had  announced  before, 
and  what  has  always  teen  ( universally ) believed , cannot  be  said  to  have  been  ful- 
filled too  late.  By  this  delay  of  his  work  of  salvation,  the  wisdom  aud  love  of 
God  have  only  made  us  more  fitted  for  his  call  ; so  that,  what  had  been  announced 
before  by  many  Signs  and  Words  and  Mysteries  during  so  many  centuries , should 
not  be  doubtful  or  uncertain  in  the  days  of  the  gospel.  . . God  has  not  pro- 

vided for  the  interests  of  men  by  a new  council  or  by  a late  compassion ; but  he 
had  instituted  from  the  beginning  for  all  men,  one  and  the  same  path  of  sal- 
vation.”* 

This  is  equivalent  to  saying  that,  “ God,  in  his  ‘ late  compassion ,’ 
lias  sent  his  Son,  Christ  Jesus,  to  save  us , therefore  do  not  com- 
plain or  1 murmur  ’ about  i the  lateness  of  his  coming,’  for  the  Lord 
has  already  provided  for  those  who  preceded  us;  he  has  given  them 
‘ the  same  path  of  salvation?  by  sending  to  them,  as  he  has  sent  to 
us,  a Redeemer  and  a Saviour” 

Justin  Martyr,  in  his  dialogue  with  Typho,5  makes  a similar 
confession  (as  we  have  already  seen  in  our  last  chapter),  wherein  he 
says  that  there  exists  not  a people,  civilized  or  semi-civilized,  who 
have  not  offered  up  prayers  in  the  name  of  a crucified  Saviour  to 
the  Father  and  Creator  of  all  things. 

Add  to  this  medley  the  fact  that  St.  Irenseus  (a.  d.  192),  one  of 
the  most  celebrated,  most  respected,  and  most  quoted  of  the  early 
Christian  Fathers,  tells  us  on  the  authority  of  his  master,  Polycarp, 
who  had  it  from  St.  John  himself,  and  from  all  the  old  people  of 
Asia,  that  Jesus  was  not  crucified  at  the  time  stated  in  the  Gospels, 
but  that  he  lived  to  be  nearly  fifty  years  old.  The  passage  which, 
most  fortunately,  has  escaped  the  destroyers  of  all  such  evidence,  is 
to  be  found  in  Irenaeus’  second  book  against  heresies,4  of  which  the 
following  is  a portion  : 


been  freely  questioned,  even  by  the  most  con- 
servative critics. 

1 See  Bunsen’s  Angel-Messiah,  and  Chapter 

XXXVII.,  this  work. 


3 Quoted  by  Max  Mtlller  : 
Relig.,  p.  288. 

3 Ch.  cxvii. 

* Ch.  xxii. 


The  Science  of 


516 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


“ As  the  chief  part  of  thirty  years  belongs  to  youth,  and  every  one  will  confess 
him  to  be  such  till  the  fortieth  year:  but  from  the  fortieth  year  to  the  fiftieth  ho 
declines  into  old  age,  which  our  Lord  {Jesus)  having  attained  he  taught  us  the  Gos- 
pel, and  all  the  elders  who,  in  Asia,  assembled  with  John,  the  disciple  of  the  Lord , 
testify  ; and  as  John  himself  had  taught  them.  And  he  (John  ?)  remained  with 
them  till  the  time  of  Trajan.  And  some  of  them  saw  not  only  John  but  other 
Apostles,  and  heard  the  same  thing  from  them,  and  bear  the  same  testimony  to  this 
revelation.  ” 


The  escape  of  this  passage  from  the  destroyers  can  be  accounted 
for  only  in  the  same  way  as  the  passage  of  Minucius  Felix  (quoted 
in  Chapter  XX.)  concerning  the  Pagans  worshiping  a crucifix. 
These  two  passages  escaped  from  among,  probably,  hundreds  de- 
stroyed, of  which  we  know  nothing,  under  the  decrees  of  the  em- 
perors, yet  remaining,  by  which  they  were  ordered  to  be  destroyed. 

In  John  viii.  56,  Jesus  is  made  to  say  to  the  Jews:  “Your 
father  Abraham  rejoiced  to  see  my  day  : and  he  saw  it  and  was 
glad.”  Then  said  the  Jews  unto  him:  “Thou  art  not  yet  fifty 
years  old,  and  hast  thou  seen  Abraham  ?” 

If  Jesus  was  then  but  about  thirty  years  of  age,  the  Jews  would 
evidently  have  said  : “thou  art  not  yet  forty  years  old,”  and  would 
not  have  been  likely  to  say : “ thou  art  not  yet  fifty  years  old,” 
unless  he  was  past  forty. 

There  was  a tradition  current  among  tne  early  Christians,  that 
Annas  was  higli-priest  when  Jesus  was  crucified.  This  is  evident 
from  the  Acts.1  Now,  Annas,  or  Ananias,  was  not  high-jpriest  un- 
til about  the  year  48  a.  d.  ;2 *  therefore,  if  Jesus  was  crucified  at  that 
Jime  he  must  have  been  about  fifty  years  of  age  ;8  but,  as  we  re- 
marked elsewhere,  there  exists,  outside  of  the  New  Testament,  no 
evidence  whatever,  in  book,  inscription,  or  monument,  that  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  was  either  scourged  or  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate. 
Josephus,  Tacitus,  Plinius,  Philo,  nor  any  of  their  contemporaries, 
ever  refer  to  the  fact  of  this  crucifixion,  or  express  any  belief 
thereon.4  In  the  Talmud — the  book  containing  Jewish  traditions 
— Jesus  is  not  referred  to  as  the  “ crucified  one,”  but  as  the  “ hanged 
one,”5  while  elsewhere  it  is  narrated  he  was  stoned  to  death  ; so  that 
it  is  evident  they  were  ignorant  of  the  manner  of  death  which  he 
suffered.6 


1 Ch.  iv.  5. 

2 Josephns : Antiq.,  b.  xx.  ch.  v.  2. 

8 It  is  true  there  was  another  Annas  high- 
priest  at  Jerusalem,  but  this  was  when  Gratus 
was  procurator  of  Judea,  some  twelve  or  fif- 
teen years  before  Pontius  Pilate  held  the  same 
office.  (See  Josephus  : Antiq.,  book  xviit.  ch. 
ii.  3.) 

4 See  Appendix  D. 

8 See  the  Martyrdom  of  Jesus,  p.  100. 


• According  to  Dio  Cassius,  Plutarch,  Strabo 
and  others,  there  existed,  in  the  time  of  Herod, 
among  the  Homan  Syrian  heathens,  a wide- 
spread and  deep  sympathy  for  a “ Crucijied 
King  of  the  Jews."  This  was  the  youngest 
son  of  Aristobul,  "the  heroic  Maccabee.  In  the 
year  43  b.  o.,  we  find  this  young  man — Anti- 
gonus — in  Palestine  claiming  the  crown,  his 
cause  having  been  declared  just  by  Julius 
Caesar.  Allied  with  the  Parthians,  he  main- 


CONCLUSION. 


517 


In  Sanhedr.  43  Jesus  is  said  to  have  had  five  disciples, 
among  whom  were  Mattheaus  and  Thaddeus.  He  is  called  “ That 
Man,”  “ The  Nazarine,”  “ The  Fool,”  and  “ The  Hung.”  Thus 
Aben  Ezra  says  that  Constantine  put  on  his  labarum  “ a figure  of 
the  hung ; ” and,  according  to  R.  Bechai,  the  Christians  were  called 
“Worshipers  of  the  Hung.” 

Little  is  said  about  Jesus  in  the  Talmud , except  that  he  was  a 
scholar  of  Joshua  Ben  Perachiah  (who  lived  a century  before  the 
time  assigned  by  the  Christians  for  the  birth  of  Jesus),  accompanied 
him  into  Egypt,  there  learned  magic,  and  was  a seducer  of  the 
people,  and  was  finally  put  to  death  by  being  stoned,  and  then  hung 
as  a blasphemer. 

“ The  conclusion  is,  that  no  clearly  defined  traces  of  the  personal 
Jesus  remain  on  the  surface,  or  beneath  the  surface,  of  Christendom. 
The  silence  of  Josephus  and  other  secular  historians  may  be  ac- 
counted for  without  falling  back  on  a theory  of  hostility  or  con- 
tempt.1 The  6%W«s£-idea  cannot  be  spared  from  Christian  develop- 
ment, but  the  personal  Jesus,  in  some  measure,  can  be.” 

“The  person  of  Jesus,  though  it  may  have  been  immense,  is 
indistinct.  That  a great  character  was  there  may  be  conceded  ; but 
precisely  wherein  the  character  was  great,  is  left  to  our  conjecture . 
Of  the  eminent  persons  who  have  swayed  the  spiritual  destinies  of 
mankind,  none  has  more  completely  disappeared  from  the  critical 
view.  The  ideal  image  which  Christians  have,  for  nearly  two 
thousand  years,  worshiped  under  the  name  of  Jesus,  has  no  authen- 
tic, distinctly  visible,  counterpart  in  history.” 

“ His  followers  have  gone  on  with  the  process  of  idealization, 
placing  him  higher  and  higher ; making  his  personal  existence  more 
and  more  essential ; insisting  more  and  more  urgently  on  the  neces- 
sity of  private  intercourse  with  him ; letting  the  Father  subside 
into  the  background,  as  an  ‘ effluence,’  and  the  Holy  Ghost  lapse 
from  individual  identity  into  impersonal  influence,  in  order  that  he 


tained  himself  in  his  royal  position  for  six 
years  against  Herod  and  Mark  Antony.  At 
last,  after  a heroic  life  and  reign,  he  fell  in 
the  hands  of  this  Koman.  “ Antony  now  gave 
the  kingdom  to  a certain  Herod , and , having 
stretched  Antigonus  on  a cross  and  scourged 
him , a thing  never  done  before  to  any  other 
king  by  the  Romans , he  put  him  to  death." 
(Dio  Cassius,  hook  xlix.  p.  405.) 

The  fact  that  all  prominent  historians  of 
those  days  mention  this  extraordinary  occur- 
rence, and  the  manner  they  did  it,  show  that 
*t  was  considered  one  of  Mark  Antony’s  worst 


crimes  : and  that  the  sympathy  with  the  “ Cru- 
cified King  ” was  wide-spread  and  profound. 
(See  The  Martyrdom  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  p. 
106.) 

Some  writers  think  that  there  is  a connection 
between  this  and  the  Gospel  story ; that  they, 
in  a certain  measure,  put  Jesus  in  the  place  of 
Antigonus,  just  as  they  put  Herod  in  the 
place  of  Kansa.  (See  Chapter  XVIH.) 

1 Canon  Farrar  thinks  that  Josephus 
silence  on  the  subject  of  Jesus  and  Christian- 
ity, was  as  deliberate  as  it  was  dishonest. 
(See  his  Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.  p.  63.) 


518 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


might  be  all  in  all  as  Regenerator  and  Saviour.  From  age  to  age 
the  personal  Jesus  has  been  made  the  object  of  an  extreme  adora- 
tion, till  now  faith  in  the  living  Christ  is  the  heart  of  the  Gospel ; 
philosophy,  science,  culture,  humanity  are  thrust  resolutely  aside, 
and  the  great  teachers  of  the  age  are  extinguished  in  order  that  his 
light  may  shine.”  But,  as  Mr.  Frothingham  remarks,  in  “ The 
Cradle  of  the  Christ  ” : “ In  the  order  of  experience,  historical  and 
biographical  truth  is  discovered  by  stripping  off  layer  after  layer 
of  exaggeration,  and  going  back  to  the  statements  of  contempora- 
ries. As  a rule,  figures  are  reduced , not  enlarged,  by  criticism. 
The  influence  of  admiration  is  recognized  as  distorting  and  falsify- 
ing, while  exalting.  The  process  of  legend-making  begins  imme- 
diately, goes  on  rapidly  and  with  accelerating  speed,  and  must  be 
liberally  allowed  for  by  the  seeker  after  truth.  In  scores  of  instances 
the  historical  individual  turns  out  to  be  very  much  smaller  than  he 
was  painted  by  his  terrified  or  loving  worshipers.  In  no  single 
case  has  it  been  established  that  he  was  greater,  or  as  great.  It  is, 
no  doubt,  conceivable  that  such  a case  should  occur,  but  it  never 
has  occurred,  in  known  instances,  and  cannot  be  presumed  to  have 
occurred  in  any  particular  instance.  The  presumptions  are  against 
the  correctness  of  the  glorified  image.  The  disposition  to  exagger- 
ate is  so  much  stronger  than  the  disposition  to  underrate,  that  even 
really  great  men  are  placed  higher  than  they  belong  oftener  than 
lower.  The  historical  method  works  backwards.  Knowledge 
shrinks  the  man.”1 


1 Many  examples  might  be  cited  to  confirm 
this  view,  but  the  case  of  Joseph  Smith , in  our 
own  time  and  country,  will  suffice. 

The  Mormons  regard  him  very  much  as 
Christians  regard  Jesus  ; as  the  Mohammedans 
do  Mohammed  ; or  as  the  Buddhists  do  Buddha. 
A coarse  sort  of  religious  feeling  and  fervor 
appears  to  have  been  in  Smith’s  nature.  He 
seems,  from  all  accounts,  to  have  been  cracked 
on  theology,  as  so  many  zealots  have  been, 
and  cracked  to  such  an  extent  that  his  early 
acquaintances  regarded  him  as  a downright 
fanatic. 

The  common  view  that  he  was  an  impostor 
is  not  sustained  by  what  is  known  of  him. 
He  was,  in  all  probability,  of  unbalanced  mind, 
a monomaniac,  as  most  prophets  have  been ; 
but  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  he  did  not 
believe  in  himself,  and  substantially  in  what 
he  taught.  He  has  declared  that,  when  he  was 
about  fifteen,  he  began  to  reflect  on  the  im- 
portance of  being  prepared  for  a future  state. 
He  went  from  one  church  to  another  without 
finding  anything  to  satisfy  the  hunger  of  his 
soul,  consequently,  he  retired  into  himself  ; he 


sought  solitude  ; he  spent  hours  and  days  in 
meditation  and  prayer,  after  the  true  manner 
of  all  accredited  saints,  and  was  soon  repaid  by 
the  visits  of  angels.  One  of  these  came  to 
him  when  he  was  but  eighteen  years  old,  and 
the  house  in  which  he  was  seemed  filled  with 
consuming  fire.  The  presence — he  styles  it  a 
personage— had  a pace  like  lightning,  and  pro 
claimed  himself  to  be  an  angel  of  the  Lord. 
He  vouchsafed  to  Smith  a vast  deal  of  highly 
important  information  of  a celestial  order.  He 
told  him  that  his  (Smith’s)  prayers  had  been 
heard,  and  his  sins  forgiven  ; that  the  cove- 
nant which  the  Almighty  had  made  with  the  old 
Jews  was  to  be  fulfilled  ; that  the  introductory 
work  for  the  second  coming  of  Christ  was  now 
to  begin  ; that  the  hour  for  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  in  Its  purity  to  all  peoples  was  at 
hand,  and  that  Smith  was  to  be  an  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  God,  to  further  the  diviue  pur- 
pose in  the  new  dispensation.  The  celestial 
stranger  also  furnished  him  with  a sketch  of 
the  origin,  progress,  laws  and  civilization  of 
the  American  aboriginals,  and  declared  that 
the  blessing  of  heaven  had  finally  been  with- 


CONCLUSION 


519 


As  we  are  allowed  to  conjecture  as  to  what  is  true  in  the  Gospel 
history,  we  shall  now  do  so. 

The  death  of  Herod,  which  occurred  a few  years  before  the  time 
assigned  for  the  birth  of  Jesus,  was  followed  by  frightful  social  and 
political  convulsions  in  Judea.  For  two  or  three  years  all  the  ele- 
ments of  disorder  were  abroad.  Between  pretenders  to  the  vacant 
throne  of  Herod,  and  aspirants  to  the  Messianic  throne  of  David , 
Judea  was  torn  and  devastated.  Revolt  assumed  the  wildest  form, 
the  higher  enthusiasm  of  faith  yielded  to  the  lower  fury  of  fanati- 
cism; the  celestial  visions  of  a kingdom  of  heaven  were  completely 
banished  by  the  smoke  and  flame  of  political  hate.  Claimant  after 
claimant  of  the  dangerous  supremacy  of  the  Messiah  appeared , 
pitched  a camp  in  the  wilderness , raised  the  banner , gathered  a 


drawn  from  them.  To  Smith  was  communi- 
cated the  momentous  circumstance  that  cer- 
tain plates  containing  an  abridgment  of  the 
records  of  the  aboriginals  and  ancient  proph- 
ets, who  had  lived  on  this  continent,  were  hid- 
den in  a hill  near  Palmyra.  The  prophet 
was  counseled  to  go  there  and  look  at  them, 
and  did  so.  Not  being  holy  enough  to 
possess  them  as  yet,  he  passed  some  months 
in  spiritual  probation,  after  which  the  records 
were  put  into  his  keeping.  These  had  been 
prepared,  it  is  claimed,  by  a prophet  called 
Mormon,  who  had  been  ordained  by  God  for 
the  purpose,  and  to  conceal  them  until  he 
should  produce  them  for  the  benefit  of  the 
faithful,  and  unite  them  with  the  Bible  for  the 
achievement  of  his  will.  They  form  the  cele- 
brated Book  of  Mormon— whence  the  name 
Mormon— and  are  esteemed  by  the  Latter-Day 
Saints  as  of  equal  authority  with  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  and  as  an  indispensable 
supplement  thereto,  because  they  include  God’s 
disclosures  to  the  Mormon  world.  These  pre- 
cious records  were  sealed  up  and  deposited  a.d. 
420  in  the  place  where  Smith  had  viewed  them 
by  the  direction  of  the  angel. 

The  records  were,  it  is  held,  in  the  reformed 
Egyptian  tongue,  and  Smith  translated  them 
through  the  iuspiration  of  the  angel,  and  one 
Oliver  Cowdrey  wrote  down  the  translation  as 
reported  by  the  God-possessed  Joseph.  This 
translation  was  published  in  1830,  and  its  divine 
origin  was  attested  by  a dozen  persons — all 
relatives  and  friends  of  Smith.  Only  these 
have  ever  pretended  to  see  the  original  plates, 
which  have  already  become  traditional.  The 
plates  have  been  frequently  called  for  by  skep- 
tics, but  all  in  vain.  Naturally,  warm  contro- 
versy arose  concerning  the  authenticity  of  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  and  disbelievers  have  asserted 
that  they  have  indubitable  evidence  that  it  is, 
with  the  exception  of  various  unlettered  inter- 
polations, principally  borrowed  from  a queer, 


rhapsodical  romance  written  by  an  eccentric 
ex-clergyman  named  Solomon  Spalding. 

Smith  and  his  disciples  were  ridiculed  and 
socially  persecuted  ; but  they  seemed  to  be 
ardently  earnest,  and  continued  to  preach  their 
creed,  which  was  to  the  efEect  that  the  millen- 
nium was  at  hand  ; that  our  aboriginals  were 
to  be  converted,  and  that  the  New  Jerusalem — 
the  last  residence  and  home  of  the  saints— was 
to  be  near  the  centre  of  this  continent.  The 
Vermont  prophet,  later  on,  was  repeatedly 
mobbed,  even  shot  at.  His  narrow  escapes 
were  construed  as  interpositions  of  divine  prov- 
idence, but  he  displayed  perfect  coolness  and 
intrepidity  through  all  his  trials.  The  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ  of  the  Latter-Day  Saints  was 
first  established  in  the  spring  of  1830  at  Man- 
chester, N.  Y. ; but  it  awoke  such  fierce  oppo- 
sition, particularly  from  the  orthodox,  many 
of  them  preachers,  that  Smith  and  his  associ- 
ates deemed  it  prudent  to  move  farther  west. 
They  established  themselves  at  Kirtland,  O., 
and  won  there  many  converts.  Hostility  to 
them  still  continued,  and  grew  so  fierce  that 
the  body  transferred  itself  to  Missouri,  and 
next  to  Illinois,  settling  in  the  latter  state 
near  the  village  of  Commerce,  which  was  re- 
named Nauvoo. 

The  Governor  and  Legislature  of  Illinois 
favored  the  Mormons,  but  the  anti-Mormons 
made  war  on  them  in  every  way,  and  the  cus- 
tom of  “ sealing  wives,”  which  is  yet  mysteri- 
ous to  the  Gentiles,  caused  serious  outbreaks, 
and  resulted  in  the  incarceration  of  the  prophet 
and  his  brother  Hiram  at  Carthage.  Fearing 
that  the  two  might  be  released  by  the  authori- 
ties, a band  of  ruffians  broke  into  the  jail,  in 
the  summer  of  1844,  and  murdered  them  in  cold 
blood.  This  was  most  fortunate  for  the  mem- 
ory of  Smith  and  for  his  doctrines.  It  placed 
him  in  the  light  of  a holy  martyr,  and  lent  to 
them  a dignity  and  vitality  they  had  never  be- 
fore enjoyed. 


520 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


force , was  attacked,  defeated , banished  or  crucified  ; but  the  frenzy 
did  not  abate. 

The  popular  aspect  of  the  Messianic  hope  was  'political , not  re- 
ligious or  moral.  The  name  Messiah  was  synonymous  with  King 
of  the  Jews, ; it  suggested  political  designs  and  aspirations.  The 
assumption  of  that  character  by  any  individual  drew  on  him  the 
vigilance  of  the  police. 

That  Jesus  of  Nazareth  assumed  the  character  of  “Messiah”  as 
did  many  before  and  after  him,  and  that  his  crucifixion1  was  simply 
an  act  of  the  law  on  political  grounds , just  as  it  was  in  the  case  of 
other  so-called  Messiahs , we  believe  to  be  the  truth  of  the  matter.2 


“ He  is  represented  as  being  a native  of  Galilee , the  insurgent  dis- 
trict of  the  country ; nurtured,  if  not  born,  in  Nazareth,  one  of  its 
chief  cities ; reared  as  a youth  amid  traditions  of  patriotic  devotion, 
and  amid  scenes  associated  with  heroic  dreams  and  endeavors.  The 
Galileans  were  restless,  excitable  people,  beyond  the  reach  of  con- 
ventionalities, remote  from  the  centre  of  power,  ecclesiastical  and 
secular,  simple  in  their  lives,  bold  of  speech,  independent  in  thought, 


1 When  we  speak  of  Jesus  being  crucified, 
we  do  not  intend  to  convey  the  idea  that  he 
was  put  to  ueath  on  a cross  of  the  form  adopted 

by  Christians.  This  cross  was  the  symbol  of 
life  and  immortality  among  our  heathen  an- 
cestors (see  Chapter  XXXIII.),  and  in  adopting 
Pagan  religious  symbols , and  baptizing  them 
anew,  the  Christians  took  this  along  with 
others.  The  crucifixion  was  not  a symbol  of  the 
earliest  church  ; no  trace  of  it  can  be  found  in 
the  Catacombs.  Some  of  the  earliest  that  did 
appear,  however,  are  similar  to  figures  No.  42 
and  No.  43,  above,  which  represent  two  of  the 


modes  in  which  the  Romans  crucified  their 
slaves  aud  criminals.  (See  Chapter  XX.,  on 
the  Crucifixion  of  Jesus.) 

2 According  to  the  Matthew  and  Mark  nar- 
rators, Jesus’  head  was  anointed  while  sitting 
at  table  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper.  Now, 
this  practice  was  common  among  the  kings  of 
Israel.  It  was  the  sign  and  symbol  of  royalty. 
The  word  “ Messiah ” signifies  the  “Anointed 
One,”  and  none  of  the  kings  of  Israel  were 
styled  the  Messiah  unless  anointed.  (See  The 
Martyrdom  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  p.  42.) 


CONCLUSION. 


521 


thoroughgoing  in  the  sort  of  radicalism  that  is  common  among  peo- 
ple who  live  4 ont  of  the  world,’  who  have  leisure  to  discuss  the 
exciting  topics  of  the  day,  but  too  little  knowledge,  culture,  or  sense 
of  social  responsibility  to  discuss  them  soundly.  Their  mental  dis- 
content and  moral  intractability  were  proverbial.  They  were  bel- 
ligerents. The  Romans  had  more  trouble  with  them  than  with  the 
natives  of  any  other  province.  The  Messiahs  all  started  out  from, 
G allies  ^ and  never  failed  to  collect  followers  round  their  standard. 
The  Galileans,  more  than  others,  lived  in  the  anticipation  of  the 
Deliverer.  The  reference  of  the  Messiah  to  Galilee  is  therefore 
already  an  indication  of  the  character  he  is  to  assume.” 

To  show  the  state  the  country  must  have  been  in  at  that  time, 
we  will  quote  an  incident  or  two  from  Josephus. 

A religious  enthusiast  called  the  Samaritans  together  upon 
Mount  Gerizim,  and  assured  them  that  he  would  work  a miracle. 
“ So  they  came  thither  armed , and  thought  the  discourse  of  the  man 
probable ; and  as  they  abode  at  a certain  village,  which  was  called 
Tirathaba,  they  got  the  rest  together  of  them,  and  desired  to  go  up 
the  mountain  in  a great  multitude  together : but  Pilate  prevented 
their  going  up,  by  seizing  upon  the  roads  by  a great  band  of  horse- 
men and  footmen,  who  fell  upon  those  who  were  gotten  together 
in  the  village  ; and  when  it  came  to  an  action,  some  of  them  they 
slew,  and  others  of  them  they  put  to  flight,  and  took  a great  many 
alive,  the  principal  of  whom,  and  also  the  most  potent  of  those  that 
fled  away,  Pilate  ordered  to  be  slain.”1 

Not  long  before  this  Pilate  pillaged  the  temple  treasury,  and 
used  the  “ sacred  money  ” to  bring  a current  of  water  to  Jerusalem. 
The  Jews  were  displeased  with  this,  “ and  many  ten  thousands  of 
the  people  got  together  and  made  a clamor  against  him.  Some  of 
them  used  reproaches,  and  abused  the  man,  as  crowds  of  such  peo- 
ple usually  do.  So  he  habited  a great  number  of  his  soldiers  in 
their  habits,  who  carried  daggers  under  their  garments,  and  sent 
them  to  a place  wdiere  they  might  surround  them.  So  he  bade  the 
Jews  himself  go  away  ; but  they  boldly  casting  reproaches  upon 
him,  he  gave  the  soldiers  that  signal  which  had  been  beforehand 
agreed  on ; who  laid  upon  them  with  much  greater  blows  than  Pi- 
late had  commanded  them,  and  equally  punished  those  that  were 
tumultuous,  and  those  that  were  not ; nor  did  they  spare  them  in 
the  least : and  since  the  people  were  unarmed,  and  were  caught  by 
men  prepared  for  what  they  were  about,  there  were  a great  number 


1 Josephus  : Antiquities,  book  xviii.  ch.  iv.  1. 


522 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


of  them  slain  by  this  means,  and  others  ran  away  wounded. 
And  thus  an  end  was  put  to  this  sedition.”1 

It  was  such  deeds  as  these,  inflicted  upon  the  Jews  by  their  op- 
pressors, that  made  them  think  of  the  promised  Messiah  who  was 
to  deliver  them  from  bondage,  and  which  made  many  zealous  fana- 
tics imagine  themselves  to  be  “ He  who  should  come.”2 

There  is  reason  to  believe,  as  we  have  said,  that  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth assumed  the  title  of  “Messiah .”  His  age  was  throbbing  and 
bursting  with  suppressed  energy.  The  pressure  of  the  Homan 
Empire  was  required  to  keep  it  down.  “ The  Messianic  hope  had 
such  vitality  that  it  condensed  into  moments  the  moral  result  of 
ages.  The  common  people  were  watching  to  see  the  heavens  open, 
interpreted  peals  of  thunder  as  angel  voices,  and  saw  divine  potente 
in  the  flight  of  birds.  Mothers  dreamed  their  boys  would  be  Mes- 
siah. The  wildest  preacher  drew  a crowd.  The  heart  of  the  nation 
swelled  big  with  the  conviction  that  the  hour  of  destiny  was  about 
to  strike,  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  at  hand.  The  crown 
was  ready  for  any  hingly  head  that  might  assume  it.”3 

The  actions  of  this  man,  throughout  his  public  career,  we  believe 
to  be  those  of  a zealot  whose  zeal  overrode  considerations  of  wis- 
dom ; in  fact,  a Galilean  fanatic.  Pilate  condemns  him  reluctantly, 
feeling  that  he  is  a harmless  visionary,  but  is  obliged  to  condemn 
him  as  one  of  the  many  who  persistently  claimed  to  be  the  “ Mes- 
siah,” or  “ King  of  the  Jews,”  an  enemy  of  Caesar,  an  instrument 
against  the  empire,  a pretender  to  the  throne,  a bold  inciter  to 
rebellion.  The  death  he  undergoes  is  the  death  of  the  traitor  and 
mutineer,4  the  death  that  was  inflicted  on  many  such  claimants,  the 
death  that  would  have  been  decreed  to  Judas  the  Galilean,5  had  he 
been  captured,  and  that  was  inflicted  on  thousands  of  his  deluded 
followers.  It  was  the  Romans , then,  who  crucified  the  man  Jesus, 
and  not  the  Jews. 


1 Josephus  : Antiquities,  book  xviii.  chap, 
iii.  2. 

2 “ From  the  death  of  Herod,  4 b.  c.,  to  the 
death  of  Bar-Cochba,  132  a.d.,  no  less  than 
fifty  different  enthusiasts  setup  as  the  Messiah, 
and  obtained  more  or  less  following.”  (John 
W.  Chadwick.) 

3 “ There  was,  at  this  time , a prevalent  ex- 
pectation that  some  remarkable  personage  was 
about  to  appear  in  Judea.  The  Jews  were 

anxiously  looking  for  the  coming  of  the  Mes- 
siah. This  personage,  they  supposed,  would 
be  a temporal  prince,  and  they  were  ex- 
pecting that  he  would  deliver  them  from  Ro- 
man bondage.”  (Albert  Barnes  : Notes,  vol.  i. 
P 7) 

“ The  central  and  dominant  characteristic 


of  the  teaching  of  the  Rabbis,  was  the  certain 
advent  of  a great  national  Deliverer — the  Mes- 
siah. . . . The  national  mind  had  become 
so  inflammable,  by  constant  brooding  on  this 
one  theme,  that  any  hold  spirit  rising  in  revolt 
against  the  Roman  power , could  find  an  army 
of  fierce  disciples  who  trusted  that  it  should  he 
he  who  would  redeem  Israel .”  (Geikie  : The 
Life  of  Christ,  vol.  i.  p.  79.) 

* “ The  penalty  of  crucifixion,  according  to 
Roman  law  and  custom,  was  inflicted  on  slaves, 
and  in  the  provinces  on  rebels  only."  (The 
Martyrdom  of  Jesus,  p.  96.) 

6 Judas,  the  Qaulonite  or  Galilean,  as 
Josephus  calls  him,  declared,  when  Cyrenius 
came  to  tax  the  Jewish  people,  that  “this  tax- 
ation was  no  better  than  an  introduction  to 


CONCLUSION. 


523' 


“ In  the  Roman  law  the  State  is  the  main  object,  for  which  the 
individual  must  live  and  die,  with  or  against  his  will.  In  Jewish 
law,  the  person  is  made  the  main  object,  for  which  the  State  must 
live  and  die  ; because  the  fundamental  idea  of  the  Roman  law  is 
power,  and  the  fundamental  idea  of  Jewish  law  is  justice.”1  There- 
fore Caiaphas  and  his  conspirators  did  not  act  from  the  Jewish 
standpoint . They  represented  Rome,  her  principles,  interest,  and 
barbarous  caprices.2  Rot  one  point  in  the  whole  trial  agrees  with 
Jewish  laws  and  custom.3  It  is  impossible  to  save  it ; it  must  be 
given  up  as  a transparent  and  unskilled  invention  of  a Gentile 
Christian , who  knew  nothing  of  Jewish  law  and  custom,  and  was 
ignorant  of  the  state  of  civilization  in  Palestine,  in  the  time  of 
Jesus. 

Jesus  had  been  proclaimed  the  “Messiah,”  the  “ Ruler  of  the 
Jews,”  and  the  restorer  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  No  Roman  ear 
could  understand  these  pretensions,  otherwise  than  in  their  rebel- 
lious sense.  That  Pontius  Pilate  certainly  understood  under  the 
title,  “ Messiah  ” the  king  (the  political  chief  of  the  nation),  is  evi- 
dent from  the  subscription  of  the  cross,  “ Jesus  of  Nazareth,  King 
of  the  Jews,”  which  he  did  not  remove  in  spite  of  all  protestations 
of  the  Jews.  There  is  only  one  point  in  which  the  four  Gospels 
agree,  and  that  is,  that  early  in  the  morning  Jesus  was  delivered 
over  to  the  Roman  governor,  Pilate ; that  he  was  accused  of  high- 
treason  against  Rome — having  been  proclaimed  King  of  the  Jews 
— and  that  in  consequence  thereof  lie  was  condemned  first  to  be 


slavery,”  and  exhorted  the  nation  to  assert 
their  liberty.  He  therefore  prevailed  upon  his 
countrymen  to  revolt.  (See  Josephus  : Antiq., 
b.  xviii.  ch.  i.  1,  and  Wars  of  the  Jews,  b.  ii.  ch. 
viii.  1.) 

1 The  Martyrdom  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  p. 
30. 

2 “ That  the  High  Council  did  accuse  Jesus, 
I suppose  no  one  will  doubt ; and  since  they 
could  neither  wish  or  expect  the  Roman  Gov- 
ernor to  make  himself  judge  of  their  sacred  law, 
it  becomes  certain  that  their  accusation  was 
■purely  ‘political,  and  took  such  a form  as  this  : 

‘ He  has  accepted  tumultuous  shouts  that  he  is 
the  legitimate  and  predicted  King  of  Israel, 
and  in  this  character  has  ridden  into  Jerusalem 
with  the  forms  of  state  understood  to  be  royal 
and  sacred  ; with  what  purpose,  we  ask,  if  not 
to  overturn  our  institutions,  and  your  domin- 
ion ?’  If  Jesus  spoke,  at  the  crisis  which  Mat- 
thew represents,  the  virulent  speech  attributed 
to  him  (Matt,  xxiii.),  we  may  well  believe  that 
this  gave  a new  incentive  to  the  rulers  ; for  it 
is  suchns  no  government  in  Europe  would  over- 


look or  forgive  ; but  they  are  not  likely  to  have 
expected  Pilate  to  care  for  any  conduct  which 
might  be  called  an  ecclesiastical  broil.  The 
assumption  of  royalty  was  clearly  the  point  of 
their  attack.  Even  the  mildest  man  among 
them  may  have  thought  his  conduct  dangerous 
and  needing  repression.”  (Francis  W.  New- 
man, “ What  is  Christianity  without  Christ  ?”) 

According  to  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  Jesus 
was  completely  innocent  of  the  charge  which 
has  sometimes  been  brought  against  him,  that 
he  wished  to  be  considered  as  a God  come  down 
to  earth.  His  enemies  certainly  would  not  have 
failed  to  make  such  a pretension  the  basis  and 
tne  continual  theme  of  their  accusations,  if  it 
had  been  possible  to  do  so.  The  two  grounds 
upon  which  he  was  brought  before  the  Sanhe- 
drim were,  first,  the  bold  words  he  was  sup- 
posed to  have  spoken  about  the  temple ; and, 
secondly  and  chiefly,  the  fact  that  he  claimed  to 
be  the  Messiah , i.  e.,  “ The  King  of  the  Jews." 
(Albert  Reville  : “ The  Doctrine  of  the  Dogma 
of  the  Deity  of  Jesus,”  p.  7.) 

* See  The  Martyrdom  of  Jesus,  p.  30. 


524 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


scourged,  and  then  to  be  crucified ; all  of  which  was  done  in  hot 
haste.  In  all  other  points  the  narratives  of  the  Evangelists  differ 
widely , and  so  essentially  that  one  story  cannot  be  jnade  of  the  four 
accounts;  nor  can  any  particular  points  stand  the  test  of  historical 
criticism,  and  vindicate  its  substantiality  as  a fact. 

The  Jews  could  not  have  crucified  Jesus,  according  to  their  laws , 
if  they  had  inflicted  on  him  the  highest  penalty  of  the  law,  since 
crucifixion  was  exclusively  Roman  .l  If  the  priests,  elders,  Phari- 
sees, Jews,  or  all  of  them  wanted  Jesus  out  of  the  way  so  badly, 
why  did  they  not  have  him  quietly  put  to  death  while  he  was  in  their 
power,  and  done  at  once.  The  writer  of  the  fourth  Gospel  seems 
to  have  understood  this  difficulty,  and  informs  us  that  they  could 
not  kill  him,  because  he  had  prophesied  what  death  he  should  die  / 
so  he  could  die  no  other.  It  was  dire  necessity,  that  the  heathen 
symbol  of  life  and  immortality — the  cross  2 — should  be  brought  to 
honor  among  the  early  Christians,  and  Jesus  had  to  die  on  the 
cross  (the  Homan  Gibbet),  according  to  Johnz  simply  because  it  was 
so  prophesied.  The  fact  is,  the  crucifixion  story,  like  the  symbol  of 
the  crucifix  itself,  came  from  abroad!  It  was  told  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  exonerating  the  Homans,  and  criminating  the  Jews,  so 
they  make  the  Homan  governor  take  water,  “ and  wash  his  hands 
before  the  multitude,  saying,  I am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this 
just  person  : see  ye  to  it.”  To  be  sure  of  their  case,  they  make  the 
Jews  say  : “ His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  children .”* * 6 

“ Another  fact  is  this.  Just  at  the  period  of  time  when  mis- 
fortune and  ruination  befell  the  Jews  most  severely,  in  the  first 
post-apostolic  generation,  the  Christians  were  most  active  in  making 
proselytes  among  Gentiles.  To  have  then  preached  that  a crucified 
Jewish  Rabbi ■ of  Galilee  was  their  Saviour,  would  have  sounded 
supremely  ridiculous  to  those  heathens.  To  have  added  thereto, 
that  the  said  Habbi  was  crucified  by  command  of  a Homan  Governor, 
because  he  had  been  proclaimed  ‘King  of  the  Jews,’  would  have 
been  fatal  to  the  whole  scheme.  In  the  opinion  of  the  vulgar 
heathen,  where  the  Homan  Governor  and  Jewish  Habbi  came  in 
conflict,  the  former  must  unquestionably  be  right,  and  the  latter 
decidedly  wrong.  To  have  preached  a Saviour  who  was  justly 
condemned  to  die  the  death  of  a slave  and  villain,  would  certainly 
have  proved  fatal  to  the  whole  enterprise.  Therefore  it  was  neces- 


* That  is,  the  crucifixion  story  as  related 

in  the  Gospels.  See  note  1.  p.  520. 

6 Matthew  xxvii.  24,  25. 


1 See  note  4,  p.  522. 
s See  Matt.  xx.  19. 

3 Johnxviii.  31,  32. 


CONCLUSION. 


525 


sary  to  exonerate  Pilate  and  the  Romans,  and  to  throw  the  whole 
burden  upon  the  Jews,  in  order  to  establish  the  innocence  and  mar- 
tyrdom of  Jesus  in  the  heathen  mind.” 

That  the  crucifixion  story,  as  related  in  the  synoptic  Gospels, 
was  written  abroad , and  not  in  the  Hebrew,  or  in  the  dialect  spoken 
by  the  Hebrews  of  Palestine,  is  evident  from  the  following  par- 
ticular points,  noticed  by  Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise,  a learned  Hebrew 
scholar : 

The  Mark  and  Matthew  narrators  call  the  place  of  crucifixion 
“ Golgotha ,”  to  which  the  Mark  narrator  adds,  “ which  is,  being  in- 
terpreted, the  place  of  skulls .”  The  Matthew  narrator  adds  the 
same  interpretation,  which  the  John  narrator  copies  without  the 
word  “ Golgotha ,”  and  adds,  it  was  a jplace  near  Jerusalem . The 
Luke  narrator  calls  the  place  of  crucifixion  “ Calvary ,”  which  is  the 
Latin  Calvaria , viz.,  “ the  jplace  of  bare  skulls .”  Therefore  the 
name  does  not  refer  to  the  form  of  the  hill,  but  to  the  bare  skulls 
ujpon  it.1  How  “ there  is  no  such  word  Golgotha  anywhere  in 
Jewish  literature , and  there  is  no  such  jplace  mentioned  anywhere 
near  Jerusalem  or  in  Palestine  by  any  writer'  and,  in  fact,  there 
was  no  such  place ; there  could  have  been  none  near  Jerusalem. 
The  Jews  buried  their  dead  carefully.  Also  the  executed  convict 
had  to  be  buried  before  night.  Ho  bare  skulls,  bleaching  in  the  sun, 
could  be  found  in  Palestine,  especially  not  near  Jerusalem.  It  was 
law , that  a bare  skull , tlte  bare  spinal  column , and  also  the  imper- 
fect skeleton  of  any  human  being , make  man  unclean  by  contact , and 
also  by  having  either  in  the  house.  Man,  thus  made  unclean,  could 
not  eat  of  any  sacrificial  meal,  or  of  the  sacred  tithe,  before  he  had 
gone  through  the  ceremonies  of  purification  ; and  whatever  he 
touched  was  also  unclean  (Maimonides,  Hil.  Tumath  Meth.,  iii.  1). 
Any  impartial  reader  can  see  that  the  object  of  this  law  was  to  pre- 
vent the  barbarous  practice  of  heathens  of  having  human  skulls  and 
skeletons  lie  about  exposed  to  the  decomposing  influences  of  the 
atmosphere,  as  the  Romans  did  in  Palestine  after  the  fall  of  Bethar, 
when  for  a long  time  they  would  give  no  permission  to  bury  the 
dead  patriots.  This  law  was  certainly  enforced  most  rigidly  in  the 
vicinity  of  Jerusalem,  of  which  they  maintained  “Jerusalem  is 
more  holy  than  all  other  cities  surrounded  with  walls,”  so  that  it 
was  not  permitted  to  keep  a dead  body  over  night  in  the  city,  or  to 


1 Commentators,  in  endeavoring  to  get  over 
this  difficulty,  say  that,  “ it  may  come  from  the 

look  or  form  of  the  spot  itself,  bald,  round,  and 


skull-like,  and  therefore  a mound  or  hillock,” 
but,  if  it  means  11  the  place  of  bare  skulls ,”  no 
such  construction  as  the  above  can  be  put  to 
the  word. 


526 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


transport  through  it  human  bones.  Jerusalem  was  the  place  of  the  sac- 
rificial meals  and  the  consumption  of  the  sacred  tithe,  which  was  con- 
sidered very  holy  (Maimonides,  Hil.  Beth  Habchirah,  vii.  14) ; there, 
and  in  the  surroundings,  skulls  and  skeletons  were  certainly  never 
seen  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  consequently  there  was  no  place 
called  “ Golgotha ,”  and  there  was  no  such  word  in  the  Hebrew  dia- 
lect. It  is  a word  coined  by  the  Mark  narrator  to  translate  the 
Latin  term  “ Calvaria ,”  which,  together  with  the  crucifixion  story, 
came  from  Rome.  But  after  the  Syrian  word  was  made,  nobody 
understood  it,  and  the  Mark  narrator  was  obliged  to  expound  it.”1 

In  the  face  of  the  arguments  produced,  the  crucifixion  story,  as 
related  in  the  Gospels,  cannot  be  upheld  as  an  historical  fact.  There 
exists,  certainly,  no  rational  ground  whatever  for  the  belief  that  the 
affair  took  place  in  the  manner  the  Evangelists  describe  it.  All  that 
can  be  saved  of  the  whole  story  is,  that  after  Jesus  had  answered 
the  first  question  before  Pilate,  viz.,  “Art  thou  the  King  of  the 
Jews  ?”  which  it  is  natural  to  suppose  he  was  asked,  and  also  this 
can  be  supposed  only,  he  was  given  over  to  the  Roman  soldiers  to 
be  disposed  of  as  soon  as  possible,  before  his  admirers  and  followers 
could  come  to  his  rescue,  or  any  demonstration  in  his  favor  be  made. 
He  was  captured  in  the  night,  as  quietly  as  possible,  and  guarded 
in  some  place,  probably  in  the  high-priest’s  court,  completely  se- 
cluded from  the  eyes  of  the  populace ; and  early  in  the  morning  he 
was  brought  before  Pilate  as  cautiously  and  quietly  as  it  could  be 
done,  and  at  his  command,  disposed  of  by  the  soldiers  as  quickly 
as  practicable,  and  in  a manner  not  known  to  the  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple. All  this  was  done,  most  likely,  while  the  multitude  worshiped 
on  Mount  Moriah,  and  nobody  had  an  intimation  of  the  tragical  end 
of  the  Man  of  Nazareth. 

The  bitter  cry  of  Jesus,  as  he  hung  on  the  tree,  “ My  God,  my 
God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?”  disclosed  the  hope  of  deliver- 
ance that  till  the  last  moment  sustained  his  heart,  and  betrayed  the 
anguish  felt  when  the  hope  was  blighted ; the  sneers  and  hooting 
of  the  Roman  soldiers  expressed  their  conviction  that  he  had  pre- 
tended to  be  what  he  was  not. 

The  miracles  ascribed  to  him,  and  the  moral  precepts  put  into 
his  mouth,  in  after  years,  are  what  might  be  expected  ; history  was 
simply  repeating  itself  ; the  same  thing  had  been  done  for  others. 
“ The  preacher  of  the  Mount,  the  prophet  of  the  Beatitudes,  does 


1 The  Martyrdom  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  pp.  10&-111. 


IONCLUSION. 


527 


but  repeat,  with  persuasive  lips,  what  the  law-givers  of  his  race  pro- 
claimed in  mighty  tones  of  command.”1 * * * * 

The  martyrdom  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  has  been  gratefully 
acknowledged  by  his  disciples,  whose  lives  he  saved  by  the  sacrifice 
of  his  own,  and  by  their  friends,  who  would  have  fallen  by  the  score 
had  he  not  prevented  the  rebellion  ripe  at  Jerusalem.8  Posterity, 
infatuated  with  Pagan  apotheoses,  made  of  that  simple  martyrdom 
an  interesting  legend,  colored  with  the  myths  of  resurrection  and 
ascension  to  that  very  heaven  which  the  telescope  has  put  out  of 
man’s  way.  It  is  a novel  myth,  made  to  suit  the  gross  conceptions  of 
ex-heathens.  Modern  theology,  understanding  well  enough  that  the 
myth  cannot  be  saved,  seeks  refuge  in  the  greatness  and  self-denial 
of  the  man  who  died  for  an  idea,  as  though  Jesus  had  been  the  only 
man  who  had  died  for  an  idea.  Thousands,  tens  of  thousands  of 
Jews,  Christians,  Mohammedans  and  Heathens,  have  died  for  ideas, 
and  some  of  them  were  very  foolish.  But  Jesus  did  not  die  for  an 
idea.  He  never  advanced  anything  new,  that  we  know  of,  to  die 
for.  He  was  not  accused  of  saying  or  teaching  anything  original. 
Nobody  has  ever  been  able  to  discover  anything  new  and  original 
in  the  Gospels.  He  evidently  died  to  save  the  lives  of  his  friends, 
and  this  is  much  more  meritorious  than  if  he  had  died  for  a ques- 
tionable idea.  But  then  the  whole  fabric  of  vicarious  atonement  J 
is  demolished,  and  modern  theology  cannot  get  over  the  absurdity 
that  the  Almighty  Lord  of  the  Universe,  the  infinite  and  eternal 
cause  of  all  causes,  had  to  kill  some  innocent  person  in  order  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  human  race.  However  abstractly  they  speculate 
and  subtilize,  there  is  always  an  undigested  bone  of  man-god,  god- 
man,  and  vicarious  atonement  in  the  theological  stomach.  There- 
fore theology  appears  so  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  modern  philoso- 
phy. The  theological  speculation  cannot  go  far  enough  to  hold 
pace  with  modern  astronomy.  However  nicely  the  idea  may  be 
dressed,  the  great  God  of  the  immense  universe  looks  too  small 
upon  the  cross  of  Calvary ; and  the  human  family  is  too  large,  has 
too  numerous  virtues  and  vices,  to  be  perfectly  represented  by,  and 
dependent  on,  one  Rabbi  of  Galilee.  Speculate  as  they  may,  one 
way  or  another,  they  must  connect  the  Eternal  and  the  fate  of  the 
human  family  with  the  person  and  fate  of  Jesus.  That  is  the  very 
thing  which  deprives  Jesus  of  his  crown  of  martyrdom,  and  brings 


1 O.  B.  Frothingham : The  Cradle  of  the 

Christ,  p.  11. 

The  reader  is  referred  to  “ Judaism  : Its 

Doctrines  and  Precepts,”  by  Dr.  Isaac  M.  Wise. 

Printed  at  the  office  of  the  “ American  Israel- 


ite,” Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

2 If  Jesus,  instead  of  giving  himself  up 
quietly,  had  resisted  against  being  arrested, 
there  certainly  would  have  been  bloodshed,  as 
there  was  on  many  other  similar  occasions. 


528 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


religion  in  perpetual  conflict  with  philosophy.  It  was  not  the  re- 
ligious idea  which  was  crucified  in  Jesus  and  resurrected  with  him, 
as  with  all  its  martyrs ; although  his  belief  in  immortality  may 
have  strengthened  him  in  the  agony  of  death.  It  was  the  idea  of 
duty  to  his  disciples  and  friends  which  led  him  to  the  realms  of 
death.  This  deserves  admiration,  but  no  more.  It  demonstrates 
the  nobility  of  human  nature,  but  proves  nothing  in  regard  to  prov- 
idence, or  the  providential  scheme  of  government. 

The  Christian  story,  as  the  Gospels  narrate  it , cannot  stand  the 
test  of  criticism.  You  approach  it  critically  and  it  falls.  Dogmatic 
Christology  built  upon  it,  has,  therefore,  a very  frail  foundation. 
Most  so-called  lives  of  Christ,  or  biographies  of  Jesus,  are  works  of 
fiction,  erected  by  imagination  on  the  shifting  foundation  of  mea- 
gre and  unreliable  records.  There  are  very  few  passages  in  the 
Gospels  which  can  stand  the  rigid  application  of  honest  criticism. 
In  modern  science  and  philosophy,  orthodox  Christology  is  out  of 
the  question. 

“ This  k sacred  tradition  5 has  in  itself  a glorious  vitality,  which 
Christians  may  unblameably  entitle  immortal.  But  it  certainly  will 
not  lose  in  beauty,  grandeur,  or  truth,  if  all  the  details  concerning 
Jesus  which  are  current  in  the  Gospels,  and  all  the  mythology  of 
his  person,  be  forgotten  or  discredited.  Christianity  will  remain 
without  Christ. 

“ This  formula  has  in  it  nothing  paradoxical.  Rightly  inter- 
preted, it  simply  means  : All  that  is  best  in  Judceo- Christian  senti- 
ment,, moral  or  spiritual , will  survive , without  Rabbinical  fan- 
cies, cultured  by  perverse  logic  / without  huge  piles  of  fable  built 
upon  them : without  the  Oriental  Satan,  a formidable  rival  to 
the  throne  of  God ; without  the  Pagan  invention  of  Hell  and 
DevilsA 

In  modern  criticism,  the  Gospel  sources  become  so  utterly  worth- 
less and  unreliable,  that  it  takes  more  than  ordinary  faith  to  believe 
a large  portion  thereof  to  be  true.  The  Eucharist  was  not  estab- 
lished by  Jesus,  and  cannot  be  called  a sacrament.  The  trials  of 
Jesus  are  positively  not  true:  they  are  pure  inventions.1  The  cru- 
cifixion story,  as  narrated , is  certainly  not  true,  and  it  is  extremely 
difficult  to  save  the  bare  fact  that  Jesus  was  crucified.  What  can 
the  critic  do  with  books  in  which  a few  facts  must  be  ingeniously 
guessed  from  under  the  mountain  of  ghost  stories,2 3  childish  mira- 

1 It  what  is  recorded  in  the  Gospels  on  the  could  fail  to  have  noticed  it,  but  instead  of  this 

subject  was  true,  no  historian  of  that  day  there  is  nothing. 

3 See  Matthew,  xxvii.  51-53. 


CONCLUSION. 


529 


cles,1 2  and  dogmatic  tendencies  V It  is  absurd  to  expect  of  him  to 
regard  them  as  sources  of  religious  instruction,  in  preference  to  any 
other  mythologies  and  legends.  That  is  the  point  at  which  modern 
critics  have  arrived,  therefore,  the  Gospels  have  become  books  for 
the  museum  and  archaeologist,  for  students  of  mythology  and  an- 
cient literature. 

The  spirit  of  dogmatic  Christology  hovers  still  over  a portion  of 
civilized  society,  in  antic  organizations,  disciplines,  and  hereditary 
forms  of  faith  and  worship  ; in  science  and  philosophy,  in  the  realm 
of  criticism,  its  day  is  past.  The  universal,  religious,  and  ethical 
element  of  Christianity  has  no  connection  whatever  with  Jesus  or 
his  apostles,  with  the  Gospel,  or  the  Gospel  story ; it  exists  inde- 
pendent of  any  person  or  story.  Therefore  it  needs  neither  the 
Gospel  story  nor  its  heroes.  If  we  profit  by  the  example,  by  the 
teachings,  or  the  discoveries  of  men  of  past  ages,  to  these  men  we 
are  indebted,  and  are  in  duty  bound  to  acknowledge  our  indebted- 
ness ; but  why  should  we  give  to  one  individual,  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
the  credit  of  it  all  f It  is  true,  that  by  selecting  from  the  Gospels 
whatever  portions  one  may  choose,  a common  practice  among  Chris- 
tian writers , a noble  and  grand  character  may  be  depicted,  but  who 
was  the  original  of  this  character  f We  may  find  the  same  indi- 
vidual outside  of  the  Gospels,  and  before  the  time  of  Jesus.  The 
moral  precepts  of  the  Gospels,  also,  were  in  existence  before  the 
Gospels  themselves  were  in  existence.3  Why,  then,  extol  the  hero 
of  the  Gospels,  and  forget  all  others? 


1 See  Matt.  xiv.  15-22  : Mark,  iv.  1-3,  andxi, 
14  ; and  Luke.  vll.  2C  37 

2 See  Mark  , xvi.  16. 

3 This  fact  has  at  last  oeen  admitted  by  the 
most  orthodox  among  the  Christians.  The  Rev. 
■George  Matheson,  D.D.,  Minister  of  the  Parish 
of  Innellan,  and  a member  of  the  Scotch  Kirk, 
speaking  of  the  precept  uttered  by  Confucius, 
five  hundred  years  before  the  time  assigned  for 
the  birth  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  (“  Whatsoever  ye 
would  not  that  others  should  do  unto  you,  do 
not  ye  unto  them  ’)^ays  : “ That  Confucius  is 
the  author  of  this  precept  is  undisputed,  and 
therefore  it  is  indisputable  that  Christianity  has 
incorporated  an  article  of  Chinese  morality.  It 
has  appeared  to  some  as  if  this  were  to  the 
disparagement  of  Christianity— as  if  the  orig- 
inality of  its  Divine  Founder  were  impaired  by 
consenting  to  borrow  a precept  from  a heathen 
source.  But  in  what  sense  dose  Christianity 
set  up  the  claim,  of  moral  originality  ? When 
we  speak  of  the  religion  of  Christ  as  having 
introduced  into  the  world  a purer  life  and  a 
surer  guide  to  conduct,  what  do  we  mean  ? 

34 


Dc  w*  mean  to  suggest  that  Christianity  has, 
*9r  the  first  time , revealed  to  the  world  the 
existence  of  a set  of  self-sacrificing  pre- 
cepts—that  here,  for  the  first  time , man  has 
learned  that  he  ought  to  be  meek,  merciful, 
humble,  forgiving,  sorrowful  for  sin,  peace- 
able, and  pure  in  heart  ? The  proof  of  such 
a statement  would  destroy  Christianity  itself, 
for  an  absolute  oi'iginal  code  of  precepts  would 
be  equivalent  to  a foreign  language.  The 
glory  of  Christian  morality  is  that  it  is  not 
original— that  its  words  appeal  to  something 
which  already  exists  within  the  human  heart , 
and  on  that  account  have  a meaning  to  the 
human  ear  : no  new  revelation  can  be  made 
except  through  the  medium  of  an  old  one. 
When  we  attribute  originality  to  the  ethics 
of  the  Gospel,  we  do  so  on  the  ground,  not 
that  it  has  given  new  precepts , but  that  it  has 
given  us  a new  impulse  to  obey  the  moral  in- 
stincts of  the  soul.  Christianity  itself  claims 
on  the  field  of  morals  this  originality,  and 
this  alone — ‘ A new  commandment  give  I unto 
you,  that  you  love  one  another.’  ” (St.  Giles 


530 


BIBLE  MYTHS. 


As  it  was  at  the  end  of  Roman  Paganism,  so  is  it  now : the 
masses  are  deceived  and  fooled,  or  do  it  for  themselves,  and  persons 
of  vivacious  fantasies  prefer  the  masquerade  of  delusion,  to  the 
simple  sublimity  of  naked  but  majestic  truth.  The  decline  of  the 
church  as  a political  power  proves  beyond  a doubt  the  decline  of 
Christian  faith.  The  conflicts  of  Church  and  State  all  over  the 
European  continent,  and  the  hostility  between  intelligence  and  dog- 
matic Christianity , demonstrates  the  death  of  Christology  in  the 
consciousness  of  modern  culture.  It  is  useless  to  shut  our  eyes  to 
these  facts.  Like  rabbinical  Judaism,  dogmatic  Christianity  was 
the  product  of  ages  without  typography,  telescopes,  microscopes, 
telegraphs,  and  power  of  steam.  “ These  right  arms  of  intelligence 
have  fought  the  titanic  battles,  conquered  and  demolished  the  an- 
cient castles,  and  remove  now  the  debris,  preparing  the  ground  upon 
which  there  shall  be  the  gorgeous  temple  of  humanity,  one  univer- 
sal republic,  one  universal  religion  of  intelligence,  and  one  great 
universal  brotherhood.  This  is  the  new  covenant,  the  gospel  of 
humanity  and  reason.” 

“ Hoary  headed  selfishness  has  felt 

Its  death-blow,  and  is  tottering  to  the  grave  : 

A brighter  morn  awaits  the  human  day  ; 

War  with  its  million  horrors,  and  fierce  hell, 

Shall  live  but  in  the  memory  of  time, 

Who,  like  a penitent  libertine,  shall  start, 

Look  back,  and  shudder  at  his  younger  years.” 


Lectures,  Second  Series  : The  Faiths  of  the  Innellan.  Wm.  Blackwood  & Sons  : Edin- 
World.  Religion  of  China,  by  the  Rev.  George  burgh,  1882.) 

Matheson.  D.  D.,  Minister  of  the  Parish  of 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  A. 


Among  the  ancient  Mexicans,  Peruvians,  and  some  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  North  and  South  America,  were  found  fragments  of  the 
Eden  Myth . The  Mexicans  said  that  the  primeval  mother  was  made 
out  of  a man's  lone,  and  that  she  was  the  mother  of  twins.1 2 

The  Cherokees  supposed  that  heavenly  beings  came  dmon  and 
made  the  world,  after  which  they  made  a man  and  woman  of  clay." 
The  intention  of  the  creators  was  that  men  should  live  always.  But 
the  Sun,  when  he  passed  over,  told  them  that  there  was  not  land 
enough,  and  that  people  had  better  die.  At  length,  the  daughter  of 
the  Sun  was  bitten  by  a SnaJce , and  died.  The  Sun,  however— 
whom  they  worshiped  as  a god — consented  that  human  beings  might 
live  always.  He  intrusted  to  their  care  a box , charging  them  that 
they  should  not  open  it.  However,  impelled  by  curiosity,  they 
opened  it,  contrary  to  the  injunction  of  the  Sun,  and  the  spirit  it 
contained  escaped,  and  then  the  fate  of  all  men  was  decided , that  they 
must  die.3 

The  inhabitants  of  the  New  World  had  a legend  of  a Deluge, 
which  destroyed  the  human  race,  excepting  a few  who  were  saved  in 
a boat,  which  landed  on  a mountain .4 *  They  also  related  that  birds 
were  sent  out  of  the  ark,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  if  the  flood 
was  abating.6 

The  ancient  Mexicans  had  the  legend  of  the  confusion  of  tongues , 
and  related  the  whole  story  as  to  how  the  gods  destroyed  the  tower 
which  mankind  was  building  so  as  to  reach  unto  heaven.6 

The  Mexicans,  and  several  of  the  Indian  tribes  of  North  America, 
believe  in  the  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis , or  the  transmigration  of 
souls  from  one  body  into  another.7  This,  as  we  have  already  seen,9 
ms  universally  believed  in  the  Old  World. 

The  legend  of  the  man  being  sioallowed  by  a fish,  and,  after  a 


1 Baricg-Gould’s  Legends  of  the  Patriarchs, 
p.  45. 

2 Squire's  Serpent  Symbol,  p.  67. 

3 Ibid.  Here  we  eee  the  parallel  to  the 

Grecian  fable  of  Epimotheus  and  Pandora. 

* Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New  World,  p. 


203.  Higgins  : Anacatypsis,  vol.  iL  p.  27. 
e Ibid. 

• Brinton  : Myths  of  the  New  World,  p.  204. 
f See  Chapter  V. 

8 See  Ibid,  and  Chambers’s  Encyclo.,  art. 
“ Transmigration 


533 


634 


APPENDIX. 


three  days’  sojourn  in  his  belly,  coming  out  safe  and  sound,  was 
found  among  the  Mexicans  and  Peruvians. 1 

The  ancient  Mexicans,  and  some  Indian  tribes,  practiced  Circum- 
cision, which  was  common  among  all  Eastern  nations  of  the  Old 
World.2 

They  also  had  a legend  to  the  effect  that  one  of  their  holy  per- 
sons commanded  the  sun  to  stand  still.3  This,  as  we  have  already 
seen,4 *  was  a familiar  legend  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  Old 
World. 

The  ancient  Mexicans  were  fire-ioorshipers  ; so  were  the  ancient 
Peruvians.  They  kept  a fire  continually  burning  on  an  altar,  just  as 
the  fire-worshipers  of  the  Old  World  were  in  the  habit  of  doing.6 
They  were  also  Sun-worshipers,  and  had  “ temples  of  the  Sun.”6 

The  Tortoise-myth  was  found  in  the  New  World.7  Now,  in  the 
Old  World,  the  Tortoise-myth  belongs  especially  to  India,  and  the 
idea  is  developed  there  in  a variety  of  forms.  The  tortoise  that 
holds  the  world  is  called  in  Sanscrit  Kura-mraja,  “King  of  the 
Tortoises,”  and  many  Hindoos  believe  to  this  day  that  the  world 
rests  on  its  back.  “The  striking  analogy  between  the  Tortoise- 
myth  of  North  America  and  India,”  says  Mr.  Tyler,  “is  by  no 
means  a matter  of  new  observation  ; it  was  indeed  remarked  upon 
by  Father  Lafitau  nearly  a century  and  a half  ago.  Three  great 
features  of  the  Asiatic  stories  are  found  among  the  North  American 
Indians,  in  the  fullest  and  clearest  development.  The  earth  is  sup- 
ported on  the  back  of  a huge  floating  tortoise,  the  tortoise  sinks 
under  the  water  and  causes  a deluge,  and  the  tortoise  is  conceived 
as  being  itself  the  earth,  floating  upon  the  face  of  the  deep.”8 

We  have  also  found  among  them  the  belief  in  an  Incarnate 
God  born  of  a virgin  ;9  the  One  God  worshiped  in  the  form  of  a 
Trinity  ;10 *  the  crucified  Black  god the  descent  into  hell  ;12  the 
resurrection  and  ascension  into  heaven,13  all  of  which  is  to  be  found 
in  the  oldest  Asiatic  religions.  We  also  found  monastic  habits — 
friars  and  nuns.14 


1 See  Chapter  XI. 

2 See  Chapter  X. 

8 See  Chapter  XI. 

* Ibid. 

8 See  Early  Hist.  Mankind,  p.  252;  Squire’s 
Serpent  Symbol;  and  Prescott:  Con.  Peru. 

6 See  Ibid.,  and  the  Andes  and  the  Ama- 
zon, p.  454. 

7 See  Early  Hist.  Mankind,  p.  342. 

8 Ibid. 

9 See  Chapter  XII. 

io  See  Chapter  XXV. 

n See  Chapter  XX. 

Mr.  Prescott,  speaking  of  the  Pyramid  of 

Cholula,  in  his  Mexican  History,  says  : “ On 


the  summit  stood  a sumptuous  temple,  in  which 
was  the  image  of  the  mystic  deity  ( Quetzal - 
coatle),  with  ebon  features,  unlike  the  fair  com- 
plexion which  he  bore  upon  earth.”  And 
Kenneth  R.  H.  Mackenzie  says  (in  Cities  of  the 
Ancient  World,  p.  180):  “From  the  woolly 
texture  of  the  hair,  I am  inclined  to  assign  to 
the  Buddha  of  India,  the  Fuhi  of  China,  the 
Sommonacom  of  the  Siamese,  the  Xaha  of  the 
Japanese,  and  the  Quetzalcoatle  of  the  Mexi- 
cans, the  same,  and  indeed  an  African,  or 
rather  Nubian,  origin.” 
is  See  Chapter  XXII. 
is  See  Chapter  XXHI. 
i*  See  Chapter  XXVI. 


APPENDIX. 


535 


The  Mexicans  denominated  their  high-places,  sacred  houses, 
or  “ Houses  of  God.”  The  corresponding  sacred  structures  of  the 
Hindoos  are  called  “ God’s  House”1 

Many  nations  of  the  East  entertained  the  notion  that  there  were 
nine  heavens,  and  so  did  the  ancient  Mexicans.2 

There  are  few  things  connected  with  the  ancient  mythology  of 
America  more  certain  than  that  there  existed  in  that  country  before 
its  discovery  by  Columbus,  extreme  veneration  for  the  Serpent .3 
Now,  the  Serpent  was  venerated  and  worshiped  throughout  the 
East.4 

The  ancient  Mexicans  and  Peruvians,  and  many  of  the  Indian 
tribes,  believed  the  Sun  and  Moon  not  only  to  be  brother  and  sister, 
but  man  and  wife  ; so,  likewise,  among  many  nations  of  the  Old 
World  was  this  belief  prevalent.6  The  belief  in  were-wolves,  or  man- 
wolves,  man-tigers,  man-hyenas,  and  the  like,  which  was  almost 
universal  among  the  nations  of  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  was  also 
found  to  be  the  case  among  South  American  tribes.6  The  idea  of 
calling  the  earth  “ mother,”  was  common  among  the  inhabitants  of 
both  the  Old  and  New  Worlds.7  “ In  the  mythology  of  Finns, 
Lapps,  and  Esths,  Earth-Mother  is  a divinely  honored  personage. 
It  appears  in  China,  where  Heaven  and  Earth  are  called  in  the 
Shuhing — one  of  their  sacred  books — “ Father  and  Mother  of  all 
things.” 

Among  the  native  races  of  America  the  Earth-Mother  is  one  of 
the  great  personages  of  mythology.  The  Peruvians  worshiped  her  as 
Mama-Pliacha,  or  Earth-Mother.  The  Caribs,  when  there  was  an 
earthquake,  said  it  was  their  mother-earth  dancing,  and  signi- 
fying to  them  to  dance  and  make  merry  likewise,  which  they  accord- 
ingly did.8 

It  is  well-known  that  the  natives  of  Africa,  when  there  is  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun  or  moon,  believe  that  it  is  being  devoured  by  some 
great  monster,  and  that  they,  in  order  to  frighten  and  drive  it 
away,  beat  drums  and  make  noises  in  other  ways.  So,  too,  the 
rude  Moguls  make  a clamor  of  rough  music  to  drive  the  at- 
tacking Arachs  (Rahu)  from  Sun  or  Moon.9 

The  Chinese,  when  there  is  an  eclipse  of  the  Sun  or  Moon, 
proceed  to  encounter  the  ominous  monster  with  gongs  and  bells.10 

The  ancient  Romans  flung  firebrands  into  the  air,  and  blew 
trumpets,  and  clanged  brazen  pots  and  pans.11  Even  as  late  as  the 


1 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  77. 

2 Ibid.  p.  109. 

3 See  Ferguson’s  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship, 
and  Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol. 

4 See  Ibid. 

6 See  Tylor,  Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p. 
261,  and  Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol. 


• Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  280,  and 
Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol. 

7 Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  294,  and 
Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol. 

8 Tylor  : Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  pp.  295, 
296. 


9 Ibid.  p.  300. 


11  Ibid.  p.  301. 


» Ibid. 


536 


APPENDIX. 


seventeenth  century,  the  Irish  or  Welsh,  during  eclipses,  ran  about 
beating  kettles  and  pans.1  Among  the  native  races  of  America  was. 
to  be  found  the  same  superstition.  The  Indians  would  raise  a 
frightful  howl,  and  shoot  arrows  into  the  sky  to  drive  the  monsters 
off.2  The  Caribs,  thinking  that  the  demon  Maboya,  hater  of  all 
light,  was  seeking  to  devour  the  Sun  and  Moon,  would  dance  and 
howl  in  concert  all  night  long  to  scare  him  away.  The  Peruvians,, 
imagining  such  an  evil  spirit  in  the  shape  of  a monstrous  beast, 
raised  the  like  frightful  din  when  the  Moon  was  eclipsed,  shouting, 
-sounding  musical  instruments,  and  beating  the  dogs  to  join  their 
howl  to  the  hideous  chorus.3 

The  starry  band  that  lies  like  a road  across  the  sky,  known  as 
the  milJcy  way , is  called  by  the  Basutos  (a  South  African  tribe  of 
savages),  “The  Way  of  the  Gods  ;”  the  Ojis  (another  African  tribe 
of  savages),  say  it  is  the  “Way  of  Spirits,”  which  souls  go  up  to 
heaven  by.  North  American  tribes  know  it  as  “the  Path  of  the 
Master  of  Life,”  the  “Path  of  Spirits,”  “the  Road  of  Souls,”  where 
they  travel  to  the  land  beyond  the  grave.4 * 

It  is  almost  a general  belief  among  the  inhabitants  of  Africa, 
and  was  so  among  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  and  Asia,  that 
monkeys  were  once  men  and  women,  and  that  they  can  even  now 
really  speak,  but  judiciously  hold  their  tongues,  lest  they  should  be 
made  to  work.  This  idea  was  found  as  a serious  matter  of  belief, 
in  Central  and  South  America.3  “The  Bridge  of  the  Dead,” 
which  is  one  of  the  marked  myths  of  the  Old  World,  was  found  in 
the  New.6 

It  is  well  known  that  the  natives  of  South  America  told  the 
Spaniards  that  inland  there  was  to  be  found  a fountain,  the  waters 
of  which  turned  old  men  back  into  youths,  and  how  Juan  Ponce  de 
Leon  fitted  out  two  caravels,  and  went  to  seek  for  this  “Fountain 
of  Youth.”  Now,  the  “Fountain  of  Youth”  is  known  to  the 
mythology  of  India.7 

The  myth  of  foot-prints  stamped  into  the  rocks  by  gods  or 
mighty  men,  is  to  be  found  among  the  inhabitants  of  Europe,  Asia, 
and  Africa.  Egyptians,  Greeks,  Brahmans,  Buddhists,  Moslems, 
and  Christians,  have  adopted  it  as  relics  each  from  their  own 
point  of  view,  and  Mexican  eyes  could  discern  in  the  solid  rock  at 
Tlanepantla  the  mark  of  hand  and  foot  left  by  the  mighty  Quet- 
zalcoatle.8 


1 Tylor ; Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  301.  6 Early  Hist.  Mankind,  pp.  357  and  361. 

3 Ibid.  p.  296.  7 Ibid.  p.  361. 

s Ibid.  The  legend  of  the  “Elixir  of  Life”  of  the 

4 Ibid.  p.  234.  Western  World,  was  well-known  in  China. 

6 Ibid.  p.  239  and  343.  (Buckley  : Cities  of  the  Ancient  World,  p.  167.) 

8 Ibid.  p.  118,  and  Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol. 


APPENDIX. 


537 


The  Incas,  in  order  to  preserve  purity  of  race,  married  their 
own  sisters,  as  did  the  Kings  of  Persia,  and  other  Oriental  nations. 1 

The  Peruvian  embalming  of  the  royal  dead  takes  us  back  to 
Egypt;  the  burning  of  the  wives  of  the  deceased  Incas  reveals 
India  ; the  singularly  patriarchical  character  of  the  whole  Peruvian 
policy  is  like  that  of  China  in  the  olden  time  ; while  the  system  of 
espionage,  of  tranquillity,  of  physical  well-being,  and  the  iron-like 
immovability  in  which  their  whole  social  frame  was  cast,  bring  be- 
fore us  Japan — as  it  was  a very  few  years  ago.  In  fact,  there  is 
something  strangely  Japanese  in  the  entire  cultus  of  Peru  as  de- 
scribed by  all  writers.2 

The  dress  and  costume  of  the  Mexicans,  and  their  sandals, 
resemble  the  apparel  and  sandals  worn  in  early  ages  in  the  East.3 

Mexican  priests  were  represented  with  a Serpent  twined  around 
their  heads,  so  were  Oriental  kings.4 *  The  Mexicans  had  the  head 
of  a rhinoceros  among  their  paintings,6  and  also  the  head  of  an 
elephant  on  the  body  of  a man.6  Now,  these  animals  were  un- 
known in  America,  but  well  known  in  Asia ; and  what  is  more 
striking  still  is  the  fact  that  the  man  with  the  elephant’s  head  is 
none  other  than  the  Ganesa  of  India  ; the  God  of  Wisdom.  Hum- 
boldt, who  copied  a Mexican  painting  of  a man  with  an  elephant’s 
head,  remarks  that  “it  presents  some  remarkable  and  apparently 
not  accidental  resemblances  with  the  Hindoo  Ganesa.” 

The  horse  and  the  ass,  although  natives  of  America,7  became 
extinct  on  the  Western  Continent  in  an  early  period  of  the  earth’s 
history,  yet  the  Mexicans  had,  among  their  hieroglyphics,  repre- 
sentations of  both  these  animals,  which  show  that  it  must  have 
been  seen  in  the  old  world  by  the  author  of  the  hieroglyph.  When 
the  Mexicans  saw  the  horses  which  the  Spaniards  brought  over, 
they  were  greatly  astonished,  and  when  they  saw  the  Spaniards  on 
horseback,  they  imagined  man  and  horse  to  be  one. 

Certain  of  the  temples  of  India  abound  with  sculptural  repre- 
sentations of  the  symbols  of  Phallic  Worship.  Turning  now  to  the 
temples  of  Central  America , which  in  many  respects  exhibit  a 
strict  correspondence  with  those  in  India,  ice  find  precisely  the  same 
symbols , separate  and  in  combination .8 

We  have  seen  that  many  of  the  religious  conceptions  of  America 
are  identical  with  those  of  the  Old  World , and  that  they  are  em- 


1 Fusang,  p.  56. 

2 Ibid.  p.  55. 

3 Mexican  Antiquities,  vol.  vi.  p.  181. 

4 Ibid.,  and  Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol. 

6  Mexican  Antiq.,  vol.  vi.  p.  180. 

6 Early  Hist.  Mankind,  p.  311. 

7 The  traveler,  James  Orton,  found  fossil 

bones  of  an  extinct  species  of  the  horse,  the  mas 


todon,  and  other  animals,  near  Punin,  in  South 
America,  all  of  which  had  passed  away  before 
the  arrival  of  the  human  species.  This  native 
American  horse  was  succeeded,  in  after  ages, 
by  the  countless  herds  descended  from  a few 
introduced  with  the  Spanish  colonists.  (See 
the  Andes  and  the  Amazon,  pp.  154, 155.) 

8  Serpent  Symbol,  p.  47. 


538 


APPENDIX. 


bodied  or  symbolized  under  the  same  or  cognate  forms ; and  it  is 
confidently  asserted  that  a comparison  and  analysis  of  her  primitive 
systems,  in  connection  with  those  of  other  parts  of  the  globe, 
philosophically  conducted,  would  establish  the  grand  fact,  that  in 
all  their  leading  elements,  and  in  many  of  their  details,  they  are 
essentially  the  same.1 

The  architecture  of  many  of  the  most  ancient  buildings  in  South 
America  resembles  the  Asiatic.  Around  Lake  Titicaca  are  massive 
monuments,  which  speak  of  a very  ancient  and  civilized  nation.2 

E.  Spence  Hardy,  says  : 

“ The  ancient  edifices  of  Chi  Chen,  in  Central  America,  hear  a striking  re- 
semblance to  the  topes  of  India.  The  shape  of  one  of  the  domes,  its  apparent 
size,  the  small  tower  on  the  summit,  the  trees  growing  on  the  sides,  the  appear- 
ance of  masonry  here  and  there,  the  style  of  the  ornaments,  and  the  small  door- 
way at  the  base,  are  so  exactly  similar  to  what  I had  seen  at  Anuradhapura, 
that  when  my  eye  first  fell  upon  the  engravings  of  these  remarkable  ruins,  1 supposed 
that  they  were  presented  in  illustration  of  the  ddgobas  of  Ceylon.  ”3 4 

E.  G.  Squire,  speaking  of  this,  says  : 

“The  Bud’hist  temples  of  Southern  India,  and  of  the  islands  of  the  Indian 
Archipelago,  as  described  to  us  by  the  learned  members  of  the  Asiatic  Society, 
and  the  numerous  writers  on  the  religion  and  antiquities  of  the  Hindoos,  corre- 
spond, with  great  exactness,  in  all  their  essential  and  in  many  of  their  minor 
features,  with  those  of  Central  America”* 

Structures  of  a pyramidal  style,  which  are  common  in  India, 
were  also  discovered  in  Mexico.  The  pyramid  tower  of  Cholula 
was  one  of  these.6 

Sir  E.  Kir  Porter  writes  as  follows  : 

“ What  striking  analogies  exist  between  the  monuments  of  the  old  continents 
and  those  of  the  Toltecs,  who,  arriving  on  Mexican  soil,  built  several  of  these 
colossal  structures,  truncated  pyramids,  divided  by  layers,  like  the  temple  of 
Belus  at  Babylon.  Whence  did  they  take  the  model  of  these  edifices  ? Were  they  of 
the  Mongolian  race  ? Did  they  descend  from  a common  stock  with  the  Chinese,  the 
Hiong-nu,  and  the  Japanese  ?6 

The  similarity  in  features  of  the  Asiatic  and  the  American  race 
is  very  striking.  Alexander  de  Humboldt,  speaking  of  this,  says  : 

“There  are  striking  contrasts  between  the  Mongol  and  American  races.”7 
“ Over  a million  and  a half  of  square  leagues,  from  the  Terra  del  Fuego  islands 
to  the  Eiver  St.  Lawrence  and  Behring’s  Straits,  we  are  struck  at  the  first 
glance  with  the  general  resemblance  in  the  features  of  the  inhabitants.  We 
think  we  perceive  that  they  all  descended  from  the  same  stock,  notwithstanding  the 
enormous  diversity  of  language  which  separates  them  from  one  another.”8 


1 Serpent  Symbol,  p.  193. 

2 Tbe  Andes  and  the  Amazon,  p.  454. 

3 Eastern  Monachism,  p.  222. 

4 Serpent  Symbol,  p.  43. 


6 See  Ibid. 

• Travels  in  Persia,  vol.  ii.  p.  280. 
1 New  Spain,  vol.  i.  p.  136. 

» Ibid.  p.  141. 


APPENDIX. 


539 


“ This  analogy  is  particularly  evident  in  the  color  of  the  skin  and  hair,  in  the  de- 
fective beard,  high  cheek-bones,  and  in  the  direction  of  the  eyes.”1 

Dr.  Morton  says  : 

“ In  reflecting  on  the  aboriginal  races  of  America,  we  are  at  once  met  by  the 
striking  fact,  that  their  physical  characters  are  wholly  independent  of  all  climatic 
or  known  physical  influences.  Notwithstanding  their  immense  geographical  dis- 
tribution, embracing  every  variety  of  climate,  it  is  acknowledged  by  all  travel- 
lers, that  there  is  among  this  people  a prevailing  type,  around  which  all  the 
tribes — north,  south,  east  and  west — cluster,  though  varying  within  prescribed 
limits.  With  trifling  exceptions,  all  our  American  Indians  bear  to  each  other 
some  degree  of  family  resemblance,  quite  as  strong,  for  example,  as  that  seen  at 
the  present  day  among  full-blooded  Jews.”2 

James  Orton,  the  traveler,  was  also  struck  with  the  likeness  of 
the  American  Indians  to  the  Chinese,  including  the  flatted  nose. 
Speaking  of  the  Zaparos  of  the  Napo  River,  he  says  : 

“The  Zaparos  in  physiognomy  somewhat  resemble  the  Chinese,  having  a 
middle  stature,  round  face,  small  eyes  set  angularly,  and  a broad,  flat  nose.”3 

Oscar  Paschel  says  : 

“The  obliquely-set  eyes  and  prominent  cheek-bones  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Veragua  were  noticed  by  Monitz  Wagner,  and  according  to  his  description,  out 
of  four  Bayano  Indians  from  Darien,  three  had  thoroughly  Mongolian  features, 
including  the  flatted  nose.” 

In  1866,  an  officer  of  the  Sharpshooter,  the  first  English  man- 
of-war  which  entered  the  Parana  River  in  Brazil,  remarks  in  almost 
the  same  words  of  the  Indians  of  that  district,  that  their  features 
vividly  reminded  him  of  the  Chinese.  Burton  describes  the  Bra- 
zilian natives  at  the  falls  of  Cachauliy  as  having  thick,  round  Kal- 
muck heads,  flat  Mongol  faces,  wide,  very  prominent  cheek  bones, 
oblique  and  sometimes  narrow-slit  Chinese  eyes,  and  slight  mus- 
taches. 

Another  traveler,  J.  J.  Yon  Tschudi,  declares  in  so  many 
words  that  he  has  seen  Chinese  whom  at  the  first  glance  he  mistook 
for  Botocudos,  and  that  since  then  he  has  been  convinced  that  the 
American  race  ought  not  to  be  separated  from  the  Mongolian.  His 
predecessor,  St.  Hilaire,  noticed  narrow,  obliquely-set  eyes  and 
broad  noses  among  the  Malali  of  Brazil.  Reinhold  Hensel  says  of 
the  Coroados,  that  their  features  are  of  Mongoloid  type,  due  espe- 
cially to  the  prominence  of  the  cheek-bones,  but  that  the  oblique 
position  of  the  eyes  is  not  perceptible.  Yet  the  oblique  opening  of 
the  eye,  which  forms  a good  though  not  an  essential  characteristic 
of  the  Mongolian  nations,  is  said  to  be  characteristic  of  all  the  Gma- 
rani  tribes  in  Brazil.  Even  in  the  extreme  south,  among  the 


1 New  Spain,  vol.  i.  p.  153.  a Types  of  Mankind,  p.  275. 

3 The  Andes  and  the  Amazon,  p.  170. 


540 


APPENDIX. 


Hiullitches  of  Patagonia,  King  saw  a great  many  with  obliquely  set 
eyes.  Those  writers  who  separate  the  Americans  as  a peculiar  race 
fail  to  give  distinctive  characters,  common  to  them  all,  which  dis- 
tinguish them  from  the  Asiatic  Mongols.  All  the  tribes  have  stiff, 
long  hair,  cylindrical  in  section.  The  beard  and  hair  of  the  body 
is  always  scanty  or  totally  absent.  The  color  of  the  skin  varies  con- 
siderably, as  might  be  expected  in  a district  of  110°  of  latitude ; it 
ranges  from  a light  South  European  darkness  of  complexion  among 
the  Botocudos,  of  the  deepest  dye  among  the  Aymara,  or  to  copper 
red  in  the  Sonor  tribes.  But  no  one  has  tried  to  draw  limits 
between  races  on  account  of  these  shades  of  color,  especially  as  they 
are  of  every  conceivable  gradation. 1 

Charles  G.  Leland  says  : 

The  Tunguse,  Mongolians,  and  a great  part  of  the  Turkish  race  formed  origi- 
nally, according  to  all  external  organic  tokens,  as  well  as  the  elements  of  their 
language,  but  one  people,  closely  allied  with  the  Esquimaux,  the  Skraling,  or 
dwarf  of  the  Norseman,  and  the  races  of  the  New  World.  This  is  the  irrefutable 
result  to  which  all  the  more  recent  inquiries  in  anatomy  and  physiology,  as  well 
as  comparative  philology  and  history,  have  conduced.  All  the  aboriginal  Ameri- 
cans have  those  distinctive  tokens  which  forcibly  recall  their  neighbors  dwelling 
on  the  other  side  of  Behring’s  Straits.  They  have  the  four-cornered  head,  high 
cheek-bones,  heavy  jaws,  large  angular  eye-cavities,  and  a retreating  forehead. 
The  skulls  of  the  oldest  Peruvian  graves  exhibit  the  same  tokens  as  the  heads  of 
the  nomadic  tribes  of  Oregon  and  California.”2  It  is  very  certain  that  thousands 
of  American  Indians,  especially  those  of  small  stature  or  of  dwarfish  tribes,  bear 
a most  extraordinary  likeness  to  Mongols.”3 

John  D.  Baldwin,  in  his  “Ancient  America”  says  : 

“ I find  myself  more  and  more  inclined  to  believe  that  the  wild  Indians  of  the 
North  came  originally  irom  Asia , where  the  race  to  which  they  belong  seems 
still  represented  by  the  Koraks  and  Cookchees,  found  in  that  part  of  Asia  which 
extends  to  Behring’s  Straits.”4 

Hon.  Charles  D.  Poston,  late  commissioner  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Asia,  in  a work  entitled,  “ The  Parsees  ” speaking  of 
an  incident  which  took  place  “beyond  the  Great  Wall,”  says  : 

‘ ‘ A Mongolian  came  riding  up  on  a little  black  pony,  followed  by  a servant 
on  a camel,  rocking  like  a windmill.  He  stopped  a moment  to  exchange  panto- 
mimic salutations.  He  was  full  of  electricity,  and  alive  with  motion;  the  blood 
was  warm  in  his  veins,  and  the  fire  was  bright  in  his  eye.  I could  have  sworn 
that  he  was  an  Apache  ; every  action,  motion  and  look  reminded  me  of  my  old 
enemies  and  neighbors  in  Arizona.  They  are  the  true  descendants  of  the  nomadic 
Tartars  of  Asia  and  preserve  every  instinct  of  the  race.  He  shook  hands  friend- 
lily  but  timidly,  keeping  all  the  time  in  motion  like  an  Apache.”5 


1 Paschel : Races  of  Man,  pp.  403-404. 
9 Fusang,  p.  7. 

» Ibid.  118. 


* Quoted  in  Ibid. 

8 Quoted  in  Ibid.  p.  94. 


APPENDIX. 


541 


That  the  continents  of  Asia  and  America  were  at  one  time  joined 
together  by  an  isthmus,  at  the  place  where  the  channel  of  Behring’s 
straits  is  now  found,  is  a well  known  fact.  That  the  severance 
of  Asia  from  America  was,  geologically  speaking,  very  recent,  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  not  only  the  straits,  but  the  sea  which 
bears  the  name  of  Behring,  is  extraordinarily  shallow,  so  much  so, 
indeed,  that  whalers  lie  at  anchor  in  the  middle  of  it.1  This  is  evi- 
dently the  manner  in  which  America  wTas  peopled.2 

During  the  Champlain  period  in  the  earth’s  history  the  climate 
of  the  northern  portion  of  the  American  continent,  instead  of  being 
frigid,  and  the  country  covered  with  sheets  of  ice,  was  more  like  the 
climate  of  the  Middle  States  of  the  present  day.  Tropical  animals 
went  North,  and  during  the  Terrace  period — which  followed  the 
Champlain — the  climate  changed  to  frigid,  and  many  of  these 
tropical  animals  were  frozen  in  the  ice,  and  some  of  their  remains 
were  discovered  centuries  after. 

It  was  probably  during  the  time  when  the  climate  in  those 
northern  regions  was  warm,  that  the  aborigines  crossed  over,  and 
even  if  they  did  not  do  so  at  that  time,  we  must  not  be  startled  at 
the  idea  that  Asiatic  tribes  crossed  over  from  Asia  to  America,  when 
the  country  was  covered  with  ice.  There  have  been  nations  who 
lived  in  a state  of  nudity  among  ice-fields,  and,  even  at  the  present 
day,  a naked  nation  of  fishermen  still  exist  in  Terra  del  Fuego, 
where  the  glaciers  stretch  down  to  the  sea,  and  even  into  it.3 

Chas.  Darwin,  during  his  voyage  round  the  world  in  H.  M.  S. 
Beagle,  was  particularly  struck  with  the  hardiness  of  the  Fuegians, 
who  go  in  a state  of  nudity,  or  almost  entirely  so.  He  says  : 

“Among  these  central  tribes  the  men  generally  have  an  otter -skin,  or  some 
small  scrap,  about  as  large  as  a pocket-handkerchief,  to  cover  their  nakedness, 
which  is  barely  sufficient  to  cover  their  backs  as  low  down  as  their  loins.”4 

One  day  while  going  on  shore  near  Wollaston  Island,  Mr.  Darwin’s 
party  pulled  alongside  a canoe  which  contained  six  Fuegians,  who 
were,  he  says,  “ quite  naked,  and  even  one  full-grown  woman  was  ab- 
solutely so.  It  was  raining  heavily,  and  the  fresh  water,  together  with 
the  spray,  trickled  down  her  body.  In  another  harbor  not  far  dis- 
tant, a woman,  who  was  suckling  a recently-born  child,  came  one 


1 Paschel : Races  of  Man,  pp.  400,  401. 

3 To  those  who  may  think  that  the  Old 

World  might  have  been  peopled  from  the  new, 

we  refer  to  Oscar  Paschel's  “Races  of  Man,” 
p.  32.  The  author,  in  speaking  on  this  subject, 
says  : “ There  at  one  time  existed  a great  con- 
tinent, to  which  belonged  Madagascar  and 
perhaps  portions  of  Eastern  Africa,  the  Mal- 
dives and  Laccadives,  and  also  the  Island  of 


Ceylon,  which  was  never  attached  to.  India, 
perhaps  even  the  island  of  Celebes  in  the  far 
East,  which  possesses  a perplexing  fauna,  with 
semi-African  features.”  On  this  continent, 
which  was  situated  in  the  now  Indian  Ocean, 
must  we  look  for  the  cradle  of  humanity. 

3 Paschel  : Races  of  Man,  p.  31. 

4 Darwin’s  Journal,  p.  213. 


542 


APPENDIX. 


day  alongside  the  vessel,  and  remained  there  out  of  mere  curiosity, 
whilst  the  sleet  fell  and  thawed  on  her  naked  bosom,  and  on  the 
skin  of  her  naked  baby  I”1 

This  was  during  the  winter  season. 

A few  pages  farther  on  Mr.  Darwin  says  that  on  the  night  of  the 
22d  December,  a small  family  of  Fuegians — who  were  living  in  a 
cove  near  the  quarters — “ soon  joined  our  party  round  a blazing 
fire.  We  were  well  clothed,  and  though  sitting  close  to  the  fire  were 
far  from  too  warm  ; yet  these  naked  savages,  though  further  off, 
were  observed,  to  our  great  surprise,  to  be  streaming  with  perspira- 
tion at  undergoing  such  a scorching.  They  seemed,  however,  very 
well  pleased,  and  all  joined  in  the  chorus  of  the  seamen’s  songs  ; 
but  the  manner  in  which  they  were  invariably  a little  behind  was 
quite  ludicrous.”2 

The  Asiatics  who  first  crossed  over  to  the  American  continent 
were  evidently  in  a very  barbarous  stage,  although  they  may  have 
known  how  to  produce  fire,  and  use  bows  and  arrows.3  The  tribe 
who  inhabited  Mexico  at  the  time  it  was  discovered  by  the  Span- 
iards was  not  the  first  to  settle  there ; they  had  driven  out  a peo- 
ple, and  had  taken  the  country  from  them.4 

That  Mexico  was  visited  by  Orientals,  who  brought  and  planted 
their  religion  there,  in  a comparatively  recent  period,  is  very  proba- 
ble. Mr.  Chas.  G.  Leland,  who  has  made  this  subject  a special 
study,  says  : 

“While  the  proofs  of  the  existence  or  residence  of  Orientals  in  America  are 
extremely  vague  and  uncertain,  and  while  they  are  supported  only  by  coinci- 
dences, the  antecedent  probability  of  their  having  come  hither,  or  having  been 
able  to  come,  is  stronger  than  the  Norse  discovery  of  the  New  World,  or  even 
than  that  of  Columbus  himself  would  appear  to  be.  Let  the  reader  take  a map 
of  the  Northern  Pacific;  let  him  ascertain  for  himself  the  fact  that  from  Kamt- 
schatka,  which  was  well  known  to  the  old  Chinese,  to  Alaska  the  journey  is  far 
less  arduous  than  from  China  proper,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  there  was  in  all 
probability  intercourse  of  some  kind  between  the  continents.  In  early  times 
the  Chinese  were  bold  and  skillful  navigators,  to  whom  the  chain  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands  would  have  been  simply  like  stepping-stones  over  a shallow  brook  to  a 
child.  For  it  is  a well  ascertained  fact,  that  a sailor  in  an  open  boat  might  cross 
from  Asia  to  America  by  the  Aleutian  Islands  in  summer-time,  and  hardly  ever 


1 Darwin’s  Journal,  p.  213. 

2 Ibid.  pp.  220,  221. 

3 This  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  they 
did  not  know  the  use  of  iron.  Had  they 
known  the  use  of  this  metal,  they  would 
surely  have  gone  to  work  and  dug  into  their 
mountains,  which  are  abundantly  filled  with 
ore,  and  made  use  of  it. 

* The  Aztecs  were  preceded  by  the  Tol- 
tecs,  Chichimecks,  and  the  Nahualtecs.  (Hum- 
boldt’s New  Spain,  p.  133,  vol.  i.) 

“The  races  of  barbarians  which  success- 


ively followed  each  other  from  the  north  to 
the  south  always  murdered,  hunted  down,  and 
subdued  the  previous  inhabitants,  and  formed 
in  course  of  time  a new  social  and  political 
life  upon  the  ruins  of  the  old  system,  to  be 
again  destroyed  and  renewed  in  a few  cen- 
turies, by  a new  invasion  of  barbarians. 
The  later  native  conquerors  in  the  New  World 
can,  of  course,  no  more  be  considered  in  the 
light  of  original  inhabitants  than  the  presenv 
races  of  men  in  the  Old  World.” 


APPENDIX. 


be  out  of  sight  of  land,  and  this  in  a part  of  the  sea  generally  abounding  in 
fish,  as  is  proved  by  the  fishermen  who  inhabit  many  of  these  islands,  on  which 
fresh  water  is  always  to  be  found.”1 

Colonel  Barclay  Kennon,  formerly  of  the  IT.  S.  North  Pacific 
surveying  expedition,  says  : 

‘ ‘ From  the  result  of  the  most  accurate  scientific  observation,  it  is  evident 
that  the  voyage  from  China  to  America  can  be  made  without  being  out  of  sight 
of  land  more  than  a few  hours  at  any  one  time.  To  a landsman,  unfamiliar 
with  long  voyages,  the  mere  idea  of  being  ‘alone  on  the  wide,  wide  sea,’  with 
nothing  but  water  visible,  even  for  an  hour,  conveys  a strange  sense  of  desola- 
tion, of  daring,  and  of  adventure.  But  in  truth  it  is  regarded  as  a mere  trifle, 
not  only  by  regular  seafaring  men,  but  even  by  the  rudest  races  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  ; and  I have  no  doubt  that  from  the  remotest  ages,  and  on  all  shores,  fish- 
ermen in  open  boats,  canoes,  or  even  coracles,  guided  simply  by  the  stars  and 
currents,  have  not  hesitated  to  go  far  out  of  sight  of  land.  At  the  present  day, 
natives  of  many  of  the  South  Pacific  Islands  undertake,  without  a compass,  and 
successfully,  long  voyages  which  astonish  even  a regular  Jack-tar,  who  is  not 
often  astonished  at  anything.  If  this  can  be  done  by  savages,  it  hardly  seems 
possible  that  the  Asiatic- American  voyage  was  not  successfully  performed  by 
people  of  advanced  scientific  culture,  who  had,  it  is  generally  believed,  the  com- 
pass, and  who  from  an  early  age  were  proficient  in  astronomy.”2 * 

Prof.  Max  Muller,  it  would  seem,  entertains  similar  ideas  to  our 
own,  expressed  as  follows  : 

“In  their  (the  American  Indians’)  languages,  as  well  as  in  their  religions, 
traces  may  possibly  still  be  found,  before  it  is  too  late,  of  pre-historic  migrations 
of  men  from  the  primitive  Asiatic  to  the  American  Continent , either  across  the 
stepping-stones  of  the  Aleutic  bridge  in  the  North,  or  lower  South,  by  drifting  with 
favorable  wir^ds  from  island  to  island , till  the  hardy  canoe  was  landed  or  wrecked 
on  the  American  coast,  never  to  return  again  to  the  Asiatic  home  from  which  it  had 
started.”* 

It  is  very  evident  then,  that  the  religion  and  mythology  of  the 
Old  and  New  Worlds,  have,  in  part,  at  least,  a common  origin. 
Lord  Kingsborough  informs  us  that  the  Spanish  historians  of  the 
16th  century  were  not  disposed  to  admit  that  America  had  ever  been 
colonized  from  the  West,  “chiefly  on  account  of  the  state  in  which 
religion  was  found  in  the  new  continent.”4 

And  Mr.  Tylor  says  : 

‘ ‘ Among  the  mass  of  Central  American  traditions  . . . there  occur  certain 
passages  in  the  story  of  an  early  emigration  of  the  Quiche  race,  which  have 
much  the  appearance  of  vague  and  broken  stories  derived  in  some  way  from 
high  Northern  latitudes.”5 

Mr.  McCulloh,  in  his  “Researches,”  observes  that  : 


1 Fusang,  p.  56. 

2 Quoted  in  Fusang,  p.  71. 

* Science  of  Religion,  p.  121. 


♦ Mexican  Antiq.,  vol.  vi.  p.  181. 
6 Early  Hist.  Mankind,  p.  307. 


APPENDIX. 


“ In  analyzing  many  parts  of  their  (the  ancient  Americans’)  institutions,  especi- 
ally those  belonging  to  their  cosmogonal  history,  their  religious  superstitions,  and 
astronomical  computations,  we  have,  in  these  abstract  matters,  found  abundant 
proof  to  assert  that  there  has  been  formerly  a connection  between  the  people  of 
the  two  continents.  Their  communications,  however,  have  taken  place  at  a 
very  remote  period  of  time;  for  those  matters  in  which  they  more  decidedly 
coincide,  are  undoubtedly  those  which  belong  to  the  earliest  history  of  mankind.” 

It  is  unquestionably  from  India  that  we  have  derived,  partly 
through  the  Persians  and  other  nations,  most  of  our  metaphysical 
and  theological  doctrines,  as  well  as  our  nursery  tales.  Who  then 
can  deny  that  these  same  doctrines  and  legends  have  been  handed 
down  by  oral  tradition  to  the  chief  of  the  Indian  tribes,  and  in  this 
way  have  been  preserved,  although  perhaps  in  an  obscure  and  imper- 
fect manner,  in  some  instances  at  least,  until  the  present  day  ? The 
facts  which  we  have  before  us,  with  many  others  like  them  which 
are  to  be  had,  point  with  the  greatest  likelihood  to  a common 
fatherland,  the  cradle  of  all  nations,  from  which  they  came,  taking 
these  traditions  with  them. 


APPENDIX  B. 

Commencing  at  the  farthest  East  we  shall  find  the  ancient  re- 
ligion of  China  the  same  as  that  which  was  universal  in  all  quarters 
of  the  globe,  viz.,  an  adoration  of  the  Sun,  Moon,  Stars  and  ele- 
ments.1 2 That  the  Chinese  religion  was  in  one  respect  the  same  as 
that  of  India,  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  they  named  succes- 
sive days  for  the  same  seven  planets  that  the  Hindoos  did.3  The 
ancient  books  of  the  Chinese  show  that  astronomy  was  not  only 
understood  by  them  at  a very  early  period,  but  that  it  formed  an 
important  branch  of  state  policy,  and  the  basis  of  public  ceremonies. 
Eclipses  are  accurately  recorded  which  occurred  twenty  centuries  be- 
fore Jesus ; and  the  Confucian  books  refer  continually  to  observa- 
tions of  the  heavenly  bodies  and  the  rectification  of  the  calendar. 
The  ancient  Chinese  astronomers  seem  to  have  known  precisely 
the  excess  of  the  solar  year  beyond  365  days.  The  religion  of  China, 


1 “ All  Paganism  is  at  bottom  a worship  of 
nature  in  some  form  or  other,  and  in  all  Pagan 
religions  the  deepest  and  most  awe-inspiring 
attribute  of  nature  was  its  power  of  repro- 
duction.” (Encyclo.  Brit.,  art.  “Christianity.”) 

2 In  Montfaucon’s  L’Antiquite  Expliquee 

(vol.  i.),  may  be  seen  a representation  of  the 
•even  planets  personified.  It  was  by  such 


personifications  that  the  real  objects  worshiped 
became  unknown.  At  first  the  real  Sun, 
Moon,  Stars,  &c.,  would  be  worshiped,  but  as 
soon  as  man  personified  them,  other  terms 
would  be  introduced,  and  peculiar  rites  ap- 
propriated to  each,  so  that  in  time  they  came 
to  be  considered  as  so  many  different  dei- 
ties. 


APPENDIX. 


545 


under  the  emperors  who  preceded  the  first  dynasty,  is  an  enigma. 
The  notices  in  the  only  authentic  works,  the  King , are  on  this 
point  scanty,  vague,  and  obscure.  It  is  difficult  to  separate  what  is 
spoken  with  reference  to  the  science  of  astronomy  from  that  which 
may  relate  to  religion , properly  so  called.  The  terms  of  reverence 
and  respect,  with  which  the  heavenly  bodies  are  spoken  of  in  the  Shoo - 
King , seem  to  warrant  the  inference  that  those  terms  have  more 
than  a mere  astronomical  meaning,  and  that  the  ancient  religion  of 
China  partook  of  star -worship,  one  of  the  oldest  heresies  in  the 
world.1 

In  India  the  Sun,  Moon,  Stars  and  the  powers  of  Nature  were 
worshiped  and  personified,  and  each  quality,  mental  and  physical, 
had  its  emblem,  which  the  Brahmans  taught  the  ignorant  to  regard 
as  realities,  till  the  Pantheon  became  crowded. 

“ Our  Aryan  ancestors  learned  to  look  up  to  the  sky,  the  Sun, 
and  the  dawn,  and  there  to  see  the  presence  of  a living  power,  half- 
revealed,  and  half -hidden  from  their  senses,  those  senses  which  were 
always  postulating  something  beyond  what  they  could  grasp.  They 
went  further  still.  In  the  bright  sky  they  perceived  an  Illuminator , 
in  the  all-encircling  firmament  an  Embracer,  in  the  roar  of  the 
thunder  or  in  the  voice  of  the  storm  they  felt  the  presence  of  a 
Shouter  and  of  furious  Strikers,  and  out  of  the  rain  they  created  an 
Indr  a,  or  giver  of  rain.”2 

Prof.  Monier  Williams,  speaking  of  “ the  hymns  of  the  Veda,” 
says  : 

1 ‘ To  what  deities,  it  will  be  asked,  were  the  prayers  and  hymns  of  these  col- 
lections addressed  ? The  answer  is:  They  worshiped  those  physical  forces  before 
which  all  nations,  if  guided  solely  by  the  light  of  nature,  have  in  the  early  period 
of  their  life,  instinctively  bowed  down,  and  before  which  even  the  most  civilized 
and  enlightened  have  always  been  compelled  to  bend  in  awe  and  reverence,  if 
not  in  adoration.”3 

The  following  sublime  description  of  Night  is  an  extract  from 
the  Vedas,  made  by  Sir  William  Jones  : 

“ Night  approaches,  illumined  with  stars  and  planets,  and,  looking  on  all  sides 
with  numberless  eyes,  overpowers  all  meaner  lights.  The  immortal  goddess 
pervades  the  firmament,  covering  the  low  valleys  and  shrubs,  the  lofty  moun- 
tains and  trees,  but  soon  she  disturbs  the  gloom  with  celestial  effulgence.  Ad- 
vancing with  brightness,  at  length  she  recalls  her  sister  Morning;  and  the 
nightly  shade  gradually  melts  away.  May  she  at  this  time  be  propitious!  She, 
in  whose  early  watch  we  may  calmly  recline  in  our  mansions,  as  birds  repose 
upon  the  trees.  Mankind  now  sleep  in  their  towns ; now  herds  and  flocks  peace- 
fully slumber,  and  the  winged  creatures,  swift  falcons,  and  vultures.  O Night! 


1 Thornton  : Hist.  China,  vol.  i.  pp.  14,  49  2 Max  Muller : The  Science  of  Religion, 

and  50.  p.  298. 


8 Indian  Wisdom,  p.  10. 


546 


APPENDIX. 


avert  from  us  the  she-wolf  and  the  wolf;  and,  oh  1 suffer  us  to  pass  thee  in 
soothing  rest!  Oh,  morn!  remove  in  due  time  this  black,  yet  visible  over- 
whelming darkness,  which  at  present  enfolds  me,  as  thou  enablest  me  to  remove 
the  cloud  of  their  dells.  Daughter  of  Heaven , I approach  thee  with  praise,  as 
the  cow  approaches  her  milker;  accept,  O Night ! not  the  hymn  only,  but  the 
oblation  of  thy  suppliant,  who  prays  that  his  foes  may  be  subdued.” 

Some  of  the  principal  gods  of  the  Hindoo  Pantheon  are,  Dyaus 
(the  Sky),  Indra  (the  Kain-giver),  Sfirya  (the  Sun),  the  Maruts 
(Winds),  Aditi,  (the  Dawn),  Parvati  (the  Earth,)1  and  Siva,  her 
consort.  The  worship  of  the  Sun  is  expressed  in  a variety  of  ways, 
and  by  a multitude  of  fanciful  names.  One  of  the  principal  of 
these  is  Crishna.  The  following  is  a prayer  addressed  to  him  : 

‘ ‘ Be  auspicious  to  my  lay,  O Chrishna,  thou  only  God  of  the  seven  heavens, 
who  swayest  the  universe  through  the  immensity  of  space  and  matter.  O uni- 
versal and  resplendent  Sun  ! Thou  mighty  governor  of  the  heavens  ; thou 
sovereign  regulator  of  the  connected  whole;  thou  sole  and  universal  deity  of 
mankind ; thou  gracious  and  Supreme  Spirit ; my  noblest  and  most  happy  in- 
spiration is  thy  praise  and  glory.  Thy  power  I will  praise,  for  thou  art  my 
sovereign  Lord,  whose  bright  image  continually  forces  itself  on  my  attention, 
eager  imagination.  Thou  art  the  Being  to  whom  heroes  pray  in  perils  of  war; 
nor  are  their  supplications  vain,  when  thus  they  pray;  whether  it  be  when  thou 
illuminest  the  eastern  region  with  thy  orient  light,  when  in  thy  meridian 
splendor,  or  when  thou  majestically  descendest  in  the  West.” 

Crishna  is  made  to  say  : 

“ I am  the  light  in  the  Sun  and  Moon,  far,  far  beyond  the  darkness.  I 
am  the  brilliancy  in  flame,  the  radiance  in  all  that’s  radiant,  and  the  light  of 
lights.”2 * 

In  the  Maha-lharata,  Crishna,  who  having  become  the  son  of 
Aditi  (the  Dawn),  is  called  Vishnu , another  name  for  the  Sun.8 
The  demon  Putana  assaults  the  child  Crishna,  which  identifies  him 
with  Hercules,  the  Sun-god  of  the  Greeks.4 *  In  his  Solar  character 
he  must  again  be  the  slayer  of  the  Dragon  or  Black-snake  Kulnika , 
the  “ Old  Serpent”  with  the  thousand  heads.6  Crishna’s  amours 
with  the  maidens  makes  him  like  Indra,  Phoibus,  Hercules,  Samson, 
Alpheios,  Paris  and  other  Sun-gods.  This  is  the  hot  and  fiery  Sun 
greeting  the  moon  and  the  dew,  or  the  Sun  with  his  brides  the 
Stars. 6 

Moore,  in  his  Hindu  Pantheon,  observes  : 

“ Although  all  the  Hindu  deities  partake  more  or  less  remotely  of  the  nature 
and  character  of  Surya,  or  the  Sun,  and  all  more  or  less  directly  radiate  from, 
or  merge  in,  him,  yet  no  one  is,  I think,  so  intimately  identified  with  him  as 
Vishnu ; whether  considered  in  his  own  person,  or  in  the  character  of  his  most 
glorious  Avatara  of  Crishna.  ” 


1 The  emblem  of  Parvati,  the  “ Mother 

Goddess,”  wse  the  Yoni,  and  that  of  her  con- 

sort Siva,  the  Lingham. 

8 Williams  Hinduism,  p.  213. 

* See  Cox : Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  pp.  105 


and  130. 

* Ibid.  p.  135. 

« Ibid.  p.  137. 

6 See  Ibid.  p.  88,  and  Moor’s  Hindu  Pan- 
theon, p.  63. 


APPENDIX. 


547 


The  ancient  religion  of  Egypt,  like  that  of  Hindostan,  was 
founded  on  astronomy,  and  eminently  metaphysical  in  its  character. 
The  Egyptian  priests  were  far  advanced  in  the  science  of  astronomy. 
They  made  astronomy  their  peculiar  study.  They  knew  the  figure 
of  the  earth,  and  how  to  calculate  solar  and  lunar  eclipses.  From 
very  ancient  time,  they  had  observed  the  order  and  movement  of 
the  stars,  and  recorded  them  with  the  utmost  care.  Ramses  the 
Great,  generally  called  Sesostris,  is  supposed  to  have  reigned  one 
thousand  five  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  about  coeval 
with  Moses,  or  a century  later.  In  the  tomb  of  this  monarch  was 
found  a large  massive  circle  of  wrought  gold,  divided  into  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  degrees,  and  each  division  marked  the  rising 
and  setting  of  the  stars  for  each  day. 1 This  fact  proves  how  early 
they  were  advanced  in  astronomy.  In  their  great  theories  of  mutual 
dependence  between  all  things  in  the  universe  was  included  a be- 
lief in  some  mysterious  relation  between  the  Spirits  of  the  Stars  and 
human  souls,  so  that  the  destiny  of  mortals  was  regulated  by  the 
motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  famous 
system  of  Astrology.  From  the  conjunction  of  planets  at  the  hour 
of  birth,  they  prophesied  what  would  be  the  temperament  of  an 
infant,  what  life  he  would  live,  and  what  death  he  would  die.  Dio- 
dorus, who  wrote  in  the  century  preceding  Christ  Jesus,  says  : 

“They  frequently  foretell  with  the  greatest  accuracy  what  is  about  to  happen 
to  mankind ; showing  the  failure  or  abundance  of  crops,  and  the  epidemic  dis- 
eases about  to  befall  men  or  cattle.  Earthquakes,  deluges,  rising  of  comets, 
and  all  those  phenomena,  the  knowledge  of  which  appears  impossible  to  com- 
mon comprehensions,  they  foresee  by  means  of  their  long  continued  observa- 
tion.” 

P.  Le  Page  Renouf,  who  is  probably  the  best  authority  on  the 
religion  of  ancient  Egypt  which  can  be  produced,  says,  in  his  Hib- 
bert  Lectures  :2 

“The  Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language,  delivered  nearly  twenty  years 
ago  by  Prof.  Max  Muller,  have,  I trust,  made  us  fully  understand  how,  among  the 
Indo-European  races,  the  names  of  the  Sun,  of  Sunrise  and  Sunset,  and  of  other 
such  phenomena,  come  to  be  talked  of  and  considered  as  personages,  of  whom 
wondrous  legends  have  been  told.  Egyptian  mythology  not  merely  admits,  but 
imperatively  demands,  the  same  explanation.  And  this  becomes  the  more  evi- 
dent when  we  consider  the  question  how  these  mythical  personages  came  to  be 
invested  with  the  attributes  of  divinity  by  men  who,  like  the  Egyptians,  had  so 
lively  a sense  of  the  divine.  ” 

Kenrick,  in  bis  “ History  of  Egypt,”  says  : 


1 “ According  to  Champollion,  the  tomb  of  beings)  for  every  hour  of  every  month  of  the 

Ramses  V.  at  Thebes,  contains  tables  of  the  yeai.”  (Kenrick’s  Egypt,  vol.  i.  p.  456.) 

constellations  and  of  their  influence  (on  human  a p.  118. 


548 


APPENDIX. 


“We  have  abundant  evidence  that  the  Egyptian  theology  had  its  origin  in 
the  personification  of  the  powers  of  nature,  under  male  and  female  attributes, 
and  that  this  conception  took  a sensible  form,  such  as  the  mental  state  of  the 
people  required,  by  the  identification  of  these  powers  with  the  elements  and  the 
heavenly  bodies,  fire,  earth,  water,  the  sun  and  moon,  and  the  Nile.  Such  ap- 
pears everywhere  to  be  the  origin  of  the  objective  form  of  polytheism;  and  it  is 
equally  evident  among  the  nations  most  closely  allied  to  the  Egyptians  by  posi- 
tion and  general  character — the  Phenicians,  the  Babylonians,  and  in  remote 
connection,  the  Indians  on  the  one  side  and  the  Greeks  on  the  other.” 

The  gods  and  goddesses  of  the  ancient  Persians  were  also  per- 
sonifications of  the  Sun,  Moon,  Stars,  the  elements,  &c. 

Ormuzd,  “ The  King  of  Light,”  was  god  of  the  Firmament,  and 
the  “Principle  of  Goodness”  and  of  Truth.  He  was  called  “The 
Eternal  Source  of  Sunshine  and  Light,”  “ The  Centre  of  all  that 
exists,”  “The  First-born  of  the  Eternal  One,”  “The  Creator,” 
“The  Sovereign  Intelligence,”  “The  All-seeing,”  “The  Just 
Judge.”  He  was  described  as  “ sitting  on  the  throne  of  the  good 
and  the  perfect,  in  regions  of  pure  light,”  crowned  with  rays,  and 
with  a ring  on  his  finger — a circle  being  an  emblem  of  infinity  ; 
sometimes  as  a venerable,  majestic  man,  seated  on  a Bull,  their 
emblem  of  creation. 

“ Mithras  the  Mediator  ” was  the  god-Sun.  Their  most  splendid 
ceremonials  were  in  honor  of  Mithras.  They  kept  his  birth-dav, 
with  many  rejoicings,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  December,  when  the 
Sun  perceptibly  begins  to  return  northward,  after  his  long  winter 
journey ; and  they  had  another  festival  in  his  honor,  at  the  vernal 
equinox.  Perhaps  no  religious  festival  was  ever  more  splendid  than 
the  “ Annual  Salutation  of  Mithras ,”  during  which  forty  days  were 
set  apart  for  thanksgiving  and  sacrifice.  The  procession  to  salute 
the  god  was  formed  long  before  the  rising  of  the  Sun.  The  High 
Priest  was  followed  by  a long  train  of  the  Magi,  in  spotless  white 
robes,  chanting  hymns,  and  carrying  the  sacred  fire  on  silver  cen- 
sers. Then  came  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  youths  in  scarlet,  to 
represent  the  days  of  the  year  and  the  color  of  fire.  These  were 
followed  by  the  Chariot  of  the  Sun,  empty,  decorated  with  garlands, 
and  drawn  by  superb  white  horses  harnessed  with  pure  gold.  Then 
came  a white  horse  of  magnificent  size,  his  forehead  blazing  with 
gems,  in  honor  of  Mithras.  Close  behind  him  rode  the  king,  in  a 
chariot  of  ivory  inlaid  with  gold,  followed  by  his  royal  kindred  in 
embroidered  garments,  and  a long  train  of  nobles  riding  on  camels 
richly  caparisoned.  This  gorgeous  retinue,  facing  the  East,  slowly 
ascended  Mount  Orontes.  Arrived  at  the  summit,  the  High  Priest 
assumed  his  tiara  wreathed  with  myrtle,  and  hailed  the  first  rays  of 
the  rising  Sun  with  incense  and  prayer.  The  other  Magi  gradually 
joined  him  in  singing  hymns  to  Ormuzd,  the  source  of  all  blessing, 


APPENDIX. 


549 


by  whom  Ihe  radiant  Mithras  had  been  sent  to  gladden  the  earth 
and  preserve  the  principle  of  life.  Finally,  they  all  joined  in  one 
universal  chorus  of  praise,  while  king,  princes  and  nobles,  pros- 
trated themselves  before  the  orb  of  day. 

The  Hebrews  worshiped  the  Sun,  Moon,  Stars,  and  “ all  the 
host  of  heaven.”1  El-Shaddai  was  one  of  the  names  given  to  the 
god  Sun.  Parkhurst,  in  his  “Hebrew  Lexicon,”  says,  “El  was  the 
very  name  the  heathens  gave  to  their  god  Sol,  their  Lord  or  Ruler 
of  the  hosts  of  heaven.”  El,  which  means  “the  strong  one  in 
heaven  ” — the  Sun,  was  invoked  by  the  ancestors  of  all  the  Semitic 
nations,  before  there  were  Babylonians  in  Babylon,  Phenicians  in 
Sydon  and  Tyrus,  before  there  were  Jews  in  Mesopotamia  or  Jeru- 
salem.2 

The  Sun  was  worshiped  by  the  Hebrews  under  the  names  of 
Baal,  Moloch,  Chemosh,  &c.;  the  Moon  was  Ashtoreth,  the  “ Queen 
of  Heaven.”3 

The  gods  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  were  the  same  as 
the  gods  of  the  Indian  epic  poems.  We  have,  for  example  : Zeu- 
piter  (Jupiter),  corresponding  to  Dyaus-pitar  (the  Heaven-father), 
Juno,  corresponding  to  Parvati  (the  Mother  Goddess),  and  Apollo, 
corresponding  to  Crishna  (the  Sun,  the  Saviour).4  Another  name 
for  the  Sun  among  those  people  was  Bacchus.  An  Orphic  verse, 
referring  to  the  Sun,  says,  “ he  is  called  Dionysos  (a  name  of  Bacchus) 
because  he  is  carried  with  a circular  motion  through  the  immensely 
extended  heavens.”6 

Dr.  Prichard,  in  his  “ Analysis  of  Egyptian  Mythology,”6  speak- 
ing of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  says  : 

“That  the  worship  of  the  powers  of  nature,  mitigated,  indeed,  and  embel- 
lished, constituted  the  foundation  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  religion,  will  not  be 
disputed  by  any  person  who  surveys  the  fables  of  the  Olympian  Gods  with  a 
more  penetrating  eye  than  that  of  a mere  antiquarian.” 

M.  De  Coulanges,  speaking  of  them,  says  : 

“The  Sun,  which  gives  fecundity;  the  Earth,  which  nourishes;  the  Clouds, 
by  turns  beneficent  and  destructive, — such  were  the  different  powers  of  which  they 
could  make  gods.  But  from  each  one  of  these  elements  thousands  of  gods  were 
created ; because  the  same  physical  agent,  viewed  under  different  aspects,  received 
from  men  different  names.  The  Sun,  for  example,  was  called  in  one  place 
Hercules  (the  glorious);  in  another,  Phoebus  (the  shining);  and  still  again,  Apollo 
(he  who  drives  away  night  or  evil);  one  called  him  Hyperion  (the  elevated  being); 
another,  Alexicacos  (the  beneficent);  and  in  the  course  of  time  groups  of  men, 
who  had  given  these  various  names  to  the  brilliant  luminary,  no  longer  saw  that 
they  had  the  same  god .”7 


1 See  Chapter  XI. 

2 Muller  : The  Science  of  Relig.,  p.  190. 

3 See  Chapter  XI. 

4 See  Indian  Wisdom,  p.  426. 


* Taylor’s  Mysteries,  p.  163. 
8 Page  239. 

T The  Ancient  City,  p.  162. 


APPENDIX. 


550 

Richard  Payne  Knight  says  • 

“ The  primitive  religion  of  the  Greeks,  like  that  of  all  other  nations  not  en- 
lightened by  Revelation,  appears  to  have  been  elementary,  and  to  have  consisted 
in  an  indistinct  worship  of  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  the  Stars,  the  Earth,  and 
the  Waters,  or  rather,  the  spirits  supposed  to  preside  over  these  bodies,  and 
to  direct  their  motions,  and  regulate  their  modes  of  existence.  Every  river, 
spring  or  mountain  had  its  local  genius,  or  peculiar  deity;  and  as  men  natu- 
rally endeavored  to  obtain  the  favor  of  their  gods  by  such  means  as  they  feel 
best  adapted  to  win  their  own,  the  first  worship  consisted  in  offering  to  them 
certain  portions  of  whatever  they  held  to  be  most  valuable.  At  the  same  time, 
the  regular  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  the  stated  returns  of  summer  and 
winter,  of  day  and  night,  with  all  the  admirable  order  of  the  universe,  taught 
them  to  believe  in  the  existence  and  agency  of  such  superior  powers;  the  irregu- 
lar and  destructive  efforts  of  nature,  such  as  lightnings  and  tempests,  inunda- 
tions and  earthquakes,  persuaded  them  that  these  mighty  beings  had  passions 
and  affections  similar  to  their  own,  and  only  differed  in  possessing  greater 
strength,  power,  and  intelligence.”1 

When  the  Grecian  astronomers  first  declared  that  the  Sun  was 
not  a person,  but  a huge  hot  ball,  instantly  an  outcry  arose  against 
them.  They  were  called  “blaspheming  atheists,”  and  from  that 
time  to  the  present,  when  any  new  discovery  is  made  which  seems  to 
take  away  from  man  his  god,  the  cry  of  “ Atheist  ” is  instantly  raised. 

If  we  turn  from  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  take  a look 
still  farther  West  and  North,  we  shall  find  that  the  gods  of  all  the 
Teutonic  nations  were  the  same  as  we  have  seen  elsewhere.  They 
had  Odin  or  Woden — from  whom  we  have  our  Wednesday — the  Al- 
fader  (the  Sky),  Frigga,  the  Mother  Goddess  (the Earth),  “Baldur 
the  Good,”  and  Thor — from  whom  we  have  our  Thursday  (per- 
sonifications of  the  Sun),  besides  innumerable  other  genii,  among 
them  Ereyja — from  whom  we  have  our  Friday — and  as  she  was  the 
“ Goddess  of  Love,”  we  eat  fish  on  that  day.2 

The  gods  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  what  are  now  called  the 
“ British  Islands  ” were  identically  the  same.  The  bun-god  wor- 
shiped by  the  Ancient  Druids  was  called  Hu,  Beli,  Budd  and 
Buddu-gre. 3 

The  same  worship  which  we  have  found  in  the  Old  World,  from 
the  farthest  East  to  the  remotest  West,  may  also  be  traced  in 
America,  from  its  simplest  or  least  clearly  defined  form,  among  the 
roving  hunters  and  squalid  Esquimaux  of  the  North,  through  every 
intermediate  stage  of  development,  to  the  imposing  systems  of 
Mexico  and  Peru,  where  it  took  a form  nearly  corresponding  that 
which  it  at  one  time  sustained  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  and  on 
the  plains  of  Assyria.4 


1 Ancient  Art  and  Mythology,  p.  1.  Frigga  and  Freyja  are  originally  one. 

a See  Mallet’s  Northern  Antiquities.  Though  3 See  Myths  of  the  British  Druids,  p.  110. 

spoken  of  in  Northern  mythology  as  distinct,  4 See  Squire’s  Serpent  Symbol. 


APPENDIX. 


551 


Father  Acosta,  speaking  of  the  Mexicans,  sayg  : 

“Next  to  Viracocha,  or  their  Supreme  God,  that  which  moat  commonly  they 
have,  and  do  adore,  is  the  Sun  ; and  after,  those  things  which  are  most  remark- 
able in  the  celestial  or  elementary  nature,  as  the  Moon,  Stars,  Sea,  and  Land. 

“ Whoso  shall  merely  look  into  it,  shall  find  this  manner  which  the  Devil 
hath  used  to  deceive  the  Indians,  to  be  the  same  wherewith  he  hath  deceived 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  other  ancient  Gentiles,  giving  them  to  understand 
that  these  notable  creatures,  the  Sun,  Moon,  Stars,  and  elements,  had  power  or 
authority  to  do  good  or  harm  to  men.”1 

We  see,  then,  that  the  gods  and  heroes  of  antiquity  were  origin- 
ally personifications  of  certain  elements  of  Nature,  and  that  the 
legends  of  adventures  ascribed  to  them  are  merely  mythical  forms 
of  describing  the  phenomena  of  these  elements. 

These  legends  relating  to  the  elements  of  Nature,  whether  they 
had  reference  to  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  the  Stars,  or  a certain  natural 
phenomenon,  became,  in  the  course  of  time,  to  be  regarded  as  ac- 
counts of  men  of  a high  order,  who  had  once  inhabited  the  earth. 
Sanctuaries  and  temples  were  erected  to  these  heroes,  their  bones 
were  searched  for,  and  when  found — which  was  always  the  case — 
were  regarded  as  a great  source  of  strength  to  the  town  that  pos- 
sessed them  ; all  relics  of  their  stay  on  earth  were  hallowed,  and  a 
form  of  worship  was  specially  adapted  to  them. 

The  idea  that  heavenly  luminaries  were  inhabited  by  spirits,  of 
a nature  intermediate  between  God  and  men,  first  led  mortals  to 
address  prayers  to  the  orbs  over  which  they  were  supposed  to  pre- 
side. In  order  to  supplicate  these  deities,  when  Sun,  Moon,  and 
Stars  were  not  visible,  they  made  images  of  them , which  the  priests 
consecrated  with  many  ceremonies.  Then  they  pronounced  solemn 
invocations  to  draw  down  the  spirits  into  the  statues  provided  for 
their  reception.  By  this  process  it  was  supposed  that  a mysterious 
connection  was  established  between  the  spirit  and  the  image,  so 
that  prayers  addressed  to  one  were  thenceforth  heard  by  the  other. 
This  was  probably  the  origin  of  image  worship  everywhere. 

The  motive  of  this  worship  was  the  same  among  all  nations  of 
antiquity,  i.  e.,  fear , They  supposed  that  these  deities  were  irri- 
tated by  the  sins  of  men,  but,  at  the  same  time,  were  merciful, 
and  capable  of  being  appeased  by  prayer  and  repentance ; for  this 
reason  men  offered  to  these  deities  sacrifices  and  prayers.  How 
natural  that'  such  should  have  been  the  case,  for,  as  Abbe  Dubois 
observes:  “To  the  rude,  untutored  eye,  the  ‘ Host  of  Heaven/ 
clothed  in  that  calm  beauty  which  distinguishes  an  Oriental  night, 
might  well  appear  to  be  instinct  with  some  divine  principle,  endowed 
with  consciousness,  and  the  power  to  influence,  from  its  throne  of 
unchanging  splendor  on  high,  the  fortunes  of  transitory  mortals.” 


1 Acosta  : vol.  ii.  pp.  303-305. 


552 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  O. 

All  the  chief  stories  that  we  know  so  well  are  to  be  found  in  all 
times,  and  in  almost  all  countries.  Cinderella , for  one,  is  told  in 
the  language  of  every  country  in  Europe,  and  the  same  legend  is 
found  in  the  fanciful  tales  related  by  the  Greek  poets  ; and  still 
further  back,  it  appears  in  very  ancient  Hindoo  legends.  So,  again, 
does  Beauty  and  the  Beast ; so  does  our  familiar  tale  of  Jaclc , the 
Giant-Killer  ; so  also  do  a great  number  of  other  fairy  stories,  each 
being  told  in  different  countries  and  in  different  periods,  with  so 
much  likeness  as  to  show  that  all  the  versions  came  from  the  same 
source,  and  yet  with  enough  difference  to  show  that  none  of  the 
versions  are  directly  copied  from  each  other.  “Indeed,  when  we 
compare  the  myths  and  legends  of  one  country  with  another,  and  of 
one  period  with  another,  we  find  out  how  they  have  come  to  be  so 
much  alike,  and  yet  in  some  things  so  different.  We  see  that  there 
must  have  been  one  origin  for  all  these  stories,  that  they  must  have 
been  invented  by  one  people,  that  this  people  must  have  been  after- 
wards divided,  and  that  each  part  or  division  of  it  must  have 
brought  into  its  new  home  the  legends  once  common  to  them  all,  and 
must  have  shaped  and  altered  these  according  to  the  kind  of  place 
in  which  they  came  to  live  ; those  of  the  North  being  sterner  and 
more  terrible,  those  of  the  South  softer  and  fuller  of  light  and 
color,  and  adorned  with  touches  of  more  delicate  fancy.  ” And  this, 
indeed,  is  really  the  case.  All  the  chief  stories  and  legends  are 
alike,  because  they  were  first  made  by  one  people  ; and  all  the  nations 
in  which  they  are  now  told  in  one  form  or  another  tell  them  because 
they  are  all  descended  from  this  one  common  stock,  the  Aryan. 

From  researches  made  by  Prof.  Max  Muller,  The  Rev.  George 
W.  Cox,  and  others,  in  England  and  Germany,  in  the  science  of 
Comparative  Mythology,  we  begin  to  see  something  of  these  ancient 
forefathers  of  ours  ; to  understand  what  kind  of  people  they  were,  and 
to  find  that  our  fairy  stories  are  really  made  out  of  their  religion. 

The  mind  of  the  Aryan  peoples  in  their  ancient  home  was  full 
of  imagination.  They  never  ceased  to  wonder  at  what  they  saw  and 
heard  in  the  sky  and  upon  the  earth.  Their  language  was  highly 
figurative,  and  so  the  things  which  struck  them  with  wonder,  and 
which  they  could  not  explain,  were  described  under  forms  and 
names  which  were  familiar  to  them.  “Thus,  the  thunder  was  to 
them  the  bellowing  of  a mighty  beast,  or  the  rolling  of  a great 
chariot.  In  the  lightning  they  saw  a brilliant  serpent,  or  a spear 
shot  across  the  skv,  or  a great  fish  darting  swiftly  through  the  sea 
of  cloud.  The  clouds  were  heavenly  cows,  who  shed  milk  upon 
the  earth  and  refreshed  it ; or  they  were  webs  woven  by  heavenly 


APPENDIX. 


553 


women  who  drew  water  from  the  fountains  on  high  and  poured 
it  down  as  rain.”  Analogies  which  are  but  fancy  to  us,  were 
realities  to  these  men  of  past  ages.  They  could  see  in  the  water- 
spout a huge  serpent  who  elevated  himself  out  of  the  ocean  and 
reached  his  head  to  the  skies.  They  could  feel,  in  the  pangs 
of  hunger,  a live  creature  gnawing  within  their  bodies,  and  they 
heard  the  voices  of  the  hill-dwarfs  answering  in  the  echo.  The  Sun , 
the  first  object  which  struck  them  with  wonder,  was,  to  them,  the 
child  of  Night ; the  Dawn  came  before  he  was  born,  and  died  as  he 
rose  in  the  heavens.  He  strangled  the  serpents  of  the  night ; he 
went  forth  like  a bridegroom  out  of  his  chamber,  and  like  a giant 
to  run  his  course.1  He  had  to  do  battle  with  clouds  and  storms.2 
Sometimes  his  light  grew  dim  under  their  gloomy  veil,  and  the 
children  of  men  shuddered  at  the  wrath  of  the  hidden  Sun.3 
Sometimes  his  ray  broke  forth,  only,  after  brief  splendor,  to  sink 
beneath  a deeper  darkness ; sometimes  he  burst  forth  at  the  end  of 
his  course,  trampling  on  the  clouds  which  had  dimmed  his  brilliancy, 
and  bathing  his  pathway  with  blood.4  Sometimes,  beneath  moun- 
tains of  clouds  and  vapors,  he  plunged  into  the  leaden  sea.5  Some- 
times he  looked  benignly  on  the  face  of  his  mother  or  his  bride  who 
came  to  greet  him  at  his  journey’s  end.6  Sometimes  he  was  the 
lord  of  heaven  and  of  light,  irresistible  in  his  divine  strength ; 
sometimes  he  toiled  for  others,  not  for  himself,  in  a hard,  unwill- 
ing servitude.7  His  light  and  heat  might  give  light  and  destroy  it.8 
His  chariot  might  scorch  the  regions  over  which  it  passed,  his  flam- 
ing fire  might  burn  up  all  who  dared  to  look  with  prying  eyes  into 
tns  dazzling  treasure-house.9  He  might  be  the  child  destined  to 
Alay  his  parents,  or  to  be  united  at  the  last  in  an  unspeakable  peace, 
to  the  bright  Dawn  who  for  a brief  space  had  gladdened  his  path  in 
the  morning. 10  He  might  be  the  friend  of  the  children  of  men, 
and  the  remorseless  foe  of  those  powers  of  darkness  who  had  stolen 
away  his  bride.11  He  might  be  a warrior  whose  eye  strikes  terror 


1 This  picture  would  give  us  the  story  of 
Hercules,  who  strangled  the  serpent  in  his 
cradle,  and  who,  in  after  years,  in  the  form 
of  a giant,  ran  his  course. 

a This  would  give  us  St.  George  killing  the 
Dragon. 

3 This  would  give  us  the  story  of  the  mon- 
ster who  attempted  to  devour  the  Sun,  and 
whom  the  “ untutored  savage  ” tried  to 
frighten  away  by  making  loud  cries. 

4 This  would  give  us  the  story  of  Samson, 

whose  strength  was  renewed  at  the  end  of 

his  career,  and  who  slew  the  Philistines— who 

had  dimmed  his  brilliance— and  bathed  his 

path  with  blood. 

• This  would  give  us  the  story  of  Oannes 

or  Dagon,  who,  beneath  the  clouds  of  the 


evening  sky,  plunged  into  the  sea. 

* This  would  give  us  the  story  of  Hercules 
and  his  bride  Idle,  or  that  of  Christ  Jesus  and 
his  mother  Mary,  who  were  at  their  side  at  the 
end  of  their  career. 

7 This  would  give  us  the  story  of  the  labors 
of  Hercules. 

8 This  is  the  Sun  as  Seva. 

9 Here  again  we  have  the  Sun  as  Siva  the 
Destroyer. 

10  Here  we  have  Apollo,  Achilleus,  Bellero- 
phon  and  Odysseus. 

11  This  would  give  us  the  story  of  Samson, 
who  was  “ the  friend  of  the  children  of  men, 
and  the  remorseless  foe  of  those  powers  of 
darkness  ” (the  Philistines),  who  had  stolen 
away  his  bride.  (See  Judges,  ch.  xv.) 


554 


APPENDIX. 


into  his  enemies,  or  a wise  chieftain  skilled  in  deep  and  hidden 
knowledge.1  Sometimes  he  might  appear  as  a glorious  being 
doomed  to  an  early  death,  which  no  power  could  avert  or  delay.2 3 
Sometimes  grievous  hardships  and  desperate  conflicts  might  be  fol- 
lowed by  a long  season  of  serene  repose.9  Wherever  he  went,  men 
might  welcome  him  in  love,  or  shrink  from  him  in  fear  and 
anguish.4  He  would  have  many  brides  in  many  lands,  and  his  off- 
spring would  assume  aspects  beautiful,  strange  or  horrible.6  His 
course  might  be  brilliant  and  beneficent ; or  gloomy,  sullen,  and 
capricious.6  As  compelled  to  toil  for  others,  he  would  be  said  to 
fight  in  quarrels  not  his  own ; or  he  might  for  a time  withhold  the 
aid  of  an  arm  which  no  enemy  could  withstand.7  He  might  be 
the  destroyer  of  all  whom  he  loved,  he  might  slay  the  Dawn  with 
his  kindling  rays,  he  might  scorch  the  Fruits,  who  were  his  children ; 
he  might  woo  the  deep  blue  sky,  the  bride  of  heaven  itself,  and  an 
inevitable  doom  might  bind  his  limbs  on  the  blazing  wheel  for  ever 
and  ever.8  Nor  in  this  crowd  of  phrases,  all  of  which  have  borne 
their  part  in  the  formation  of  mythology,  is  there  one  which  could 
not  be  used  naturally  by  ourselves  to  describe  the  phenomena  of  the 
outward  world,  and  there  is  scarcely  one,  perhaps,  which  has  not 
been  used  by  our  own  poets.  There  is  a beauty  in  them,  which  can 
never  grow  old  or  lose  its  charm.  Poets  of  all  ages  recur  to  them 
instinctively  in  times  of  the  deepest  grief  or  the  greatest  joy ; 
but,  in  the  words  of  Professor  Max  Muller,  “ it  is  impossible  to 
enter  fully  into  the  thoughts  and  feelings  which  passed  through  the 
minds  of  the  early  poets  when  they  formed  names  for  that  far  East 
from  whence  even  the  early  Dawn,  the  Sun,  the  Day,  their  own  life 
seemed  to  spring.  A new  life  flashed  up  every  morning  before  their 
eyes,  and  the  fresh  breezes  of  the  Dawn  reached  them  like  greetings 
wafted  across  the  golden  threshold  of  the  sky  from  the  distant 
lands  beyond  the  mountains,  beyond  the  clouds,  beyond  the  dawn, 
beyond  the  immortal  sea  which  brought  us  hither ! The  Dawn 
seemed  to  them  to  open  golden  gates  for  the  Sun  to  pass  in  triumph ; 
and  while  those  gates  were,  open,  their  eyes  and  their  minds  strove, 
in  their  childish  way,  to  pierce  beyond  the  limits  of  this  finite 
world.  That  silent  aspect  wakened  in  the  human  mind  the  con- 
ception of  the  Infinite,  the  Immortal,  the  Divine ; and  the  names 
of  the  Dawn  became  naturally  the  names  of  higher  powers.9 


1 This  would  give  us  the  stories  of  Thor , the 
mighty  warrior,  the  terror  of  his  enemies,  and 
those  of  Cadmus,  Romulus  or  Odin,  the  wise 
chieftains,  who  founded  nations,  and  taught 
their  people  knowledge. 

2 This  would  give  us  the  story  of  Christ  Je- 
sus, and  other  Angel-Messiahs;  Saviours  of  men. 

3 This  would  give  ms  the  stories  of  spell- 


bound maidens,  who  sleep  for  years. 

* This  is  Hercules  and  his  counterparts. 

6  This  again  is  Hercules. 

6 This  would  depend  upon  whether  his  light 
was  obscured  by  clouds,  or  not. 

7 This  again  /s  Hercules. 

8 This  is  Apollo,  Siva  and  Ixion. 

9 Rev.  G.  W.  Cox. 


APPENDIX. 


555 


“ This  imagery  of  the  Aryans  was  applied  by  them,  to  all  they  saw 
in  the  sky.  Sometimes,  as  we  have  said,  the  clouds  were  cows  ; they 
were  also  dragons,  which  sought  to  slay  the  Sun ; or  great  ships 
floating  across  the  sky,  and  casting  anchor  upon  earth  ; or  rocks,  or 
mountains,  or  deep  caverns,  in  which  evil  deities  hid  the  golden 
light.  Then,  also,  they  were  shaped  by  fancy  into  animals  of 
various  kinds — the  bear,  the  wolf,  the  dog,  the  ox  ; and  into  giant 
birds,  and  into  monsters  which  were  both  bird  and  beast. 

“ The  winds,  again,  in  their  fancy,  were  the  companions  or  minis- 
ters of  India,  the  sky-god.  The  spirits  of  the  winds  gathered  into 
their  host  the  souls  of  the  dead — thus  giving  birth  to  the  Scandina- 
vian and  Teutonic  legend  of  the  Wild  Horseman,  who  rides  at  mid- 
night through  the  stormy  sky,  with  his  long  train  of  dead  behind 
him,  and  his  weird  hounds  before.1  The  Ribhus,  or  Arbhus,  again, 
were  the  sunbeams  or  the  lightning,  who  forged  the  armor  of  the 
gods,  and  made  their  thunderbolts,  and  turned  old  people  young, 
and  restored  out  of  the  hides  alone  the  slaughtered  cow  on  which 
the  gods  had  feasted.”2 

Aryan  myths,  then,  were  no  more  than  poetic  fancies  about  light 
and  darkness,  cloud  and  rain,  night  and  day,  storm  and  wind ; and 
when  they  moved  westward  and  southward,  the  Aryan  race  brought 
these  legends  with  it;  and  out  of  these  were  shaped  by  degrees  innu- 
merable gods  and  demons  of  the  Hindoos,  the  devs  and  jinns  of  the 
Persians  ; the  great  gods,  the  minor  deities,  and  nymphs,  and  fauns, 
and  satyrs  of  Greek  mythology  and  poetry  ; the  stormy  divinities, 
the  giants,  and  trolls  of  the  cold  and  rugged  North  ; the  dwarfs  of 
the  German  forests  ; the  elves  who  dance  merrily  in  the  moonlight 
of  an  English  summer  ; and  the  “ good  people  ” who  play  mischievous 
tricks  upon  stray  peasants  among  the  Irish  hills.  Almost  all , in- 
deed, that  we  have  of  a legendary  hind  comes  to  us  from  our  Aryan 
forefathers — sometimes  scarcely  changed,  sometimes  so  altered  that 
we  have  to  puzzle  out  the  links  betv/een  the  old  and  the  new  ; but 
all  these  myths  and  traditions,  and  old-world  stories,  when  we  come 
to  know  the  meaning  of  them,  take  us  back  to  the  time  when  the 
Aryan  race  dwelt  together  in  the  high  lands  of  central  Asia, 
and  they  all  mean  the  same  things — that  is,  the  relation  be- 
tween the  Sun  and  the  earth,  the  succession  of  night  and  day,  of 
winter  and  summer,  of  storm  and  calm,  of  cloud  and  tempest,  and 
golden  sunshine,  and  bright  blue  sky.  And  this  is  the  source  from 
which  we  get  our  fairy  stories,  and  tales  of  gods  and  heroes  ; for 
underneath  all  of  them  there  are  the  same  fanciful  meanings,  only 
changed  and  altered  in  the  way  of  putting  them  by  the  lapse  of  ages 


1 Who  has  not  heard  it  said  that  the  howling  or  whining  of  a dog  forebodes  death  f 

a Bunce  : Fairy  Tales,  Origin  and  Meaning. 


556 


APPENDIX. 


of  time,  by  the  circumstances  of  different  countries,  and  1 jr  the 
fancy  of  those  who  kept  the  wonderful  tales  alive  without  knowing 
what  they  meant. 

Thousands  of  years  ago,  the  Aryan  people  began  their  march 
out  of  their  old  country  in  mid-Asia.  From  the  remains  of  their 
language,  and  the  likeness  of  their  legends  to  those  among  other 
nations,  we  know  that  ages  and  ages  ago  their  country  grew  too 
small  for  them,  so  they  were  obliged  to  move  away  from  it.  Some 
of  them  turned  southward  into  India  and  Persia,  and  some  of  them 
went  westward  into  Europe — the  time,  perhaps,  when  the  land  of 
Europe  stretched  from  the  borders  of  Asia  to  the  islands  of  Great 
Britain,  and  when  there  was  no  sea  between  them  and  the  main 
land.  How  they  made  their  long  and  toilsome  march  we  know  not. 
But,  as  Kingsley  writes  of  such  a movement  of  an  ancient  tribe,  so 
we  may  fancy  these  old  Aryans  marching  westward — “the  tall, 
bare-limbed  men,  with  stone  axes  on  their  shoulders  and  horn  bows 
at  their  backs,  with  herds  of  gray  cattle,  guarded  by  huge  lap-eared 
mastiffs,  with  shaggy  white  horses,  heavy-horned  sheep,  and  silky 
goats,  moving  always  westward  through  the  boundless  steppes, 
whither  or  why  we  know  not,  but  that  the  Al-Father  had  sent  them 
forth.  And  behind  us  (he  makes  them  say)  the  rosy  snow-peaks 
died  into  ghastly  gray,  lower  and  lower,  as  every  evening  came;  and 
before  us  the  plains  spread  infinite,  with  gleaming  salt-lakes,  and 
ever  fresh  tribes  of  gaudy  flowers.  Behind  us,  dark  lines  of  living 
beings  streamed  down  the  mountain  slopes  ; around  us,  dark  lines 
crawled  along  the  plains — all  westward,  westward  ever.  Who  could 
stand  against  us  ? We  met  the  wild  asses  on  the  steppe,  and  tamed 
them,  and  made  them  our  slaves.  We  slew  the  bison  herds,  and 
swam  broad  rivers  on  their  skins.  The  python  snake  lay  across  our 
path  ; the  wolves  and  wild  dogs  snarled  at  us  out  of  their  coverts ; 
we  slew  them  and  went  on.  Strange  giant  tribes  met  us,  and  eagle 
visaged  hordes,  fierce  and  foolish  ; we  smote  them,  hip  and  thigh, 
and  went  on,  westward  ever.”1  And  so  they  went  on,  straight  to- 
ward the  West,  or,  as  they  turned  North  and  South,  and  thus  over- 
spread new  lands,  they  hr  ought  with  them  their  old  ways  of  thought  and 
forms  of  belief,  and  the  stories  in  which  these  had  taken  form  ; and  on 
these  were  built  up  the  gods  and  heroes,  and  all  wonder-working 
creatures  and  things,  and  the  poetical  fables  and  fancies  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  and  which  still  linger  in  our  customs  and  our  fairy 
tales  ; bright  and  sunny  and  many-colored  in  the  warm  regions  of 
the  South,  sterner  and  wilder  and  rougher  in  the  North,  more  home- 
like in  the  middle  and  western  countries  ; but  always  alike  in  their 


1 Quoted  by  Bunce  : Fairy  Tales. 


APPENDIX. 


557 


main  features,  and  always  having  the  same  meaning  when  we  come 
to  dig  it  out,  and  these  forms  and  their  meaning  being  the  same  in 
the  lands  of  the  West  Aryans  as  in  those  still  peopled  by  the  Aryans 
of  the  East. 

The  story  of  Cinderella  is  one  of  the  many  fairy  tales  which  help 
us  to  find  out  their  meaning,  and  take  us  straight  back  to  the 
far-ofi  land  where  fairy  legends  began,  and  to  the  people  who  made 
them.  This  well-known  fairy  tale  has  been  found  among  the  myths 
of  our  Aryan  ancestors,  and  from  this  we  know  that  it  is  the  story  of 
the  Sun  and  the  Dawn.  Cinderella,  gray  and  dark  and  dull,  is  all 
neglected  when  she  is  away  from  the  Sun,  obscured  by  the  envious 
clouds,  her  sisters,  and  by  her  step-mother,  the  Night.  So  she  is 
Aurora,  the  Dawn,  and  the  Fairy  Prince  is  the  Morning  Sun,  ever 
pursuing  her,  to  claim  her  for  his  bride.  This  is  the  legend  as  it 
is  found  in  the  ancient  Hindoo  books  ; and  this  explains  at  once 
the  source  and  the  meaning  of  the  fairy  tale.1 

Another  tale  which  helps  us  in  our  task  is  that  of  Jack  the 
Giant-Killer , who  is  really  one  of  the  very  oldest  and  most  widely 
known,  characters  in  wonder-land.  Now,  who  is  this  wonderful 
little  fellow  ? He  is  none  other  than  the  hero  who,  in  all  countries 
and  ages,  fights  with  monsters  and  overcomes  them  ; like  Indra,  the 
ancient  Hindoo  Sun-god,  whose  thunderbolts  slew  the  demons  of 
drought  in  the  far  East ; or  Perseus,  who,  in  Greek  story,  delivers 
the  maiden  from  the  sea-monster  ; or  Odysseus,  who  tricks  the 
giant  Polyphemus,  and  causes  him  to  throw’  himself  into  the  sea ; 
or  Thor,  whose  hammer  beats  down  the  frost  giants  of  the  North. 
“The  gifts  bestowed  upon  Jack  are  found  in  Tartar  stories,  Hindoo 
tales,  in  German  legends,  and  in  the  fables  of  Scandinavia. ” 

Still  another  is  that  of  Little  Red  Riding-Hood.  The  story  of 
Little  Red  Riding  Hood,  as  we  call  her,  or  Little  Red-Cap,  as  she  is 
called  in  the  German  tales,  also  comes  from  the  same  source,  and 
(as  we  have  seen  in  Chapter  IX.),  refers  to  the  Sun  and  Night. 

“ One  of  the  fancies  in  the  most  ancient  Aryan  or  Hindoo  stories 
was  that  there  was  a great  dragon  that  was  trying  to  devour  the 
Sun,  to  prevent  him  from  shining  upon  the  earth,  and  filling  it 
with  brightness  and  life  and  beauty,  and  that  Indra,  the  Sun-god, 
killed  the  dragon.  Now,  this  is  the  meaning  of  Little  Red  Riding- 
Hood,  as  it  is  told  in  our  nursery  tales.  Little  Red  Riding-Hood  is 
the  Evening  Sun,  which  is  always  described  as  red  or  golden  ; the 
old  grandmother  is  the  Earth,  to  whom  the  rays  of  the  Sun  bring 
warmth  and  comfort.  The  wolf — which  is  a well-known  figure  for 


1 See  Bunce  : Fairy  Tales,  p.  34. 


558 


APPENDIX. 


the  Clouds  and  blackness  of  Night  (in  Teutonic  mythology)1 — is  the 
dragon  in  another  form.  First,  he  devours  the  grandmother  ; that 
is,  he  wraps  the  earth  in  thick  clouds,  which  the  Evening  Sun  is 
not  strong  enough  to  pierce  through.  Then,  with  the  darkness  of 
Night,  he  swallows  up  the  Evening  Sun  itself,  and  all  is  dark  and 
desolate.  Then,  as  in  the  German  tale,  the  night-thunder  and  the 
storm,  winds  are  represented  by  the  loud  snoring  of  the  wolf  ; and 
then  the  huntsman,  the  Morning  Sun , comes  in  all  his  strength 
and  majesty,  and  chases  away  the  night  clouds  and  kills  the  wolf, 
and  revives  old  grandmother  Earth  and  Little  Red  Riding  Hood  to 
life  again.” 

Nor  is  it  in  these  stories  alone  that  we  can  trace  the  ancient 
Hindoo  legends,  and  the  Sun-myth.  There  is,  as  Mr.  Bunce  ob- 
serves in  his  “Fairy  Tales,  their  Origin  and  Meaning,”  scarcely  a 
tale  of  Greek  or  Roman  mythology,  no  legend  of  Teutonic  or  Celtic 
or  Scandinavian  growth,  no  great  romance  o‘f  what  we  call  the  mid- 
dle ages,  no  fairy  story  taken  down  from  the  lips  of  ancient  folk, 
and  dressed  for  us  in  modern  shape  and  tongue,  that  we  do  not  find, 
in  some  form  or  another,  in  these  Eastern  poems,  which  are  com- 
posed of  allegorical  tales  of  gods  and  heroes. 

When,  in  the  Yedic  hymns,  Kephalos,  Prokris,  Hermes,  Daphne, 
Zeus,  Ouranos,  stand  forth  as  simple  names  for  the  Snn,  the  Dew,  the 
Wind, the  Dawn, the  Heaven  and  the  Sky,  each  recognized  as  such,  yet 
each  endowed  with  the  most  perfect  consciousness,  we  feel  that  the 
great  riddle  of  mythology  is  solved,  and  that  we  no  longer  lack  the 
key  which  shall  disclose  its  most  hidden  treasures.  When  we  hear 
the  people  saying,  “ Our  friend  the  Sun  is  dead.  Will  he  rise  ? 
Will  the  Dawn  come  back  again  ?”  we  see  the  death  of  Hercules, 
and  the  weary  waiting  while  Leto  struggles  with  the  birth  of  Phoibos. 
When  on  the  return  of  day  we  hear  the  cry — 

“Rise  ! our  life,  our  spirit  has  come  back,  the  darkness  is  gone,  the  light 
draws  near  !” 

— we  are  carried  at  once  to  the  Homeric  hymn,  and  we  hear  the 
joyous  shout  of  all  the  gods  when  Phoibos  springs  to  life  and  light 
on  Delos.2 

That  the  peasant  folk-lore  of  modern  Europe  still  displays 


1 “ The  Sun,''’  said  Gaugler,  “ speeds  at  such 
a rate  as  if  she  feared  that  some  one  was  pur- 
suing her  for  her  destruction.”  “ And  well  she 
may,”  replied  Har , “ for  he  that  seeks  her  is 
not  far  behind,  and  she  has  no  way  to  escape 
but  to  run  before  him.”  “And  who  is  he,” 
asked  Gaugler , “that  causes  her  this  anxiety  ?” 

“It  is  the  Wolf  Sk511,  ” answered  Har , “who 
pursues  the  Sun,  and  it  is  he  that  she  fears, 


for  he  shall  one  day  overtake  and  devour  her.” 
(Scandinavian  Prose  Edda.  See  Mallet’s 
Northern  Antiquities,  p.  407).  This  Wolf  is, 
as  we  have  said,  a personification  of  Night  and 
Clouds,  we  therefore  have  the  almost  universal 
practice  among  savage  nations  of  making  noises 
at  the  time  of  eclipses,  to  frighten  away  the 
monsters  who  would  otherwise  devour  the  Sun. 

2 Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  i.  p.  103. 


APPENDIX. 


559 


episodes  of  nature-myth,  may  be  seen  in  the  following  story  of 
Vassalissa , the  Beautiful , 

Vassalissa’s  stepmother  and  two  sisters,  plotting  against  her  life, 
send  her  to  get  a light  at  the  house  of  Baba  Yagd,  the  witch,  and 
her  journey  contains  the  following  history  of  the  Day , told,  as  Mr. 
Tylor  says,  in  truest  mythic  fashion  : 

“Vassalissa  goes  and  wanders,  wanders  in  the  forest.  She  goes,  and  she 
shudders.  Suddenly  before  her  bounds  a rider,  he  himself  white,  and  clad  in 
white,  and  the  trappings  white.  And  Day  began  to  dawn.  She  goes  farther, 
when  a second  rider  bounds  forth,  himself  red,  clad  in  red,  and  on  a red  horse. 
The  Sun  began  to  rise.  She  goes  on  all  day,  and  towards  evening  arrives  at  the 
witch’s  house.  Suddenly  there  comes  again  a rider,  himself  black,  clad  in  all 
black,  and  on  a black  horse;  he  bounded  to  the  gates  of  the  Baba  Yagd,  and 
disappeared  as  if  he  had  sunk  through  the  earth.  Night  fell.  After  this,  when 
Vassalissa  asks  the  witch,  ‘ Who  was  the  white  rider  ?’  she  answered,  ‘ That  is 
my  clear  Day;’  ‘Who  was  the  red  rider?’  ‘That  is  my  red  Sun;’  ‘Who  was 
the  black  rider  ?’  ‘ That  is  my  black  Night.  They  are  all  my  trusty  friends.’  ”* 

We  have  another  illustration  of  allegorical  mythology  in  the 
Grecian  story  of  Hephaestos  splitting  open  with  his  axe  the  head  of 
Zeus,  and  Athene  springing  from  it,  full  armed  ; for  we  perceive 
behind  this  savage  imagery  Zeus  as  the  bright  STcy,  his  forehead  the 
East,  Hesphaestos  as  the  young,  not  yet  risen  Sun , and  Athene  as 
the  Dawn,  the  daughter  of  the  Sky,  stepping  forth  from  the  foun- 
tain-head of  light, — with  eves  like  an  owl,  pure  as  a virgin  ; the 
golden  ; lighting  up  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  her  own  glorious 
Parthenon  in  her  own  favorite  town  of  Athens  ; whirling  the  shafts 
of  light ; the  genial  warmth  of  the  morning ; the  foremost  cham- 
pion in  the  battle  between  night  and  day  ; in  full  armor,  in  her 
panoply  of  light,  driving  away  the  darkness  of  night,  and  awaken- 
ing men  to  a bright  life,  to  bright  thoughts,  to  bright  endeavors.3 

Another  story  of  the  same  sort  is  that  of  Kronos.  Every  one 
is  familiar  with  the  story  of  Kronos,  who  devoured  his  own  children. 
Now,  Kronos  is  a mere  creation  from  the  older  and  misunderstood 
epithet  Kronides  or  Kronion,  the  ancient  of  days.  When  these 
days  or  time  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  a person  the  myth  would 
certainly  follow  that  he  devoured  his  own  children,  as  Time  is  the 
devourer  of  the  Dawns.3  Saturn,  who  devours  his  own  children,  is 
the  same  power  whom  the  Greeks  called  Kronos  (Time),  which  may 
truly  be  said  to  destroy  whatever  it  has  brought  into  existence. 

The  idea  of  a Heaven , the  “Elysian  fields,”  is  also  born  of  the 
sky. 

The  “ Ely sian  plain”  is  far  away  in  the  West,  where  the  sun 


1 Tylor : Primitive  Culture,  vol.  i.  p.  308.  2 Muller  : The  Sc  ience  of  Religion,  p.  65. 

8 Cox  : Aryan  Mythology,  vol.  ii.  p.  1. 


560 


APPENDIX. 


goes  down  beyond  the  bonds  of  the  earth,  when  Eos  gladdens  the 
close  of  day  as  she  sheds  her  violet  tints  over  the  sky.  The 
“Abodes  of  the  Blessed”  are  golden  islands  sailing  in  a sea  of  blue, 
— the  burnished  clouds  floating  in  the  pure  ether.  Grief  and  sorrow 
cannot  approach  them ; plague  and  sickness  cannot  touch  them. 
The  blissful  company  gathered  together  in  that  far  Western  land  in- 
herits a tearless  eternity. 

Of  the  other  details  in  the  picture  the  greater  number  would  be 
suggested  directly  by  these  images  drawn  from  the  phenomena  of 
sunset  and  twilight.  What  spot  or  stain  can  be  seen  on  the  deep 
blue  ocean  in  which  the  “Islands  of  the  Blessed”  repose  forever  ? 
What  unseemly  forms  can  mar  the  beauty  of  that  golden  home, 
lighted  by  the  radiance  of  a Sun  which  can  never  set  ? Who  then 
but  the  pure  in  heart,  the  truthful  and  the  generous,  can  be  suffered 
to  tread  the  violet  fields  ? And  how  shall  they  be  tested  save  by 
judges  who  can  weigh  the  thoughts  and  the  interests  of  the  heart  ? 
Thus  every  soul,  as  it  drew  near  that  joyous  land,  was  brought  be- 
fore the  august  tribunal  of  Minos,  Rhadamanthys,  and  Aiakos  ; and 
they  whose  faith  was  in  truth  a quickening  power,  might  draw  from 
the  ordeals  those  golden  lessons  which  Plato  has  put  into  the  mouth 
of  Socrates,  and  some  unknown  persons  into  the  mouths  of  Buddha 
and  Jesus.  The  belief  of  earlier  ages  pictured  to  itself  the  meetings 
in  that  blissful  land,  the  forgiveness  of  old  wrongs,  and  the  recon- 
ciliation of  deadly  feuds,1  just  as  the  belief  of  the  present  day 
pictures  these  things  to  itself. 

The  story  of  a War  in  Heaven , which  was  known  to  all  nations 
of  antiquity,  is  allegorical,  and  refers  to  the  battle  between  light 
and  darkness,  sunshine  and  storm  cloud.2 

As  examples  of  the  prevalence  of  the  legend  relating  to  the 
struggle  between  the  co-ordinate  powers  of  good  and  evil,  light  and 
darkness,  the  Sun  and  the  clouds,  we  have  that  of  Phoibos  and 
Python,  Indra  and  Vritra,  Sigurd  and  Fafuir,  Achilleus  and  Paris, 
Oidipous  and  the  Sphinx,  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman,  and  from  the 
character  of  the  struggle  between  Indra  and  Vritra,  and  again  be- 


1 As  the  hand  of  Hector  is  clasped  in  the 
hand  of  the  hero  who  slew  him.  There,  as  the 
story  ran,  the  lovely  Helen  “ pardoned  and 
purified,”  became  the  bride  of  the  short-lived, 
yet  long-suffering  Achilleus,  even  as  lole  com- 
forted the  dying  Hercules  on  earth,  and  Hebe 
became  his  solace  in  Olympus.  But  what  is 
the  meeting  of  Helen  and  Achilleus,  of  lole 
and  Hebe  and  Hercules,  but  the  return  of  the 
violet  tints  to  greet  the  Sun  in  the  West,  which 
had  greeted  him  in  the  East  in  the  morning  ? 

The  idea  was  purely  physical,  yet  it  suggested 
the  thoughts  of  trial,  atonement,  and  purifica- 


tion ; and  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  the 
human  mind,  having  advanced  thus  far,  must 
make  its  way  still  farther.  (Cox  : Aryan  My- 
thology, vol.  ii.  p.  322.) 

2 The  black  storm-cloud,  with  the  flames  of 
lightning  issuing  from  it,  was  the  original  of 
the  dragon  with  tongues  of  fire.  Even  as  late  as 
a.d.  1600,  a German  writer  would  illustrate  • 
thunder-storm  destroying  a crop  of  corn  bf*  a 
picture  of  a dragon  devouring  the  produce  » 
the  field  with  his  flaming  tongue  and  iron  teaj\ 
(Baring-Gould  : Curious  Myths,  p.  342.) 


APPENDIX. 


561 


tween  Ormuzd  and  Ahriman,  we  infer  that  a myth,  purely  physical, 
in  the  land  of  the  Five  Streams,  assumed  a moral  and  spiritual 
meaning  in  Persia,  and  the  fight  between  the  co-ordinate  powers  of 
good  aud  evil,  gave  birth  to  the  dualism  which  from  that  time  to  the 
• present  has  exercised  so  mighty  an  influence  through  the  East  and  West. 

The  Apocalypse  exhibits  Satan  with  the  physical  attributes  of 
Ahriman  ; he  is  called  the  “ dragon,”  the  “old  serpent,”  who  fights 
against  God  and  his  angels.  The  Vedic  myth , transformed  and  ex- 
aggerated in  the  ^Iranian  books,  finds  its  way  through  this  channel 
into  Christianity.  The  idea  thus  introduced  was  that  of  the  struggle 
between  Satan  and  Michael,  which  ended  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
former,  and  the  casting  forth  of  all  his  hosts  out  of  heaven,  but  it 
coincides  too  nearly  with  a myth  spread  in  countries  held  by  all  the 
Aryan  nations  to  avoid  further  modification.  Local  tradition  sub- 
stituted St.  George  or  St.  Theodore  for  Jupiter,  Apollo,  Hercules, 
or  Perseus.  It  is  under  this  disguise  that  the  Yedic  myth  has  come 
down  to  our  own  times,  and  has  still  its  festivals  and  its  monu- 
ments. Art  has  consecrated  it  in  a thousand  ways.  St.  Michael, 
lance  in  hand,  treading  on  the  dragon,  is  an  image  as  familiar  now 
as,  thirty  centuries  ago , that  of  Indra  treading  under  foot  the 
demon  Vritra  could  possibly  have  been  to  the  Hindoo.1 

The  very  ancient  doctrine  of  a Trinity,  three  gods  in  one,  can 
be  explained,  rationally,  by  allegory  only.  We  have  seen  that  the 
Sun,  in  early  times,  was  believed  to  be  the  Creator , and  became  the 
first  object  of  adoration.  After  some  time  it  would  be  observed 
that  this  powerful  and  beneficent  agent,  the  solar  fire,  was  the  most 
potent  Destroyer,  and  hence  would  arise  the  first  idea  of  a Creator 
and  Destroyer  united  in  the  same  person.  But  much  time  would 
not  elapse  before  it  must  have  been  observed,  that  the  destruction 
caused  by  this  powerful  being  was  destruction  only  in  appearance, 
that  destruction  was  only  reproduction  in  another  form — regenera- 
tion; that  if  he  appeared  sometimes  to  destroy,  he  constantly  re- 
paired the  injury  which  he  seemed  to  occasion — and  that,  without 
his  light  and  heat,  everything  would  dwindle  away  into  a cold, 
inert,  unprolific  mass.  Thus,  at  once,  in  the  same  being,  became 
concentrated,  the  creating,  the  preserving,  and  the  destroying 
powers — the  latter  of  the  three  being  at  the  same  time  both  the 
Destroyer  and  Regenerator.  Hence,  by  a very  natural  and  obvious 
train  of  reasoning,  arose  the  Creator,  the  Preserver,  and  the  Destroyer 
— in  India  Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva;  in  Persia  Oromasdes, 
Mithra,  and  Arimanius ; in  Egypt  Osiris,  Horus,  and  Typhon : in 
each  case  Three  Persons  and  one  God.  And  thus  undoubtedly 
arose  the  Trimurti,  or  the  celebrated  Trinity. 


1 M,  Breal,  and  G.  W.  Cox. 


562 


APPENDIX. 


Traces  of  a similar  refinement  may  be  found  in  the  Greek  my- 
thology, in  the  Orphic  Phanes,  Ericapeus  and  Metis , who  were  all 
identified  with  the  Sun,  and  yet  embraced  in  the  first  person, 
Phanes,  or  Protogones,  the  Creator  and  Generator.1 2  The  invo- 
cation to  the  Sun,  in  the  Mysteries,  according  to  Macrobius,  was  as 
follows:  “0  all-ruling  Sun!  Spirit  of  the  world!  Power  of  the 
world  ! Light  of  the  world  ! ”a 

We  have  seen  in.  Chap.  XXXV,  that  the  Peruvian  Triad  was  rep- 
resented by  three  statues,  called,  respectively,  “*A.puinti,  Churiinti, 
and  Intihoaoque,”  which  is,  “Lord  and  Father  Sun;  Son  Sun; 
and  Air  or  Spirit,  Brother  Sun.”3 

Mr.  Faber,  in  his  “Origin  of  Pagan  Idolatry, ” says  : 

“The  peculiar  mode  in  which  the  Hindoos  identify  their  three  great  gods  with 
the  solar  orb,  is  a curious  specimen  of  the  physical  refinements  of  ancient  mythol- 
ogy. At  night,  in  the  west,  the  Sun  is  Vishnu ; he  is  Brahma  in  the  east  and 
in  the  morning;  and  from  noon  to  evening  he  is  Siva.”* 

Mr.  Moor,  in  his  “ Hindu  Pantheon,”  says  : 

“Most,  if  not  all,  of  the  gods  of  the  Hindoo  Pantheon  will,  on  close  investiga- 
tion, resolve  themselves  into  the  three  powers  (Brahma,  Vishnu,  and  Siva),  and 
those  powers  into  one  Deity,  Brahm,  typified  by  the  Sun.”5 

Mr.  Squire,  in  his  “ Serpent  Symbol,”  observes  : 

“It  is  highly  probable  that  the  triple  divinity  of  the  Hindoos  was  originally 
no  more  than  a personification  of  the  Sun,  whom  they  called  Three-bodied,  in  the 
triple  capacity  of  producing  forms  by  his  general  heat,  preserving  them  by  his 
light,  or  destroying  them  by  the  counteracting  force  of  his  igneous  matter.  Brah- 
ma, the  Creator,  was  indicated  by  the  heat  of  the  Sun;  Vishnu,  the  Preserver,  by 
the  light  of  the  Sun,  and  Siva,  the  Reproducer,  by  the  orb  of  the  Sun.  In  the 
morning  the  Sun  was  Brahma,  at  noon  Vishnu,  at  evening  Siva.”5 

“He  is  at  once,”  says  Mr.  Cox,  in  speaking  of  the  Sun,  “the 
‘ Comforter’  and  ‘ Healer,’  the  4 Saviour  ’ and  ‘ Destroyer,’  who  can 
slay  and  make  alive  at  will,  and  from  whose  piercing  glance  no 
secret  can  be  kept  hid.”7 

Sir  William  Jones  was  also  of  the  opinion  that  the  whole  Triad 
of  the  Hindoos  were  identical  with  the  Sun,  expressed  under  the 
mythical  term  0.  M. 

The  idea  of  a Tri-murti,  or  triple  personification,  was  de- 
veloped gradually,  and  as  it  grew,  received  numerous  accretions. 
It  was  first  dimly  shadowed  forth  and  vaguely  expressed  in  the  Rig - 
Veda,  where  a triad  of  principal  gods,  Agni,  Indra,  and  Surya  is 
recognized.  And  these  three  gods  are  One,  the  Sun.8 


1 Squire  : Serpent  Symbol,  p.  59. 

2 Ibid. 

» Ibid.  p.  181. 

4 Book  iv  ch.  i.  in  Anac.,  vol.  i.  p.  137. 


»p.  6. 

• Squire  t Serpent  Symbol,  p.  38. 
7 Aryan  Mytho.,  vol.  ii.  p.  33. 

« Williams1  Hinduism,  p.  88. 


APPENDIX. 


563 


We  see  then  that  the  religious  myths  of  antiquity  and  the  fire- 
side legends  of  ancient  and  modern  times,  have  a common  root  in 
the  mental  habits  of  primeval  humanity,  and  that  they  are  the 
earliest  recorded  utterances  of  men  concerning  the  visible  phe- 
nomena of  the  world  into  which  they  were  born.  At  first,  tho- 
roughly understood,  the  meaning  in  time  became  unknown.  How 
stories  originally  told  of  the  Sun,  the  Moon,  the  Stars,  &c.,  became 
believed  in  as  facts,  is  plainly  illustrated  in  the  following  story  told 
by  Mrs.  Jameson  in  her  “History  of  Our  Lord  in  Art :”  “ I onee 
tried  to  explain, ” says  she,  “ to  a good  old  woman,  the  meaning  of 
the  word  parable,  and  that  the  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son  was  not  a 
fact ; she  was  scandalized — she  was  quite  sure  that  Jesus  would 
never  have  told  anything  to  his  disciples  that  was  not  true.  Thus 
she  settled  the  matter  in  her  own  mind,  and  I thought  it  best  to 
leave  it  there  undisturbed.” 

Prof.  Max  Muller,  in  speaking  of  “the  comparison  of  the  dif- 
ferent forms  of  Aryan  religion  and  mythology  in  India,  Persia, 
Greece,  Italy  and  Germany,”  clearly  illustrates  how  such  legends 
are  transformed  from  intelligible  into  unintelligible  myths.  He 
says  : 

“In  each  of  these  nations  there  was  a tendency  to  change  the 
original  conception  of  divine  powers,  to  misunderstand  the  many 
names  given  to  these  powers,  and  to  misinterpret  the  praises  ad- 
dressed to  them.  In  this  manner  some  of  the  divine  names  were 
changed  into  half-divine,  half-human  heroes,  and  at  last  the  myths 
which  were  true  and  intelligible  as  told  originally  of  the  Sun , or  the 
Dawn , or  the  Storms , were  turned  into  legends  or  fables  too  mar- 
velous to  be  believed  of  common  mortals.  This  process  can  be 
watched  in  India,  in  Greece,  and  in  Germany.  The  same  story,  or 
nearly  the  same,  is  told  of  gods,  of  heroes,  and  of  men.  The  divine 
myth  became  an  heroic  legend,  and  the  heroic  legend  fades  away 
into  a nursery  tale.  Our  nursery  tales  have  well  been  called  the 
modern  patois  of  the  ancient  mythology  of  the  Aryan  race.”1 

In  the  words  of  this  learned  author,  “ we  never  lose,  we  always 
gain,  when  we  discover  the  most  ancient  intention  of  sacred  tradi- 
tions, instead  of  being  satisfied  with  their  later  aspect,  and  their 
modern  misinterpretations.” 


1 Mtiller’s  Chips,  vol.  ii.  p.  260. 


564 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  D. 


We  maintain  that  not  so  much  as  one  single  passage  purporting 
to  he  written,  as  history , within  the  first  hundred  years  of  the 
Christian  era,  can  be  produced  to  show  the  existence  at  or  before 
that  time  of  such  a person  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  called  the  Christ,  or 
of  such  a set  of  men  as  could  be  accounted  his  disciples  or  followers. 
Those  who  would  be  likely  to  refer  to  Jesus  or  his  disciples,  but  who 
have  not  done  so,  wrote  about  : 


A.  D.  40  Philo.1 
40  Josephus. 

79  C.  Plinius  Second,  the  Elder.2 
69  L.  Ann.  Seneca. 

79  Diogenes  Laertius. 

79  Pausanias. 


79  Pompon  Mela 
79  Q.  Curtius  Ruf. 
79  Luc.  Flor. 

110  Cornel  Tacitus. 
123  Appianus. 

140  Justinus. 

141  ^Elianus. 


| Geographers. 


Historians. 


Philosophers. 


Out  of  this  number  it  has  been  claimed  that  one  (Josephus)  spoke 
of  J esus,  and  another  (Tacitus)  of  the  Christians.  Of  the  former  it  is 
almost  needless  to  speak,  as  that  has  been  given  up  by  Christian 
divines  many  years  ago.  However,  for  the  sake  of  those  who  still 
cling  to  it  we  shall  state  the  following  : 

Dr.  Lardner,  who  wrote  about  a.d.  1760,  says  : 

1.  It  was  never  quoted  by  any  of  our  Christian  ancestors  before  Esuebius. 

2.  Josephus  has  nowhere  else  mentioned  the  name  or  word  Christ , in  any  of 
his  works,  except  the  testimony  above  mentioned,3  and  the  passage  concerning 
James,  the  Lord’s  brother.4 * 

3.  It  interrupts  the  narrative. 

4.  The  language  is  quite  Christian. 

5.  It  is  not  quoted  by  Chrysostom,6  though  he  often  refers  to  Josephus,  and 
could  not  have  omitted  quoting  it,  had  it  been  then,  in  the  text. 


1  The  Rev.  Dr.  Giles  says  : “ Great  is  our 

disappointment  at  finding  nothing  in  the  works 

of  Philo  about  the  Christians,  their  doctrines,  or 

their  sacred  books.  About  the  books  indeed  we 

need  not  expect  any  notice  of  these  works,  but 

about  the  Christians  and  their  doctrines  his 
silence  is  more  remarkable,  seeing  that  he  was 
about  sixty  years  old  at  the  time  of  the  cruci- 
fixion, and  living  mostly  in  Alexandria,  so 
closely  connected  with  Judea,  and  the  Jews, 
could  hardly  have  failed  to  know  something  of 
the  wonderful  events  that  had  taken  place  in 
the  city  of  Jerusalem.”  (Hebrew  and  Chris- 
tian Records,  yol.  ii.  p.  61.) 


The  Rev.  Dr.  assumes  that  these  “ wonder- 
ful events  ” really  took  place,  but,  if  they  did 
not  take  place,  of  course  Philo’s  silence  on  the 
subject  is  accounted  for. 

2 Both  these  philosophers  were  Jiving,  and 
must  have  experienced  the  immediate  effects,' 
or  received  the  earliest  information  of  the  ex- 
istence of  Christ  Jesus,  had  such  a person  as 
the  Gospels  make  him  out  to  be  ever  existed. 
Their  ignorance  or  their  willful  silence  on  the 
the  subject,  is  not  less  than  improbable. 

3 Antiquities,  blc.  xviii.  ch.  iii.  3. 

4 Ibid.  bk.  xx.  ch.  ix.  1. 

8 John,  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  who  died 


APPENDIX. 


565 


6.  It  is  not  quoted  by  Photius,  though  he  has  thiee  articles  concerning  Jose- 
phus. 

7.  Under  the  article  Justus  of  Tiberius,  this  author  (Photius)  expressly  states 
that  this  historian  (Josephus),  being  a Jew,  has  not  taken  the  least  notice  of  Christ. 

8.  Neither  Justin,  in  his  dialogue  with  Typho  the  Jew,  nor  Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus,  who  made  so  many  extracts  from  ancient  authors,  nor  Origen  against 
Celsus,  have  even  mentioned  this  testimony. 

9.  But,  on  the  contrary,  Origen  openly  affirms  (ch.  xxxv.,  bk.  i.,  against 
Celsus),  that  Josephus,  who  had  mentioned  John  the  Baptist,  did  not  acknowl- 
edge Christ.1 

Iii  the  “Bible  for  Learners,”  we  read  as  follows  : 

“ Flavius  Josephus,  the  well-known  historian  of  the  Jewish  people,  was  born 
in  a.  d.  37,  only  two  years  after  the  death  of  Jesus;  but  though  his  work  is  of 
inestimable  value  as  our  chief  authority  for  the  circumstances  of  the  times  in 
which  Jesus  and  his  Apostles  came  forward,  yet  he  does  not  seem  to  have  ever 
mentioned  Jesus  himself.  At  any  rate,  the  passage  in  his  ‘ Jewish  Antiquities  ’ that 
refers  to  him  is  certainly  spurious,  and  was  inserted  by  a later  and  a Christian 
hand.  The  Talmud  compresses  the  history  of  Jesus  into  a single  sentence,  and 
later  Jewish  writers  concoct  mere  slanderous  anecdotes.  The  ecclesiastical 
fathers  mention  a few  sayings  or  events,  the  knowledge  of  which  they  drew 
from  oral  tradition  or  from  writings  that  have  since  been  lost.  The  Latin  and 
Greek  historians  just  mention  his  name.  This  meager  harvest  is  all  we  reap 
from  sources  outside  the  Gospels.”2 

Canon  Farrar,  who  finds  himself  compelled  to  admit  that  this 
passage  in  Josephus  is  an  interpolation,  consoles  himself  by  saying  : 

“The  single  passage  in  which  he  (Josephus)  alludes  to  Him  (Christ)  is  inter- 
polated, if  not  wholly  spurious,  and  no  one  can  doubt  that  his  silence  on  the 
subject  of  Christianity  was  as  deliberate  as  it  was  dishonest.”3 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Giles,  after  commenting  on  this  subject,  concludes 
by  saying  : 

“ Eusebius  is  the  first  who  quotes  the  passage,  and  our  reliance  on  the  judg- 
ment, or  even  the  honesty,  of  this  writer  is  not  so  great  as  to  allow  of  our  consider- 
ing everything  found  in  his  works  as  undoubtedly  genuine.”* 

Eusebius,  then,  is  the  first  person  who  refers  to  these  passages.4 * 
Eusebius,  “ whose  honesty  is  not  so  great  as  to  allow  of  our  consider- 
ing everythmg  found  in  his  works  as  undoubtedly  genuine.”  Euse- 
bius, who  says  that  it  is  lawful  to  lie  and  cheat  for  the  cause  of 
Christ .6  This  Eusebius  is  the  sheet-anchor  of  reliance  for  most  we 
know  of  the  first  three  centuries  of  the  Christian  history.  What 
then  must  we  think  of  the  history  of  the  first  three  centuries  of  the 
Christian  era  ? 


1 Lardner  : vol.  vi.  ch.  iii. 

2 Bible  for  Learners,  vol.  iii.  p.  27. 

3 Life  of  Christ,  vol.  L p.  63. 

4 Hebrew  and  Christ.  Rec.  vol.  ii.  p.  62. 

6 In  his  Eccl.  Hist.  lib.  2,  ch.  xii. 

• Ch.  31,  bk.  xii.  of  Eusebius  Pros,  paratio 
Evangelica  is  entitled  : “ How  far  it  may  be 


proper  to  use  falsehood  as  a medium  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  require  to  be  deceived 
and  he  closes  his  work  with  these  words  : “ I 
have  repeated  whatever  may  rebound  to  the 
glory,  and  suppressed  all  that  could  tend  to  the 
disgrace  of  our  religion.” 


566 


APPENDIX. 


The  celebrated  passage  in  Tacitus  which  Christian  divines — and 
even  some  liberal  writers — attempt  to  support,  is  to  be  found  in  his 
Annals.  In  this  work  he  is  made  to  speak  of  Christians , who 
“ had  their  denomination  from  Christus,  who,  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius,  was  put  to  death  as  a criminal  by  the  procurator  Pontius 
Pilate.” 

In  answer  to  this  we  have  the  following  : 

1.  This  passage,  which  would  have  served  the  purpose  of  Chris- 
tian quotation  better  than  any  other  in  all  the  writings  of  Tacitus, 
or  of  any  Pagan  writer  whatever,  is  not  quoted  by  any  of  the  Chris- 
tian Fathers. 

2.  It  is  not  quoted  by  Tertullian,  though  he  had  read  and 
largely  quotes  the  works  of  Tacitus. 

3.  And  though  his  argument  immediately  called  for  the  use  of 
this  quotation  with  so  loud  a voice  (Apol.  ch.  v.),  that  his  omission 
of  it,  if  it  had  really  existed,  amounts  to  a violent  improbability. 

4.  This  Father  has  spoken  of  Tacitus  in  a way  that  it  is  absolutely 
impossible  that  he  should  have  spoken  of  him,  had  his  writings  con- 
tained such  a passage. 

5.  It  is  not  quoted  by  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  who  set  himself 
entirely  to  the  ivork  of  adducing  and  bringing  together  all  the  admis- 
sions and  recognitions  which  Pagan  authors  had  made  of  the  exist- 
ence of  Christ  Jesus  or  Christians  before  his  time. 

6.  It  has  been  nowhere  stumbled  upon  by  the  laborious  and  all- 
seeking Eusebius,  who  could  by  no  possibility  have  overlooked  it, 
and  whom  it  would  have  saved  from  the  labor  of  forging  the  pas- 
sage in  Josephus;  of  adducing  the  correspondence  of  Christ  Jesus 
and  Abgarus,  and  the  Sibylline  verses ; of  forging  a divine  revela- 
tion from  the  god  Apollo,  in  attestation  of  Christ  Jesus’  ascension 
into  heaven  ; and  innumerable  other  of  his  pious  and  holy  cheats. 

7.  Tacitus  has  in  no  other  part  of  his  writings  made  the  least 
allusion  to  S(  Christ”  or  “ Christians.” 

8.  The  use  of  this  passage  as  part  of  the  evidences  of  the 
Christian  religion,  is  absolutely  modern. 

9.  There  is  no  vestige  nor  trace  of  its  existence  anywhere  in  the 
world  before  the  15th  century.1 


1 The  original  MSS.  containing  the  ‘’Annals 
of  Tacitus”  were  “discovered”  in  the 
fifteenth  century.  Their  existence  cannot  be 
traced  back  further  than  that  time.  And  as  it 
was  an  age  of  imposture,  some  persons  are 
disposed  to  believe  that  not  only  portions  of 
the  Annals,  but  the  whole  work,  was  forged  at 
that  time.  Mr.  J.  W.  Ross,  in  an  elaborate 
work  published  in  London  some  years  ago, 
contended  that  the  Annate  were  forged  by 
Poggio  Bracciolini,  their  professed  discoverer. 
At  the  time  of  Bracciolini  the  temptation  was 
great  to  palm  ,off  literary  forgeries,  especially 


of  the  chief  writers  of  antiquity,  on  acount  of 
the  Popes,  in  their  efforts  to  revive  learning, 
giving  money  rewards  and  indulgences  to  those 
who  should  procure  MS.  copies  of  any  of  the 
ancient  Greek  or  Roman  authors.  Man- 
uscripts turned  up  as  if  by  magic,  in  every 
direction  ; from  libraries  of  monasteries, 
obscure  as  well  as  famous  ; the  most  out-of- 
the-way  places, — the  bottom  of  exhausted  wells, 
besmeared  by  snails,  as  the  History  of  Velleius 
Paterculus,  or  from  garrets,  where  they  had 
been  contending  with  cobwebs  and  dust,  as  the 
poems  of  Catullus. 


APPENDIX. 


567 


10.  No  reference  whatever  is  made  to  this  passage  by  any  writer 
or  historian,  monkish  or  otherwise,  before  that  time,1 2  which,  to  say 
the  least,  is  very  singular,  considering  that  after  that  time  it  is 
quoted,  or  referred  to,  in  an  endless  list  of  works,  which  by  itself  is 
all  but  conclusive  that  it  was  not  in  existence  till  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury ; which  was  an  age  of  imposture  and  of  credulity  so  immoderate 
that  people  were  easily  imposed  upon,  believing,  as  they  did,  without 
sufficient  evidence,  whatever  was  foisted  upon  them. 

11.  The  interpolator  of  the  passage  makes  Tacitus  speak  of 
“ Christ,”  not  of  Jesus  the  Christ,  showing  that — like  the  passage 
in  Josephus — it  is,  comparatively,  a modern  interpolation,  for 

12.  The  word  “ Christ”  is  not  a name , but  a title  f it  being 
simply  the  Creek  for  the  Hebrew  word  “ Messiah.”  Therefore, 

13.  When  Tacitus  is  made  to  speak  of  Jesus  as  “Christ,”  it  is 
equivalent  to  my  speaking  of  Tacitus  as  “ Historian,”  of  George 
Washington  as  “General,”  or  of  any  individual  as  “Mister,”  with- 
out adding  a name  by  which  either  could  be  distinguished.  And 
therefore, 

14.  It  has  no  sense  or  meaning  as  he  is  said  to  have  used  it. 

15.  Tacitus  is  also  made  to  say  that  the  Christians  had  their 
denomination  from  Christ,  which  would  apply  to  any  other  of  the 
so-called  Christs  who  were  put  to  death  in  Judea,  as  well  as  to 
Christ  Jesus.  And 

16.  “ The  disciples  were  called  Christians  first  at  Antioch  ” (Acts 
xi.  26),  not  because  they  were  followers  of  a certain  Jesus  who 
claimed  to  be  the  Christ,  but  because  “ Christian”  or  “ Chrestian,” 
was  a name  applied,  at  that  time,  to  any  good  man.3  And, 


1 A portion  of  the  passage — that  relating  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  Christians  were  put 
to  death — is  found  in  the  Historia  Sacra  of 
Sulpicius  Severus,  a Christian  Father,  who 
died  a.  D.  420  ; but  it  is  evident  that  this 
writer  did  not  take  it  from  the  Annals.  On  the 
contrary,  the  passage  was  taken— as  Mr.  Ross 
shows— from  the  Historia  Sacra,  and  bears 
traces  of  having  been  so  appropriated.  (See 
Tacitus  & Bracciolini,  the  Annals  forged  in  the 
XVth  century,  by  J.  W.  Ross.) 

2 "Christ is  a name  having  no  spiritual 
signification,  and  importing  nothing  more  than 
an  ordinary  surname .”  (Ur.  Giles  : Hebrew 
and  Christian  Records,  vol.  ii.  p.  64.) 

“ The  name  of  Jesus  and  Christ  was  both 
known  and  honored  among  the  ancients.” 
(Eusebius  : Eccl.  Hist.,  lib.  1,  ch.  iv.) 

“ The  name  Jesus  is  of  Hebrew  origin,  and 
signifies  Deliverer , and  Savior.  It  is  the 
same  as  that  translated  in  the  Old  Testament 
Joshua.  The  word  Christ,  of  Greek  origin, 
is  properly  not  a name  but  a title  signifying 
The  Anointed.  The  whole  name  is  therefore, 
Jesus  the  Anointed  or  Jesus  the  Messiah .” 


(Abbott  and  Conant;  Die.  of  Relig.  Knowledge, 
art.  “ Jesus  Christ.") 

In  the  oldest  Gospel  extant,  that  attributed 
to  Matthew,  we  read  that  Jesus  said  unto  his 
disciples,  “Whom  say  ye  that  I am?”  where- 
upon Simon  Peter  answers  and  says  : “ Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God. 
. . . Then  charged  he  his  disciples  that  they 
should  tell  no  man  that  he  was  Jesus  the 
Christ.”  (Matt.  xvi.  15-20.) 

This  clearly  shows  that  “ the  Christ  ” was 
simply  a title  applied  to  the  man  Jesus,  there- 
fore, if  a title,  it  cannot  be  a name.  All  pas- 
sages in  the  New  Testament  which  speak  of 
Christ  as  a name,  betray  their  modem  date. 

3  “ This  name  (Christian)  occurs  but  three 
times  in  the  New  Testament,  and  is  never 
used  by  Christians  of  themselves, only  as  spoken 
by  or  coming  from  those  without  the  Church. 
The  general  names  by  which  the  early  Chris- 
tians called  themselves  were  ‘ brethren,’  ‘ disci- 
ples,’ ‘ believers,’  and  ‘ saints.’  The  presumption 
is  that  the  name  Christian  was  originated  by  the 
Heathen."  (Abbott  and  Conant : Die.  of  Relig. 
Knowledge,  art.  “Christian.”) 


668 


APPENDIX. 


17.  The  worshipers  of  the  Sun-god,  Serapis,  were  also  called 
“ Christians,”  and  his  disciples  “ Bishops  of  Christ.”1 
So  much,  then,  for  the  celebrated  passage  in  Tacitus. 


“We  are  called  Christians  (not,  we  call 
ourselves  Christians).  So,  then,  we  are  the 
best  of  men  (ChrSstians),  and  it  can  never  be 
just  to  hate  what  is  (ChrSst)  good  and  ktnd  ; ” 
[or,  “ therefore  to  hate  what  is  Chrestian  is 
unjust.”]  (Justin  Martyr  : Apol.  1.  c.  iv.) 

“ Some  of  the  ancient  writers  of  the  Church 
have  not  scrupled  expressly  to  call  the  Athe- 
nian Socrates,  and  some  others  of  the  best  of 
the  heathen  moralists,  by  the  name  of  Chris- 
tians.''1 (Clark  : Evidences  of  Revealed  Relig., 
p.  284.  Quoted  in  Ibid.  p.  41.) 

“Those  who  lived  according  to  the  Logos, 
(i.  e.,  the  Platonists),  were  really  Christians." 
(Clemens  Alexandrinus,  in  Ibid.) 

“ Undoubtedly  we  are  called  Christians , 
for  this  reason,  and  none  other,  than  because 
we  are  anointed  with  the  oil  of  God."  (The- 
ophilus  of  Autioch,  in  Ibid.  p.  399.) 

“Christ  is  the  Sovereign  Reason  of  whom 


the  whole  human  race  participates.  All  those 
who  have  lived  conformably  to  a right  reason , 
have  been  Christians,  notwithstanding  that  they 
have  always  been  looked  upon  as  Atheists.” 
(Justin  Martyr  : Apol.  1.  c.  xlvi.) 

Lucian  makes  a person  called  Triephon' 
answer  the  question,  whether  the  affairs  of 
the  Christians  were  recorded  in  heaven.  “All 
nations  are  there  recorded,  since  Chrestus 
exists  even  among  the  Gentiles.” 

1 “ Egypt,  which  you  commended  to  me,  my 
dearest  Servianus,  I have  found  to  be  wholly 
fickle  and  inconsistent,  and  continually  wafted 
about  by  every  breath  of  fame.  The  worshipers- 
of  Serapis  (here)  are  called  Christians,  and 
those  who  are  devoted  to  the  god  Serapis  (I 
find),  call  themselves  Bishops  of  Christ."  (The- 
Emperor  Adrian  to  Servianus,  written  a.d. 
134.  Quoted  by  Dr.  Giles,  vol.  ii.  p.  86.) 


Note.— Tacitus  says — according  to  the  passage  attributed  to  him — that  “those  who  con- 
fessed [to  be  Christians]  were  first  seized,  and  then  on  their  evidence  a huge  multitude  (Ingens 
Multitudo)  were  convicted,  not  so  much  on  the  charge  of  incendiarism  as  for  their  hatred  to 
mankind."  Although  M.  Renan  may  say  (Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  70)  that  the  authenticity  of  this 
passage  “ cannot  be  disputed,”  yet  the  absurdity  of  “ a huge  multitude  ” of  Christians  being 
m Rome,  in  the  days  of  Nero,  A.  D.  64 — about  thirty  years  after  the  time  assigned  for  the  cruci- 
fixion of  Jesus— has  not  escaped  the  eye  of  thoughtful  scholars.  Gibbon — who  saw  how  ridicu- 
lous the  statement  is — attempts  to  reconcile  it  with  common,  sense  by  supposing  that  Tacitus 
knew  so  little  about  the  Christians  that  he  confounded  them  with  the  Jews,  and  that  the  hatred 
universally  felt  for  the  latter  fell  upon  the  former.  In  this  way  he  believes  Tacitus  gets  his 
“ huge  multitude,”  as  the  Jews  established  themselves  in  Rome  as  early  as  60  years  B.  C.,  where 
they  multiplied  rapidly,  living  together  in  the  Traslevere— the  most  abject  portion  of  the  city, 
where  all  kinds  of  rubbish  was  put  to  rot — where  they  became  “ old  clothes  ” men,  the  porters  and 
hucksters,  bartering  tapers  for  broken  glass,  hated  by  the  mass  and  pitied  by  the  few.  Other 
scholars,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Schwegler  (Nachap  Zeit.,  ii.  229);  KOstlin  (Johann- 
Lehrbegr.,  472);  and  Baur  (First  Three  Centuries , i.  133);  also  being  struck  with  the  absurdity  of 
the  statement  made  by  some  of  the  early  Christian  writers  concerning  the  wholesale  prosecu- 
tion of  Christians,  said  to  have  happened  at  that  time,  suppose  it  must  have  taken  place  during 
the  persecution  of  Trajan,  A.  D.  101.  It  is  strange  we  hear  of  no  Jewish  martyrdoms  or  Jewish 
persecutions  till  we  come  to  the  times  of  the  Jewish  war,  and  then  chiefly  in  Palestine  ! But 
fables  must  be  made  realities,  so  we  have  the  ridiculous  story  of  a “ huge  multitude”  of  Chris- 
tians being  put  to  death  in  Rome,  in  A.  D.  64,  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  Peter  there, 
making  him  the  first  Pope,  and  having  him  crucified  head  downwards.  This  absurd  story  is 
made  more  evident  when  we  find  that  it  was  not  until  about  A.  D.  50— only  14  years  before  the 
alleged  persecution— that  the  first  Christians— a mere  handful— entered  the  capitol  of  the 
Empire.  (See  Renan’s  Hibbert  Lectures , p.  55.)  They  were  a poor  dirty  set,  without  manners, 
clad  in  filthy  gaberdines,  and  smelling  strong  of  garlic.  From  these,  then,  with  others  who  came 
from  Syria,  we  get  our  “ huge  multitude  ” in  the  space  of  14  years.  The  statement  attributed 
to  Tacitus  is,  however,  outdone  by  Orosius,  who  asserts  that  the  persecution  extended  “ through 
all  the  provinces.”  (Orosius.  ii.  11.)  That  it  was  a very  easy  matter  for  some  Christian  writer 
to  interpolate  or  alter  a passage  in  the  Annals  of  Tacitus  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  the  ms. 
was  not  known  to  the  world  before  the  15th  century,  and  from  information  which  is  to  be 
derived  from  reading  Daille  On  the  Right  Use  of  the  Fathers,  who  shows  that  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  doing  such  business,  and  that  these  writings  are,  to  a large  extent,  unreliable. 


INDEX 


A 

Abraham,  story  of,  38;  Hindoo  parallel, 
39;  other  parallels,  39,  40;  the  foun- 
dation of,  103;  his  birth  announced 
by  a star,  144;  supposed  to  have  had 
the  same  soul  as  Adam,  David,  and 
the  Messiah,  504. 

Absolution  from  sin  by  sacrifice  of 
ancient  origin,  181;  by  baptism,  316; 
refused  to  Constantine  by  Pagan 
priests,  444. 

Abury , the  temple  at,  180. 

Achilleus,  a personification  of  the  Sun, 
485. 

Adam , was  reproduced  in  Noah, 
Elijah,  and  other  Bible  celebrities, 
44  ; no  trace  of  the  story  of  the  fall 
of,  in  the  Hebrew  Canon,  after  the 
Genesis  account,  99. 

Aditi,  “Mother  of  the  Gods,”  475;  a 
personification  of  the  Dawn,  475;  is 
identified  with  Devaki,  475. 

Adonis,  is  born  of  a Virgin,  191;  has 
title  of  “ Saviour,”  191,  217;  is  slain, 
191;  rises  from  the  dead,  218;  is 
creator  of  the  world,  249 ; his  temple 
at  Bethlehem,  220;  his  birth  on 
December  25th,  364;  a personification 
of  the  Sun,  484;  in  Hebrew  “My 
Lord,”  485. 

JEolis,  son  of  Jupiter,  125. 

JEon,  Christ  Jesus  an,  427;  there  have 
been  several,  427;  the  Gnostics  be- 
lieved Christ  Jesus  to  have  been  an, 
511 ; the  Essenes  believed  in  the  doc- 
trine of  an,  515. 

AEschylus’  Prometheus  Bound,  192. 


AEsculapius,  a son  of  Jove,  128;  wor- 
shiped as  a God,  128;  is  called  the 
“Saviour,”  194;  the  “Logos,”  374; 
Death  and  Resurrection  of,  217. 

Agni,  represented  with  seven  arms,  32; 
a Hindoo  God,  32;  the  Cross  a sym- 
bol of,  340. 

Agnus  Dei,  the,  succeeded  the  Bulla, 
405;  worn  by  children,  405. 

Agony,  the,  on  Good  Friday,  is  the 
weeping  for  Tammuz,  the  fair 
Adonis,  226. 

Akiba,  Rabbi,  believed  Bar-Cochaba  to 
be  the  Messiah,  433. 

Alcmena,  mother  of  Hercules,  124. 

Alexander,  divides  the  Pamphylian 
Sea,  61 ; believed  to  be  a divine  in- 
carnation, 127;  visits  the  temple  of 
Jupiter  Ammon,  127 ; and  styles  him- 
self “Son  of  Jupiter  Ammon,”  127. 

Alexandria,  the  library  of,  438;  the 
great  intellectual  centre,  440;  and 
the  cradle  of  Christianity,  219,  442. 

Allegorical,  the,  interpretation  of  the 
Scriptures  practiced  by  Rabbis,  100; 
the  historical  theory  succeeded  by, 
466,  552,  563. 

Allegory,  the  story  of  the  “Fall  of 
Man  ” an,  100. 

Allfather,  the,  of  all  nations,  a personi- 
fication of  the  Sky,  478. 

Alpha  and  Omega,  Jesus  believed  to  be, 
250;  Crishna,  250;  Buddha,  250;  Lao- 
Kiun,  250;  Ormuzd,  251;  Zeus,  251; 
Bacchus,  251. 

Ambrose,  St.,  affirms  that  the  Apostles 
made  a creed,  385. 


[569] 


570 


INDEX. 


America , populated  from  Asia,  540; 
was  at  one  time  joined  to  Asia,  541. 

American  Trinity , the,  378. 

Americana,  their  connection  with  the 
old  world,  533. 

Ammon,  Jupiter,  his  temple  visited  by 
Alexander,  127. 

Amphion,  son  of  Jove,  124. 

Amulets  and  Charms,  worn  by  the 
Christians,  405;  are  relics  of  Pagan- 
ism, 405. 

Ananda,  and  the  Matangi  Girl,  294. 

Andrew's,  St.,  Cross,  of  Pagan  origin, 
339. 

Angel  Messiah,  Buddha  an,  116;  Crish- 
na  an,  196;  Christ  an,  196;  the  Es- 
senes  applied  the  legend  of,  to  Jesus, 
442. 

Angels,  the  fallen,  386;  believed  in  by 
all  nations  of  antiquity,  386-388. 

Animals,  none  sacrificed  in  early 
times,  182. 

Antiquity,  the,  of  Pagan  religions, 
compared  with  Christianity,  451. 

Apis,  or  the  Bull,  worshiped  by  the 
children  of  Israel,  107;  symbolized 
the  productive  power  iu  Nature, 
476,  note  5. 

Apollo,  a lawgiver,  61;  son  of  Jove, 
125;  has  the  title  of  “ Saviour,”  194; 
is  put  to  death,  191 ; resurrection  of, 
218;  a type  of  Christ,  500;  is  a per- 
sonification of  the  Sun,  500-506. 

Apostles,  the,  500. 

Apostles'  Greed,  the,  not  written  by 
them,  385. 

Apotheosis,  the,  of  Pagans,  126. 

Apollonius,  considered  divine,  126; 
cured  diseases,  261;  raised  a dead 
maiden  to  life,  262;  his  life  written 
by  Flavius  Philostratus,  264. 

Arabia,  “wise  men”  came  from,  150, 
note  1. 

Arabs,  the,  anciently  worshiped  Saturn, 
393 ; celebrated  the  birth  of  the  Sun 
on  December  25th,  with  offerings  of 
gold,  frankincense  and  myrrh,  480. 

Ararat,  Mount,  Noah’s  ark  landed  on, 

21. 

Areas,  a son  of  Jove,  125. 

Architecture,  the,  of  India  same  as 
Mexico,  538. 

Aries,  the  sign  of  a symbol  of  Christ, 


503;  personified  and  called  the 
“Lamb  of  God,”  504;  the  worship 
of,  the  worship  of  the  Sun,  504. 

Arimanes,  the  evil  spirit,  according  to 
Persian  legend,  3. 

Arion,  a Corinthian  harper,  78. 

Arjoon  or  Arjuna,  the  cousin  and  be- 
loved disciple  of  Crishna,  247. 

Ark,  the,  of  Noah,  20;  and  others,  22- 
27. 

Armenian,  the,  tradition  of  “Confu- 
sion of  Tongues,”  35. 

Aroclus,  son  of  Jove,  125. 

Ariemon,  denied  the  divinity  of  Jesus, 
135. 

Ascension,  of  Jesus,  215;  of  Crishna, 
215;  of  Rama,  216;  of  Buddha,  216; 
of  Lao-Kiun,  216;  of  Zoroaster;  of 
Aesculapius,  217  ; of  Osiris,  222  ; 
Atys,  222;  Mithras,  222. 

Asceticism,  as  practiced  among  the 
Christians,  of  great  antiquity,  400. 

Asher  a,  the,  or  upright  emblem,  stood 
in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  47. 

Asia,  the  continent  of,  at  one  time 
joined  to  America,  541;  America  in- 
habited from,  454,  533. 

Asia  Minor,  the  people  persecuted  in 
by  orders  of  Constantius,  448. 

Asita,  the  holy  Rishi,  visits  Buddha  at 
his  birth,  151. 

Asoka,  the  council  of,  303. 

Assyrian  Dove,  the,  a symbol  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  400. 

Assyrians,  the,  worshiped  a sun -god 
called  Sandon,  74;  had  an  account 
of  a war  in  Heaven,  388;  kept  the 
seventh  day  holy,  393. 

Astaroth,  the  goddess,  saved  the  life  of 
a Grecian  maiden,  39. 

Astarie,  or  Mylitta,  worshiped  by  the 
Hebrews,  108. 

Astrology,  practiced  by  the  ancients, 
141,  142. 

Astronomers,  the  ancient  Egyptians 
great,  547. 

Astronomy,  understood  by  the  ancient 
Chinese,  544. 

Athanasian  Greed,  the,  381. 

Athens,  the  Parthenon  of,  333. 

Atlas,  a personification  of  the  sun,  83, 

Atonement,  the  doctrine  of  taught  be- 
fore the  time  of  Christ  Jesus,  181. 


INDEX. 


571 


Atys,  the  Crucified,  190;  is  called  the 
“Only-begotten  Son,”  and  “Sa- 
viour,” 190;  rose  from  the  dead,  223. 

Augustine , St.,  saw  men  and  women 
without  heads,  437. 

Aurora  placida,  made  into  St.  Aura 
and  St.  Placida,  399. 

Avatar,  Jesus  considered  an,  111 : a star 
at  birth  of  every,  143,  479:  an  “Angel- 
Messiah,”  a “Christ,”  196;  an,  ex- 
pected about  every  600  years,  426. 

Baal,  and  Moloch,  worshiped  by  the 
children  of  Israel,  108. 

Baal-peor,  the  Priapos  of  the  Jews,  47. 

Babel,  the  tower  of,  33;  literally  “the 
Gate  of  God,”  34;  built  at  Babylon, 
34;  a parallel  to  in  other  countries,  35 ; 
built  for  astronomical  purposes,  35. 

Babylonian  Captivity,  the,  put  an  end 
to  Israel’s  idolatry,  108. 

Bacab,  the  Son,  in  the  Mexican  Trinity, 
378. 

Bacchus,  performed  miracles,  50;  pass- 
ed through  the  Red  Sea  dry-shod,  51 : 
divided  the  waters  of  the  rivers 
Orontes  and  Hydaspus,  51;  drew 
water  from  a rock,  51;  was  a law- 
giver, 52;  the  son  of  Jupiter,  124; 
was  born  in  a cave,  156;  torn  to 
pieces,  193,  209;  was  called  the  “Sa- 
viour,” 193;  “Only-begotten  Son,” 
193;  “Redeemer,”  193;  the  sun  dark- 
ened at  his  death,  208;  ascended  into 
heaven,  208;  rose  from  the  dead,  228; 
a personification  of  the  sun,  492. 

Baga,  the,  of  the  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tions a name  of  the  Supreme  Being, 
391 ; is  in  English  associated  with  an 
ugly  fiend,  391. 

Balaam,  his  ass  speaks,  91 ; parallels  to 
in  Egypt,  Chaldea  and  Greece,  91. 

Bala-rama,  the  brother  of  Crishna,  74; 
the  Indian  Hercules,  74. 

Baldur,  called  “ The  Good,”  129;  “The 
Beneficent  Saviour,”  129;  Son  of  the 
Supreme  God  Odin,  129;  is  put  to 
death  and  rises  again,  224;  a personi- 
fication of  the  sun,  479. 

Bambino,  the,  at  Rome  is  black,  336. 

Baptism,  a heathen  rite  adopted  by  the 
Christians,  317;  practiced  in  Mongo- 


1 lia  and  Thibet,  317;  by  the  Brah- 
I mins,  317;  by  the  followers  of  Zoro- 
aster, 318;  administered  in  the  Mith- 
raic  mysteries,  319  ; performed  by 
the  ancient  Egyptians,  319. 

Baptismal  fonts,  used  by  the  Pagans, 
406. 

Bar-Cochba,  the  “Son  of  a Star,”  144; 
believed  to  be  the  Messiah,  432. 

Beads  (see  Rosary). 

Beatitudes,  the,  the  prophet  of,  527. 

Belief,  or  faith,  salvation  by,  existed  in 
the  earliest  times,  184. 

Bellerophon,  a mighty  Grecian  hero,  75. 

Belus,  the  tower  of,  34. 

Benares,  the  Hindoo  Jerusalem,  296. 

Berosus,  on  the  flood,  22. 

Bible,  the  Egyptian,  the  oldest  in  the 
world,  24. 

Birth,  the  Miraculous,  of  Jesus,  111; 
Crishna,  113;  Buddha,  115;  Codom, 
118;  Fuh-he,  119;  Lao-Kiun,  120; 
Yu,  Hau-Ki,  120;  Confucius,  121; 
Horus,  122 ; Zoroaster,  123  ; and 
others,  123-131. 

Birth-day,  the,  of  the  gods,  on  Decem- 
ber 25th,  364. 

Birth-place,  the,  of  Christ  Jesus,  in  a 
cave,  154;  the,  of  other  saviours,  in 
a cave,  155-158. 

Black  God,  the,  crucified,  201, 

Black  Mother,  the,  and  child,  336. 

Bochia,  of  the  Persians,  performed  mir- 
acles, 256. 

Bochica,  a god  of  the  Muyscas,  130. 

Bodhisatwa,  a name  of  Buddha,  115. 

Books,  sacred,  among  heathen  nations, 
61. 

Brahma,  the  first  person  in  Hindoo 
Trinity,  369. 

Brahmins,  the,  perform  the  rite  of  bap- 
tism, 317. 

Bread  and  Wine,  a sacrifice  with,  cele- 
brated by  the  Grand  Lama  of  Thibet, 
306;  by  the  Essenes,  306;  by  Mel- 
chizedek,  307;  by  those  who  were 
initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  Mith- 
ras, 307. 

Blind  Man,  cured  by  Jesus,  268;  by 
the  Emperor  Vespasian  at  Alexan- 
dria, 268. 

Brechin,  the  fire  tower  of,  199;  a cruci- 
fix cut  upon,  198. 


572 


INDEX. 


Buddha , born  of  the  Virgin  Maya,  115; 
his  birth  announced  by  a star,  143; 
demonstrations  of  delight  at  his 
birth,  147;  is  visited  by  Asita,  151.; 
was  of  royal  descent,  163;  a danger- 
ous child,  168;  tempted  by  the  devil, 
176;  fasted,  176;  died  and  rose  again 
to  life,  216;  ascended  into  heaven, 
216;  compared  with  Jesus,  289. 

Buddhism,  the  established  religion  of 
Burmah,  Siam,  Laos,  Pega,  Cambo- 
dia, Thibet,  Japan,  Tartary,  Ceylon, 
and  Loo-Choo,  297. 

Buddhist  religion,  the,  compared  with 
Christianity,  302. 

Buddhists,  the  monastic  system  among, 
401. 

Bull,  the,  an  emblem  of  the  sun,  476. 

Bulla,  the,  worn  by  Roman  children, 
405;  and  now  a lamb,  the  Agnus 
Dei,  405. 

C 

Cabala,  the,  had  its  Trinity,  376. 

Cadiz,  the  gates  of,  70. 

Cmar  (Augustus),  was  believed  to  be 
divine,  126. 

Cmar  (Julius),  was  likened  to  the  di- 
vine, 126. 

Calabrian  Shepherds,  the,  a few  weeks 
before  Winter  solstice,  came  into 
Rome  to  play  on  the  pipes,  365. 

Cam-Deo,  the  God  of  Love,  216. 

Capricorn,  when  the  planets  met  in,  the 
world  was  deluged  with  water,  102. 

Cardinals , the,  of  Rome,  wear  the  robes 
once  worn  by  Roman  senators,  400. 

Carmelites,  the,  and  Essenes  the  same, 
422. 

Canon,  the,  of  the  New  Testament, 
when  settled,  463. 

Carne-vale,  a farewell  to  animal  food, 
227. 

Carnutes,  the,  of  Gaul,  198,  the  Lamb 
of,  199. 

Castles,  Lord,  a ring  found  on  his  es- 
tate, 199. 

Catholic  rites  and  ceremonies  are  imita- 
tions of  those  of  the  Pagans,  384. 

Catholic  theory,  the,  of  the  fall  of  the 
angels,  386. 

Cave,  Jesus  born  in  a,  154  ; Crishna 
born  in  a,  156  ; Abraham  born  in  a, 


156  ; Apollo  born  in  a,  156  ; Mithras 
born  in  a,  156  ; Hermes  born  in  a, 
156. 

Caves,  all  the  oldest  temples  were  in, 
286. 

Celibacy,  among  Pagan  priests,  400-404. 

Celts,  the,  Legend  of  the  Deluge  found 
among,.  27. 

Cerinthus,  denied  the  divinity  of  Jesus, 
136. 

Ceylon,  never  believed  to  have  been  the 
Paradise,  13. 

Chaldean,  the,  account  of  the  Deluge, 

22. 

Chaldeans,  the,  Legend  of  the  Deluge 
borrowed  from,  101;  worshiped  the 
Sun,  480. 

Champlain  period,  the,  28. 

Chandragupta,  a dangerous  child,  171. 

Chastity,  among  Mexican  priests,  404. 

Charlemagne,  the  Messiah  of  medieval 
Teutondom,  239. 

Cherokees,  the,  had  a priest  and  law- 
giver called  Wasi,  130. 

Cherubim,  the,  of  Genesis,  a dragon,  14. 

Child,  the  dangerous,  165. 

Chiliasm,  the  thousand  years  when  Sa- 
tan is  bound,  242. 

Chimalman , the  Mexican  virgin,  334. 

Chinese,  the,  have  their  Age  of  Virtue, 
14;  have  a legend  of  a deluge,  25; 
worship  a Virgin-born  God,  119  ; 
worship  a “Queen  of  Heaven,”  327; 
worship  a Trinity,  371 ; have  “Fes- 
tivals of  gratitude  to  Tien,”  392; 
have  monasteries  for  priests,  friars 
and  nuns,  401;  identified  with  the 
American  race,  539. 

Cholula, , the  tower  of,  36. 

Chrest , the,  568. 

Christ  (Buddha),  compared  with  Je- 
sus, 289. 

Christ  (Crishna),  compared  with  Jesus, 
278. 

Christ  (Jesus),  born  of  a Virgin,  111 ; a 
star  heralds  his  birth,  140;  is  visited 
by  shepherds  and  wise  men,  150;  is 
born  in  a cave,  154;  is  of  royal  de- 
scent, 160;  is  tempted  by  the  devil, 
175;  fasts  for  forty  days,  175;  is  put 
to  death,  181;  no  early  representa- 
tions of,  on  the  cross,  201 ; descends 
into  hell,  211 ; rises  from  the  dead, 215; 


INDEX. 


673 


ascends  into  heaven,  215;  will  come 
again,  233;  will  be  judge  of  the  dead, 
245;  as  creator,  246;  performs  mira- 
cles, 252;  compared  with  Crishna, 
278;  compared  with  Buddha,  289; 
his  birth-day  not  known,  359;  a per- 
sonification of  the  Sun,  498;  not 
identical  with  the  historical  Jesus, 
506 

Christian,  the  name,  originated  by  Hea- 
thens, 567,  note  3. 

Christianity,  identical  with  Paganism, 
384;  why  it  prospered,  419. 

Christians,  the  disciples  first  called,  at 
Antioch,  567 ; the  worshipers  of  Se- 
rapis  called,  568;  heathen  moralists 
called  by  the  name  of,  568. 

Christian  Symbols,  of  Pagan  origin,  339. 

Christening,  a Pagan  rite,  320. 

Circumcision,  the  universal  practice  of, 
85. 

Claudius , Roman  Emperor,  126,  con- 
sidered divine,  126. 

Cobra,  the,  or  hooded  snake,  held  sa- 
cred in  India,  199. 

Codom,  the  Siamese  Virgin-born  Sav- 
iour, 118.  The  legend  of,  contained 
in  the  Pali  books,  316  B.  C.,  451. 

Comets,  superstitions  concerning,  144, 

210. 

Coming,  the  second,  of  Christ  Jesus, 
233:  of  Vishnu,  236;  of  Buddha,  237; 
of  Bacchus,  238;  of  Arthur,  238;  of 
Charlemagne,  239;  of  Quetzalcoatle, 
239. 

Commandments,  the  ten,  of  Moses,  and 
of  Buddha,  59. 

■ Conception , the  immaculate,  of  Jesus, 
111;  of  Crishna,  113;  of  Buddha, 
115;  of  Codom,  118;  of  Salivahana, 
119;  of  Fuh-he,  119;  of  Fo  hi,  119; 
of  Xaca,  119;  of  Lao-kiun,  120;  of 
Yu,  120;  of  Hau-ki,  120;  of  Confu- 
cius, 121;  of  Horus,  122;  of  Raam- 
ses,  123;  of  Zoroaster,  123:  of  Her- 
cules, 124;  of  Bacchus,  125;  of  Per- 
seus, 125;  of  Mercury,  126;  Apollo, 
126;  of  Quetzalcoatle,  129. 

Confession,  the,  of  sins,  of  Pagan  ori- 
gin, 403. 

Confirmation,  the,  of  children,  of  Pa- 
gan origin,  319. 

Confucius,  was  of  supernatural  origin, 


121;  had  seventy-t  wo  disciples,  121; 
author  of  the  “ Golden  Rule,”  415. 

Confusion  of  Tongues,  the  “ Scripture  ” 
account  of,  33;  the  Armenian  tradi- 
tion, 35;  the  Hindoo  legend  of,  35; 
the  Mexican  legend  of,  36. 

Constantine  (Saint),  the  first  Roman 
emperor  to  check  free  thought,  444; 
accepts  the  Christian  faith,  444; 
commits  murders,  444;  baptized  on 
his  death-bed,  445;  the  first  Roman 
emperor  who  embraced  the  Christian 
faith,  446;  his  edicts  against  heretics, 
446 ; his  effigies  engraved  on  Roman 
coins,  446 ; conferred  dignities  on  the 
Christians,  446. 

Coronis,  the  mother  of  iEsculapius,  128; 
impregnated  by  a god,  128. 

Creation,  the,  Hebrew  legend  of,  1; 
two  different  and  contradictory  ac- 
counts of,  5;  Bishop  Colenso  on,  5; 
Persian/legend  of,  7 ; Etruscan  legend 
of,  7;  Hebrew  legend  of,  borrowed 
from  Chaldeans,  98. 

Creator,  the,  Jesus  considered,  247; 
Crishna,  according  to  the  Hindoos, 
247;  Lauther,  according  to  the  Chi- 
nese, 248 ; Iao,  according  to  the  Chal- 
deans, 248;  Ormuzd,  according  to 
the  Persians,  249;  Narduk,  accord- 
ing to  the  Assyrians,  249;  Adonis 
and  Prometheus  believed  to  be,  249. 

Creed,  the  Apostles’,  385;  compared 
with  the  Pagan,  385;  not  known  be- 
fore the  fourth  century,  385;  addi- 
tions to  since  A.  D.  600,  385. 

Crescent,  the,  an  emblem  of  the  female 
generative  principle,  328. 

Crestos,  the,  was  the  Logos,  487. 

Crishna,  born  of  the  Virgin  Devaki, 
113;  the  greatest  of  all  the  Avatars, 
113;  is  “Vishnu  himself  in  human 
form,”  113;  his  birth  announced  in 
the  heavens  by  a star,  278;  spoke  to 
his  mother  shortly  after  birth,  279; 
adored  by  cowherds,  279;  presented 
with  gifts,  279;  was  of  royal  descent, 
280;  performed  miracles,  281;  was 
crucified,  280;  descended  into  hell, 
282 ; rose  from  the  dead,  282 ; a per- 
sonification of  the  sun,  483. 

Cross,  the,  used  as  a religious  symbol 
before  the  Christian  era,  338;  adored 


574 


INDEX. 


in  India,  340;  adored  by  the  Budd- 
hists of  Thibet,  340;  found  on  Egyp- 
tian monuments,  342;  found  under 
the  temple  of  Serapis,  342;  univer- 
sally adored  before  the  Christian  era, 
339-347. 

Crucifixes,  the  earliest  Christian,  de- 
scribed, 203-205. 

Crucifixion,  the,  of  Jesus,  180;  of  “Sa- 
viours ” before  the  Christian  era,  181— 
193;  of  all  the  gods,  explained,  484, 
485. 

Crux  Ansata,  the,  of  Egypt,  341. 

Cuneiform  Inscriptions,  the,  of  Babylo- 
nians, relate  the  legends  of  creation 
and  fall  of  man,  9,  98. 

Cybele,  the  goddess,  called  ‘ ‘ Mother  of 
God,”  333. 

Cyril,  St.,  caused  the  death  of  Hypa- 
tia, 440. 

Cyrus,  king  of  Persia,  127 ; considered 
divine,  127;  called  the  “ Christ,”  127, 
196;  believed  to  be  the  Messiah,  433; 
sun  myth  added  to  the  history  of, 
506. 

D. 

Dag,  a,  Hercules  swallowed  up  by,  78. 

Dagon,  a fish-god  of  the  Philistines,  82 ; 
identical  with  the  Indian  fish  Avatar 
of  Yishnu,  82. 

Danae,  a “Virgin  Mother,”  124. 

Dangerous  Child,  the,  myth  of,  165. 

Daphne,  a personification  of  the  morn- 
ing, 469. 

Darkness,  at  crucifixion  of  Jesus,  206; 
parallels  to,  206-210;  the,  explained, 
494. 

David,  killed  Goliath,  90;  compared 
with  Thor,  91. 

Dawn,  the,  personified,  and  called  Adi- 
ti,  the  “Mother  of  the  Gods,”  475. 

Day,  the,  swallowed  up  by  night,  79. 

December  25th.  birth-day  of  the  gods, 
359. 

Delphi,  Apollo’s  tomb  at,  510. 

Deluge,  the,  Hebrew  legend  of,  19;  par- 
allels to,  20-30. 

Demi-gods,  the,  of  antiquity  not  real 
personages,  467. 

Demons,  cast  out,  by  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, 269. 

Denis,  St.,  is  Dionysus,  399. 


Deo  Soli,  pictures  of  the  Virgin  in- 
scribed with  the  words,  338. 

Derceto,  the  goddess,  represented  as  a 
mermaid,  83. 

Deucalion,  the  legend  of,  26;  derived 
from  Chaldean  sources,  101. 

Devaki,  a virgin  mother,  326. 

Devil,  the,  counterfeits  the  religion  of 
Christ,  124;  formerly  a name  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  391. 

Diana,  called  “Mother,”  yet  famed  for 
her  virginity,  333. 

Dionysus,  a name  of  Bacchus,  51. 
Divine  incarnation,  the  idea  of  redemp- 
tion by  a,  was  general  and  popular 
among  the  Heathen,  183. 

Divine  incarnations,  common  before  the 
time  of  Jesus,  112. 

Divine  Love,  crucified,  484;  the  sun, 
487. 

Divus,  the  title  of,  given  to  Roman  em- 
perors, 125. 

Docetes,  Asiatic  Christians  who  in- 
vented the  phantastic  system,  136. 
Dove,  the,  a symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
among  all  nations  of  antiquity,  357; 
the,  crucified,  485. 

Dragon,  a,  protected  the  garden  of  the 
Hesperides,  11;  the  cherub  of  Gene- 
sis, 14. 

Drama  of  Life,  the,  29. 

Druids,  the,  of  Gaul,  worshiped  the 
Virgo-Paritura  as  the  Mother  of 
God,  333. 

Durga,  a fish  deity  among  the  Hin- 
doos, 82. 

Dyaus,  the  Heavenly  Father,  478;  a 
personification  of  the  sky,  478. 

E 

East,  turning  to  in  worship,  practiced 
by  Christians,  503. 

Easter,  origin  of,  226 ; observed  in  Chi- 
na, 227;  controversies  about,  227; 
dyed  eggs  on,  of  Pagan  origin,  228; 
the  primitive  was  celebrated  on 
March  25th,  335. 

Eating,  the  forbidden  fruit,  the  story 
of,  figurative,  101. 

Ebionites,  the  first  Christians  called, 
134. 

Ecclesiastics,  the  Essenes  called,  424. 


INDEX. 


575 


Eclectics , the  Essenes  called,  424. 

Eclipse,  an,  of  the  Sun.  occurred  at  the 
death  of  Jesus,  206;  of  Romulus, 
207;  of  Julius  Caesar  207;  of  iEscu- 
lapius,  208;  of  Hercules,  208 ; of 
Quirinius,  208. 

Edda,  the,  of  the  Scandinavians  speaks 
of  the  “ Golden”  Age,  15;  describes 
the  deluge,  27. 

Egypt,  legend  of  the  Deluge  not  known 
in,  23;  the  Exodus  from,  48;  cir- 
cumcision practiced  in,  85;  virgin- 
born  gods  worshiped  in,  122;  kings 
of  considered  gods,  123;  Virgin  Mo- 
ther worshiped  in,  329,  330 ; the  cross 
adored  in,  341. 

Egyptian  faith,  hardly  an  idea  in  the 
Christian  system  which  has  not  its 
analogy  in  the,  414. 

Egyptian  kings  considered  gods,  123. 

Egyptians,  the,  had  a legend  of  the 
“Tree  of  Life,”  12;  received  their 
laws  direct  from  God,  60;  practiced 
circumcision  at  an  early  period,  85; 
were  great  astrologers,  142;  were  fa- 
miliar with  the  war  in  heaven, 
387. 

El,  the  Phenician  deity,  484;  called  the 
“Saviour,”  484. 

Elephant,  the,  a symbol  of  power  and 
wisdom,  117;  cut  on  the  fire  tower  at 
Brechin,  in  Scotland,  198;  in  Amer- 
ica, 537. 

Eleusinian,  the,  Mysteries,  310. 

Eleusis,  the  ceremonies  at,  310. 

Elijah  ascends  to  heaven,  90 ; its  par- 
allel, 90. 

Elohistic,  the,  narrative  of  the  Creation 
and  Deluge  differs  from  the  Jehovis- 
tic,  93. 

Elysium,  the,  of  the  Greeks,  11 ; mean- 
ing of,  101. 

Emperors,  the,  of  Rome  considered  di- 
vine, 126. 

Eocene  period,  the,  29. 

Eostre,  or  Oster,  the  Saxon  Goddess, 
226,  227. 

Epimetheus,  the  first  man,  brother  of 
Prometheus,  10. 

Equinox,  at  the  Spring,  most  nations 
set  apart  a day  to  implore  the  bless- 
ings of  their  gods,  492. 

Esdras,  the  apocryphal  book  of,  95. 


[ Essenes,  the,  and  the  Therapeute  the 
same,  419;  the  origin  of  not  known, 
419;  compared  with  the  primitive 
Christians,  420;  their  principal  rites 
connected  with  the  East,  423  ; the 
“ Scriptures  ” of,  443. 

Etruscan,  baptism,  320;  Goddess,  330. 

Etruscans,  the,  had  a legend  of  crea- 
tion similar  to  Hebrew,  75  ; per- 
formed the  rite  of  baptism,  320;  wor- 
shiped a “ Virgin  Mother,”  330. 

Eucharist,  the,  or  Lord’s  Supper,  305; 
instituted  before  the  Christian  era, 
305;  performed  by  various  ancient 
nations,  305-312. 

Eudcs,  the,  of  California,  worshiped  a 
mediating  deity,  131. 

Eusebius,  speaks  of  the  Ebionites,  134; 
of  Easter,  226;  of  Simon  Magus,  265; 
of  Menander  the  “Wonder  Work- 
er,” 266;  of  an  “ancient  custom” 
among  the  Christians,  316;  the  birth 
of  Jesus,  361 ; calls  the  Essenes  Chris- 
tians, 422. 

Eve,  the  first  woman,  3. 

Evil,  origin  of,  4. 

Exorcism,  practiced  by  the  Jews  before 
the  time  of  Jesus,  268. 

Explanation,  the,  of  the  Universal  My- 
thos,  466. 

Ezra,  added  to  the  Pentateuch,  94. 

F. 

Faith,  salvation  by,  taught  before  the 
Christian  era,  184. 

Fall  of  Man,  the,  Hebrew  account  of, 
4;  parallels  to,  7-16;  hardly  allu- 
ded to  outside  of  Genesis,  99 ; allego- 
rical meaning  of,  101. 

Fall  of  the  Angels , the,  386. 

Fasting,  for  forty  days,  a common  oc- 
currence, 179  ; at  certain  periods, 
practiced  by  the  ancients,  177,  392. 

Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  the,  of  Pa- 
gan origin,  369. 

Females,  the,  of  the  Orinoco  tribes, 
fasted  forty  days  before  marriage, 
179; 

Festivals,  held  by  the  Hindoos,  the  Chi- 
nese, the  Egyptians,  and  others,  392. 

Fifty,  Jesus  said  to  have  lived  to  the 
age  of,  515. 


576 


INDEX. 


Fig-tree , the,  sacred,  IB. 

Fijians , the,  practiced  circumcision,  86. 

Fire,  worshiped  by  the  Mexicans  and 
Peruvians,  532. 

Fire  Tower,  the,  of  Brechin,  199. 

Firmicius  (Julius),  says  the  Devil  has 
liis  Christs,  183. 

Fish,  the,  a symbol  of  Christ  Jesus, 
355 ; meaning  of,  504. 

Fleur  de  Lis,  or  Lotus,  a sacred  plant, 
329. 

Flood,  the,  Hebrew  legend  of,  19;  par- 
allels to,  22-27. 

Flower,  Jesus  called  a,  487. 

Fo-hi,  of  China,  born  of  a Virgin,  119. 

Forty,  a sacred  number,  179 

Fraud,  practiced  by  the  early  Chris- 
tians, 434. 

Frey , the  deity  of  the  Sun,  488 ; killed 
at  the  time  of  the  winter  solstice,  488. 

Freyga,  the  goddess,  of  the  Scandina- 
vians, transformed  into  the  Virgin 
Mary,  399;  a personification  of  the 
earth.  479. 

Friday,  fish  day,  why,  354. 

Fi'igga  (see  Freyga). 

Fuli-he,  Chinese  sage,  119;  considered 
divine,  119. 

Future  Life,  the  doctrine  of,  taught  by 
nearly  all  nations  of  antiquity,  388. 

G. 

Gabriel,  the  angel,  salutes  the  Virgin 
Mary,  111. 

Galaxy,  the,  souls  dwell  in,  45. 

Galilee,  Jesus  a native  of,  520;  the  in- 
surgent district  of  the  country,  520; 
the  Messiahs  all  started  out  from, 
521. 

Galli,  the,  now  sung  in  Christian 
churches,  was  once  sung  by  the 
priests  of  Cybele,  333. 

Ganesa,  the  Indian  God  of  Wisdom, 
117. 

Ganges,  the,  a sacred  river,  318. 

Garden,  the,  of  Eden,  2;  of  the  Hes- 
perides,  11;  identical,  11;  hardly 
alluded  to  outside  of  Genesis,  99. 

Gaul,  the  worship  of  the  Virgo-Pari- 
turain,  334. 

Gautama,  a name  of  Buddha,  297. 

Geetas,  the,  antiquity  of,  451. 

Genealogy,  the,  of  Jesus,  160;  of 


Crishna,  163;  of  Buddha,  163;  of 
Rama,  163;  of  Fo-hi,  163;  of  Confu- 
cius, 163;  of  Horus,  163;  of  Hercules, 
163;  of  Bacchus,  164. 

Genesis,  two  contradictory  accounts  of 
the  Creation  in,  2. 

Gentiles,  the,  religion  of,  adopted  by 
Christians,  384;  celebrate  the  birth 
of  god  Sol  on  December  25th,  363. 

Germans,  the  ancient,  worshiped  a 
Virgin-goddess  under  the  name  of 
Hertha,  334-477. 

Germany,  the  practice  of  baptism 
found  in,  by  Boniface,  322. 

Ghost,  the  Holy,  impregnates  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  111 ; and  the  Virgin  Maya, 
117;  is  one  with  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  368;  is  symbolized  by  the  Dove 
among  Heathen  and  Christian  na- 
tions, 357. 

Giants,  fossil  remains  of  animals  sup- 
posed to  have  been  those  of,  19;  the 
Rakshasas  of  the  Hindoos  the  origin 
of  all,  19. 

Glacial  period,  the,  24. 

Gnostic,  the,  heresy,  135. 

Gnostics,  the,  maintained  that  Jesus 
was  a mere  man,  135;  the  Essenes 
the  same  as,  422;  their  doctrine,  511. 

God,  a,  believed  in  by  nearly  all  nations 
of  antiquity,  384. 

Godhead,  the,  a belief  in  the  Trinitarian 
nature  of,  before  the  Christian  era, 
368. 

God  of  Israel,  the,  same  as  the  Gentiles, 
87-88. 

Gods,  the,  created  the  heaven  and 
earth,  4,  note  1;  descended  from 
heaven  and  were  made  incarnate  in 
men,  112. 

God's  first-born,  applied  to  Heathen 
Virgin-born  gods,  195. 

God  the  Father,  the,  of  all  nations,  a 
personification  of  the  sky,  478. 

Golden  Age . the,  of  the  past,  believed 
in  by  all  nations  of  antiquity,  8-16. 

Goliath,  killed  by  David,  90. 

Good  Friday,  the,  “Agonie”  at  Rome 
on,  same  as  the  weeping  for  Adonis, 
226. 

Gospel,  the,  of  the  Egyptians,  443. 

Gospels,  the,  were  not  written  by  the 
persons  whose  names  they  bear,  454; 


INDEX. 


577 


fuli  of  interpolations  and  errors, 
454. 

Greece,  the  gods  and  goddesses  of,  per- 
sonifications of  natural  objects,  467. 

Greeks,  the  ancient,  boasted  of  their 
“Golden  Age,”  10;  had  a tradition 
of  the  “ Isl  mds  of  the  Blessed,”  and 
the  “ Garden  of  the  Hesperides,”  11; 
bad  records  of  a Deluge,  26 ; consid- 
ered that  the  births  of  great  men 
were  announced  by  celestial  signs, 
207;  had  the  rite  of  baptism,  320; 
worshiped  the  virgin  mother,  and 
child,  342;  adored  the  cross,  344; 
celebrated  the  birth  of  their  gods  on 
December  25th,  364;  worshiped  a 
trinity,  374. 

“ Grove,”  the,  of  the  Old  Testament,  is 
the  “ Ashera  ” of  the  Pagans,  47. 

Gruter  (inscriptions  of),  397. 

Gymnosophists,  the,  and  the  Essenes, 
the  same,  423. 

H. 

Hair,  long,  attributes  of  the  sun,  71; 
worn  by  all  sun-gods,  71,  72. 

Han-Ki,  Chinese  sage,  of  supernatural 
origin,  120. 

Heathen,  the,  the  religion  of,  same  as 
Christian,  384. 

Heaven,  all  nations  believed  in  a,  389; 
is  born  of  the  sky,  391,  559. 

Heavenly  host,  the,  sang  praises  at  the 
birth  of  Jesus,  146;  parallels  to,  146- 
149. 

Hebrew  people,  the,  history  of,  com- 
mences with  the  Exodus,  52-55. 

Hebrews,  the  gospel  of  the,  455. 

Hell,  Christ  Jesus  descended  into,  211; 
Crishna  descended  into,  213;  Zoro- 
aster descended  into,  213;  Osiris, 
Horus,  Adonis,  Bacchus,  Hercules, 
Mercury,  all  descended  into,  213; 
built  by  priests,  391. 

Hercules,  compared  with  Samson,  66- 
72;  a personification  of  the  Sun,  73, 
485;  all  nations  had  their,  76;  was 
the  son  of  Jupiter,  124;  was  exposed 
when  an  infant,  170;  was  called  the 
“Saviour,”  193;  the  “Only  begot- 
ten,” 193;  is  put  to  death,  485;  is 
comforted  by  Iole,  493. 


Heretics,  the  first,  134;  denied  the  cru- 
cifixion of  “the  Christ,”  511;  denied 
that  “the  Christ”  ever  came  in  the 
flesh,  512. 

Heri,  means  “ Saviour,”  112;  Crishna 
so  called,  112. 

Hermes,  or  Mercury,  the  son  of  Jupiter 
and  a mortal  mother,  125 ; is  born  in 
a cave,  156;  was  called  the  “Sav- 
iour,” 195;  the  “ Logos  ” and  “Mes- 
senger of  God,”  195. 

Herod,  orders  all  the  children  in  Beth- 
lehem to  be  slain,  166;  the  Hindoo 
parallel  to,  166-167;  a personification 
of  Night,  481. 

Herodotus,  speaks  of  Hercules,  69; 
speaks  of  circumcision,  86;  relates  a 
wonderful  miracle,  261. 

Hesione,  rescued  from  the  sea  monster, 
78. 

Hesperides,  the  apples  of,  the  tree  of 
knowledge,  11-12. 

Hieroglyphics , the  Mexican,  describe 
the  crucifixion  of  Quetzalcoatle, 
199, 

Hilkiah,  claimed  to  have  found  the 
“ Book  of  the  Law,”  94. 

Himalayas,  the,  the  Hindoo  ark  rested 
on,  27. 

Hindoos,  the,  had  no  legend  of  the 
creation  similar  to  the  Hebrew,  13; 
believe  Mount  Meru  to  have  been  the 
Paradise,  13;  had  a legend  of  the 
Deluge,  24;  had  a legend  of  the 
“Confusion  of  Tongues,”  35;  had 
their  Samson  or  Strong  Man,  73; 
worshiped  a virgin-born  god,  113; 
adored  a trinity,  371;  have  believed 
in  a soul  from  time  immemorial, 
388. 

Historical  theory,  the,  succeeded  by  the 
allegorical,  466. 

Histories,  the,  of  the  gods  are  fabu- 
lous, 466. 

Holy  Ghost,  the,  impregnates  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  111 ; and  the  Virgin  Maya, 
117;  is  one  with  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  368;  is  symbolized  by  the  dove 
among  Heathen  nations,  357. 

Holy  One,  the,  of  the  Chinese,  190. 

Holy  Trinity,  the,  of  the  Christians, 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Pagans,  370. 

j Toma,  or  Haoma,  a god  of  the  Hin- 


578 


INDEX. 


doos,  called  the  “ Benefactor  of  the 
World,”  306. 

Horns,  the  Egyptian  Saviour,  122 ; born 
of  the  Virgin  Isis,  122;  is  put  to 
death,  190;  descended  into  hell,  213; 
rose  from  the  dead,  222;  performed 
miracles,  256;  raised  the  dead  to  life, 
256;  is  represented  as  an  infant  on 
the  lap  of  his  virgin  mother,  327 ; is 
born  on  December  25th,  363 ; a per- 
sonification of  the  sun,  476;  cruci- 
fied in  the  heavens,  484. 

Hydaspus,  the  river,  divided  by  Bac- 
chus, 51. 

Hypatia,  put  to  death  by  a Christian 
mob,  440. 

I. 

Iamos,  left  to  die  among  the  bushes 
and  violets,  170;  received  from  Zeus 
the  gift  of  prophecy,  171. 

Iao,  a name  sacred  in  Egypt,  49;  prob- 
ably the  same  as  Jehovah,  49;  the 
crucified,  484. 

Ida,  the  earth,  481. 

Idolatry,  practiced  by  the  Hebrews, 
107;  adopted  by  the  Christians,  384. 

Idols,  the  worship  of,  among  Chris- 
tians, 397. 

I.  H.  S.,  formerly  a monogram  of  the 
god  Bacchus,  and  now  the  mono- 
gram of  Christ  Jesus,  351. 

Images,  the  worship  of,  among  Chris- 
tians. 397. 

Immaculate  Conception,  the,  of  Jesus, 
111;  Crishna,  113;  Buddha.  115;  Co- 
dom,  118;  Fo-hi,  119;  and  others, 
119-130. 

Immortality  of  the  Soul,  the,  believed  in 
by  all  nations  of  antiquity,  385. 

Incas,  the,  of  Peru,  married  their  own 
sisters,  537. 

India,  a virgin-born  god  worshiped  in, 
113;  the  story  of  Herod  and  the  in- 
fants of  Bethlehem  from,  166;  the 
crucified  god  in,  186;  the  Trinity  in, 
370;  our  religion  and  nursery  tales 
from,  544. 

Indians,  the,  no  strangers  to  the  doc- 
trine of  original  sin,  189;  they  be- 
lieve man  to  be  a fallen  being,  189. 

Indra,  worshiped  as  a crucified  god  in 


( Nepaul,  187;  his  festival  days  in 
August,  187 ; is  identical  with  Crish- 
na, 484;  a personification  of  the  sun, 
484. 

Infant  Baptism,  practiced  by  the  Per. 
sians,  318;  by  the  Etruscans,  320; 
by  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  321 ; by 
the  Scandinavians,  321 ; by  the  New 
Zealanders,  322;  by  the  Mexicans, 
322;  by  the  Christians,  323;  all  iden- 
tical, 323. 

Innocents,  the,  slain  at  the  time  of 
birth  of  Jesus,  165;  at  the  birth  of 
Crishna,  166;  at  the  birth  of  Abra- 
ham, 169. 

Inscriptions,  formerly  in  Pagan  tem- 
ples, and  inscriptions  in  Christian 
churches  compared,  397. 

Incense,  burned  before  idols  or  images 
in  Pagan  temples,  406. 

Iona,  or  Yoni,  an  emblem  of  the  fe- 
male generative  powers,  199. 

Ionah , or  Juna,  suspended  in  space. 
486. 

Irenceus,  the  fourth  gospel  not  known 
until  the  time  of,  458;  reasons  given 
by,  for  there  being  four  gospels,  458. 

Iroquois , the,  worshiped  a god-man 
called  Tarengawagan,  131. 

Isaac,  offered  as  a sacrifice  by  Abra 
ham,  38;  parallels  to,  39-41. 

Isis,  mother  of  Horus,  122;  a virgin 
mother,  327;  represented  on  Egyp- 
tian monuments  with  an  infant  in 
her  arms,  327;  she  is  styled  “Out 
Lady,”  “ Queen  of  Heaven,”  “Moth- 
er of  God,”  &c.,  327. 

Islands  of  the  Blessed,  11 ; meaning  of, 
101,  559,  560. 

Islands  of  the  Sea,  Western  countries 
called  the,  by  the  Hebrews,  103. 

Israel,  the  religion  of,  same  as  the  Hea- 
then, 107, 108. 

Italy,  effigies  of  a black  crucified  man, 
in,  197  ; the  cross  adored  in,  before 
Christian  era,  345. 

Ixion,  bound  on  the  wheel,  is  the  cru- 
cified Sun,  484. 

Izdubar,  the  Lion-killer  of  the  Babylo- 
nians, 74  ; the  foundation  for  the 
Samson  and  the  Hercules  myths,  105; 
the  cuneiform  inscriptions  speak  of, 
105. 


INDEX. 


579 


J. 

Jacob,  his  vision  of  the  ladder,  42;  ex- 
plained, 42,  104. 

Janus,  the  keys  of,  transferred  to  Pe- 
ter, <199. 

Japanese,  the  American  race  descended 
from  the  same  stock  a3  the,  538. 

Jason,  a dangerous  child,  171 ; brought 
up  by  Cheiron,  171 ; the  same  name 
as  Jesus,  196. 

Jehovah,  the  name,  esteemed  sacred 
among  the  Egyptians,  48;  the  same 
as  Y-ha-ho,  48  ; well  known  to  the 
Heathens,  49. 

Jehovistic  writer,  the,  of  the  Pentateuch, 
93. 

Jemshid,  devoured  by  a great  monster, 
18. 

Jerusalem,  Jews  taken  at  the  Ebionite 
sack  of,  were  sold  to  the  Grecians, 
103. 

Jesuits,  the,  in  China,  appalled  at  find- 
ing, in  that  country,  a counterpart  to 
the  Virgin  of  Judea,  119. 

Jesus,  not  born  of  a Virgin  according 
to  the  Ebionites  or  Nazarenes,  134; 
the  day,  month  or  year  of  his  birth 
not  known,  359;  was  an  historical 
personage,  506  ; no  clearly  defined 
traces  of,  in  history,  517;  his  person 
indistinct,  517 ; assumed  the  charac- 
ter of  “ Messiah,”  520  ; a native  of 
Galilee,  520;  a zealot,  522;  is  put  to 
death  by  the  Pomans,  522;  not  cru- 
cified by  the  Jews,  524;  the  martyr- 
dom of,  has  been  gratefully  acknowl- 
edged, 527;  nothing  original  in  the 
teachings  of,  529. 

Jews,  the,  where  their  history  begins, 
54;  driven  out  of  Egypt,  52;  wor- 
shiped Baal  and  Moloch,  108;  their 
religion  the  same  as  other  nations, 
108;  did  not  crucify  Jesus,  524. 

John,  the  same  name  as  Jonah,  83;  the 
gospel  according  to,  457 ; Irenseus 
the  author  of,  458, 

John  the  Baptist,  his  birth-day  is  on  the 
day  of  the  Sumner  Solstice,  499. 

Jonah,  swallowed  by  a big  fish,  77;  pa- 
rallels to,  78,  79;  the  meaning  of,  79; 
the  Sun  called,  80  ; identified  with 
Dagon  and  Oannes,  82,  83;  the  same 


as  John,  84;  the  myth  of,  explained. 
105. 

Jordan,  the  river,  considered  sacred, 
318. 

Josephus,  does  not  speak  of  Jesus,  564; 

Joshua , arrests  the  course  of  the  Sun, 
91 ; parallel  to,  91. 

Jove,  the  Sons  of,  numerous,  125;  the 
Supreme  God,  125. 

Judea,  the  Virgin  of,  111 ; a counter- 
part to,  found  by  the  first  Christian 
missionaries  in  China,  119. 

Judaism,  its  doctrine  and  precepts,  by 
I.  M.  Wise,  referred  to,  527. 

Judge  of  the  Bead,  Jesus,  244;  Sons  of 
God,  244;  Buddha,  244;  Crishna, 
245 ; Osiris,  245 ; AEeacus,  245 ; no  ex- 
amples of  Jesus  as,  in  early  Christian 
art,  246. 

Julius  Caesar  (see  Caesar). 

Juno , the  “Queen  of  Heaven,”  333; 
was  represented  standing  on  the  cres- 
cent moon,  333;  considered  the  pro- 
tectress of  woman,  333;  often  repre- 
sented with  a dove  on  her  head,  357; 
suspended  in  space,  486. 

Jupiter , the  Supreme  God  of  the  Pa- 
gans, 125 ; a statue  of,  in  St.  Peter’s, 
Home,  397. 

Justin  Martyr,  on  the  work  of  the  Devil, 
124,  265. 

K. 

Kadmus,  king  of  Thebes,  124. 

Kaffirs,  the,  practice  circumcision,  86. 

Kansa,  attempts  the  life  of  Crishna, 
166;  is  a personification  of  Night, 
481. 

Ke-lin,  the,  appeared  at  the  birth  of 
Confucius,  121. 

Key,  the,  which  unlocks  the  door  to 
the  mystery,  441. 

Knichahan,  the  Supreme  God  of  the 
Mayas  of  Yucatan,  130. 

Kings,  the,  of  Egypt  considered  divine, 

122. 

Kronos,  the  myth  of,  explained,  559. 

Kung-foo-tsze  (see  Confucius).  # 

L. 

Labarum,  the,  of  Constantine,  in- 
scribed with  the  monogram  of 
Osiris,  350. 


580 


INDEX. 


Ladder,  the,  of  Jacob,  42;  explained, 
42-47. 

Lama,  the,  of  Thibet,  considered  di- 
vine, 118;  the  high  priest  of  the  Tar- 
tars, 118;  the  Pope  of  Buddhism, 
118. 

Lamb , the,  of  God,  a personification  of 
the  Sun,  492. 

Lamb,  the  oldest  representation  of 
Christ  Jesus  was  the  figure  of  a, 
202,  503. 

Lamps,  feast  of,  392. 

Lanthu,  born  of  a pure  spotless  Vir- 
gin, 248;  the  creator  of  the  world, 
248. 

Lao-Riun,  born  of  a Virgin,  120;  be- 
lieved in  one  God,  120;  formed  the 
Tao-tsze,  or  sect  of  reason,  120. 

Lao-tse  (see  Lao-Kiun). 

Latona,  the  mother  of  Apollo,  125. 

Law-giver,  Moses  a,  59;  Bacchus  a, 
59;  Zoroaster  a,  59;  Minos  a,  60; 
Thoth  a,  60;  Lycurgus  a,  61;  Apollo 
a,  61. 

Lazarus,  raised  from  the  grave,  273. 

Leto,  a personification  of  darkness, 
477. 

Libations,  common  among  all  nations 
of  antiquity,  317. 

Library,  the,  of  Alexandria,  438. 

Lights,  are  kept  burning  before  images 
in  Pagan  temples,  406. 

Lily,  the,  or  Lotus,  sacred  among  all 
Eastern  nations,  529;  put  into  the 
hands  of  all  “ Virgin  Mothers,”  329. 

Linga,  the,  and  Yoni,  adored  by  the 
Jews,  47;  the  symbol  under  which 
the  sun  was  worshiped,  47,  496. 

Logos,  the,  an  Egyptian  feature,  373; 
Apollo  called,  373;  Marduk  of  the 
Assyrians,  called,  374;  the,  of  Philo, 
374;  the,  of  John,  374;  identical,  374. 

Loretto,  the  Virgin  of,  338;  black  as  an 
Ethiopian,  338. 

Lotus,  the,  or  Lily,  sacred  among  all 
Eastern  nations,  329. 

Luke,  the  Gospel  “ according”  to,  456. 

Lycophron,  says  that  Hercules  was 
three  nights  in  the  belly  of  a fish, 
78. 

M. 

Madonna,  the,  and  child,  worshiped 
by  all  nations  of  Antiquity,  326. 


[ Magi,  the  religion  of,  adopted  y the 
Jews,  109. 

Magic,  Jesus  learned,  in  Egypt,  272. 

Magician,  Jesus  accused  of  being  a, 
273. 

Mahabharata,  the,  quotations  from, 
415-417. 

Mahomet,  the  miracles  of,  269. 

Maia,  the  mother  of  Mercury,  125 ; the 
same  name  as  Mary,  332. 

Man,  the  Fall  of,  4;  parallels  to,  4-16; 
the  antiquity  of,  29. 

Manco  Capac,  a god  of  the  Peruvians, 
130. 

Manes,  believed  himself  to  be  the 
“Christ,”  429;  the  word,  has  the 
meaning  of  “ Comforter  ” o'r  “ Sav- 
iour,” 429. 

Manetho,  an  Egyptian  priest,  gives  an 
account  of  the  sojourn  of  the  Israel- 
ites in  Egypt,  53. 

Manicheans,  the,  transferred  pure  souls 
to  the  Galaxy,  45;  their  doctrine  of 
the  divinity  of  Christ  Jesus,  511. 

Manu,  quotations  from,  415. 

March  25th,  the  primitive  Easter  sol- 
emnized on,  225,  495;  celebrated 
throughout  the  ancient  world  in 
honor  of  the  “Mother  of  God,”  335; 
appointed  to  the  honor  of  the  Chris- 
tain  Virgin,  335. 

Maria,  the  name,  same  as  Mary,  332. 

Mark,  the  Gospel  according  to,  456. 

Matangi  girl,  the,  and  Ananda,  the 
disciple  of  Buddha,  294. 

Martianus  Capella,  his  ode  to  the  Sun, 
507. 

Martyr  (Justin),  compares  Christianity 
with  Paganism,  124. 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  111:  same 
name  as  Maya,  Maria,  &c.,  332; 
called  the  “ Mother  of  God,”  398. 

Masons'  Marks,  conspicuous  among 
Christian  symbols,  358. 

Mass,  the,  of  Good  Friday,  of  Pagan 
origin,  226. 

Mastodon,  the  remains  of,  found  in 
America,  19. 

Mathura,  the  birth-place  of  Crishna, 
113. 

Matthew,  the  “Gospel  according  to,” 
455. 

May,  the  month  of,  dedicated  to  the 


INDEX. 


581 


Heathen  Virgin  Mothers,  335;  is  now  j 
the  month  of  Mary,  335. 

Maya , the  same  name  as  Mary,  332. 

Mayus , the,  of  Yucatan,  worship  a 
Yirgin-born  god,  130. 

May-pole , the,  of  moderns,  is  the  “Ash- 
era  ” of  the  ancients,  47:  an  emblem 
of  the  male  organ  of  generation,  47 ; 
the  Linga  of  the  Hindoos,  47. 

Mecca , the  Mohammedans’  Jerusalem, 
296. 

Mediator,  the  title  of,  applied  to  Yirgin- 
born  gods  before  the  time  of  Jesus, 
195. 

Melchizedek,  the  Kenite  King  of  Right- 
eousness, brougnt  out  bread  and  wine 
as  a sign  or  symbol  of  worship,  307. 

Menander,  called  the  “Wonder  Work- 
er,” performed  miracles,  266;  be- 
lieved himself  to  be  me  Christ,  429. 

Mendicants,  among  the  Buddhists  in 
China,  400-403. 

Menes,  the  first  king  of  Egypt,  122; 
considered  divine,  122. 

Menu,  Satyavrata  the  Seventh,  25. 

Mercury,  the  Son  of  Jupiter  and  a mor- 
tal mother,  125;  called  “God’s  Mes- 
senger,” 195. 

Meru  (Mount),  the  Hindoo  Paradise, 
out  of  which  went  four  rivers,  13. 

Messiahs,  many,  before  the  time  of  Je- 
sus, 196;  519,  521,  522. 

Metempsychosis,  or  transmigration  of 
souls,  42 ; the  doctrine  taught  by  all 
the  Heathen  nations  of  antiquity,  43; 
by  the  Jews  and  Christians,  43. 

Mexicans,  the,  had  their  semi-fish  gods, 
83 ; practiced  circumcision,  86 ; com- 
pared with  the  inhabitants  of  the  old 
world,  533. 

Mexico,  the  architecture  of,  compared 
with  that  of  the  old  world,  538. 

Michabou,  a god  of  the  Algonquins,  131. 

Michael,  the  angel,  the  story  of,  bor- 
rowed from  Chaldean  sources,  109 ; 
fought  with  his  angels  against  the 
dragon,  386. 

Miletus,  the  crucified  god  of,  191. 

Millennium,  doctrine  of  the,  239. 

Minos,  the  Lawgiver  of  the  Cretans,  60; 
receives  the  Laws  from  Zeus,  60. 

Minutius  Felix , on  the  crucified  man, 
197. 


Miracles,  the,  of  Jesus,  252;  of  Crishna, 
253;  of  Buddha,  254,  255;  of  Zoro- 
aster, 256;  Bochia,  256;  Horns,  256; 
Osiris,  256;  Serapis,  257;  Marduk, 
257 ; Bacchus,  257 ; iEsculapius,  257 ; 
Apollonius,  261;  Simon  Magus,  264; 
Menander,  266;  Yespasian,  268. 

Miraculous  Conception,  the,  of,  Jesus, 
111;  parallels  to,  112-131. 

Mithras,  a ‘ ‘ Mediator  between  God  and 
Man,”  194;  called  the  “Saviour,” 
and  the  “Logos,”  194;  is  put  to 
death,  and  rises  again  to  life,  223;  a 
personification  of  the  Sun,  507. 

Mohammed  (see  Mahomet). 

Molech,  the  god,  worshiped  by  the  Hea- 
then nations,  and  the  children  of  Is- 
rael, 108. 

Monad,  a,  in  the  Egyptian  Trinity,  373. 

Monasteries , among  Heathen  nations, 
400. 

Monasticism,  a vast  and  powerful  insti- 
tution in  Buddhist  countries,  403. 

Monks,  were  common  among  Heathen 
nations  before  the  Christian  era,  400- 
404. 

Montanus,  believed  himself  an  Angel- 
Messiah,  428. 

Months,  the  twelve,  compared  with  the 
Apostles,  500. 

Moon,  the,  was  personified  among  an- 
cient nations,  and  called  the  “ Queen 
of  Heaven,”  478. 

Moral  Sentiments,  the,  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, compared  with  those  from 
Heathen  Bibles,  415. 

Mosaic  history,  the  so-called,  a myth, 
17. 

Moses,  divides  the  Red  Sea,  50  ; is 
thrown  into  the  Nile,  89. 

Mother,  the,  of  God,  worshiped  among 
the  ancients,  326. 

Mother  Night,  the  24th  of  December 
called,  365, 

Mother  of  the  Gods,  the,  Aditi  called, 
475. 

Mount  Meru,  the  Hindoo  paradise  on, 
13. 

Mummy,  a cross  on  the  breast  of  an 
Egyptian,  in  the  British  Museum, 
341. 

Muscovites,  the,  worshiped  a virgin  and 
child,  333 ; worshiped  a Trinity,  378. 


582 


INDEX. 


Mylitta , the  goddess,  worshiped  by  the 
Hebrews,  108. 

Myrrha , the  mother  of  Bacchus,  332; 
same  as  Mary,  332. 

Myth,  a,  the  theology  of  Christendom 
built  upon,  17. 

Mythology,  all  religions  founded  upon, 
563. 

Mythos,  the  universal,  505. 

N. 

Nganu , the  Africans  of  Lake,  had  a 
similar  story  to  the  “ Confusion  of 
Tongues,”  36. 

Nakshatias,  the,  of  the  Indian  Zodiac, 
are  regarded  as  deities,  142. 

Nanda,  the  foster-father  of  Crislma, 
158. 

Nared,  a great  prophet  and  astrologer, 
143 ; pointed  out  Crishna’s  stars,  143. 

Nazarenes,  the,  saw  in  Jesus  nothing 
more  than  a mere  man,  135. 

Nebuchadonazar,  repaired  the  tower  of 
Babel,  35. 

Necromancer , Jesus  represented  as  a, 
273. 

Nehush-tan,  the  Sun  worshiped  under 
the  name  of,  491. 

Neith,  the  mother  of  Osiris,  364; 
called  the  “ Holy  Virgin,”  364;  the 
“ Mother  of  the  Gods,”  and 
“Mother  of  the  Sun,”  476;  a per- 
sonification of  the  dawn,  476. 

Nepaul,  the  crucified  God  found  in, 
187. 

Nicaragua,  the  inhabitants  of,  called 
their  principal  God  Thomathoyo, 
130. 

Nice,  the  Council  of,  381;  anathemat- 
ized those  who  say  that  there  was  a 
time  when  the  Son  of  God  was  not, 
381. 

Nile,  the  temples  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  river  dedicated  to  the  kings  of 
Egypt,  122;  a sacred  river,  318. 

Nimrod,  built  the  tower  of  Babel,  34. 

Ninevah,  Jonah  goes  to,  81;  cylinders 
discovered  on  the  site  of,  contained 
the  legend  of  the  flood,  101. 

Niparaga,  the  Supreme  Creator  of  the 
Endes  of  California,  131. 

Nisan,  the  angel,  borrowed  from  the 
Chaldeans,  109. 


Noah,  the  ark  of,  119 

Noel,  Christmas  in  French  called,  365. 

Nut,  a personification  of  Heaven,  477. 

Nuter  Nutra,  the,  of  the  Egyptians, 
corresponds  to  the  Hebrew  El- 
Shaddai,  49. 

O. 

Oannes,  Chaldean  fish-god,  82;  the 
same  as  Jonah,  83. 

Odin,  the  Supreme  God  of  the  Scan- 
dinavians, 479;  a personification  of 
the  Heavens,  479. 

(Edipus,  the  history  of,  resembles  that 
of  Samson  and  Hercules,  72;  tears 
out  his  eyes,  72;  is  a dangerous 
child,  170;  cheered  in  his  last  hours 
by  Antigona,  493;  a personification 
of  the  Sun,  493. 

Offerings  (Votive)  made  to  the  Heathen 
deities,  259. 

Olympus,  the.  of  the  Pagans,  restored, 
398. 

0.  M.,  or  A.  JJ.  M.  ,a  sacred  name 
among  the  Hindoos,  372;  an  emblem 
of  the  Trinity,  352. 

Omphale,  the  amours  of  Hercules  with, 
71. 

One,  the  myths  of  the  crucified  gods 
melt  into,  492. 

One  God,  worshiped  by  the  ancestors  of 
our  race,  384. 

Only  Begotten  Sons,  common  before  the 
Christian  era,  193. 

Oort,  Prof.,  on  the  sacred  laws  of 
ancient  nations,  61. 

Ophites,  the,  worshiped  serpents  as 
emblems  of  Christ,  355. 

Orders,  religious,  among  all  nations  of 
antiquity,  400-404. 

Origen,  declared  the  story  of  creation 
and  fall  of  man  to  be  allegorical, 
100. 

Original  Sin,  the  doctrine  of,  of  great 
antiquity,  184;  the  Indians  no  stran- 
gers to,  189. 

Ormuzd,  the  Supreme  God  of  the  Per- 
sians, 7;  divided  the  work  of  crea- 
tion into  six  parts,  7. 

Orontes,  the  river,  divided  by  Bacchus, 
51. 

Osiris,  confined  in  a chest  and  thrown 
into  the  Nile,  90;  a Virgin-born 


INDEX. 


583 


God,  190;  suffers  death,  190;  rose  I 
from  the  dead,  222;  the  judge  of  the 
dead,  245;  performed  miracles,  256; 
the  worship  of,  of  great  antiquity, 
452;  a personification  of  the  Sun, 
484. 

Oude,  the  crucified  God  Bal-li  wor- 
shiped at,  188. 

Ovid,  describes  the  doctrine  of  Me- 
tempsychosis, 43. 

P. 

Pagan  Religion,  the,  adopted  by  the 
Christians,  384;  was  typical  of  Chris- 
tianity, 501. 

Pan,  had  a flute  of  seven  pipes,  31. 

Pandora,  the  first  woman,  in  Grecian 
mythology,  10. 

Pantheon,  the,  a niche  always  ready 
in,  of  the  ancients,  for  a new  divin- 
ity, 123. 

Paraclete,  Simon  Magus  claimed  to  be 
the,  164. 

Paradise,  all  nations  believed  in  a,  389, 
390. 

Parsees,  the,  direct  descendants  of  the 
Persians,  25 ; say  that  man  was  once 
destroyed  by  a deluge,  25. 

Parnassus,  Mount,  the  ark  of  Deuca- 
lion rested  on,  26. 

Parthenon,  the,  at  Atheas,  sacred  to 
Minerva,  333. 

Passover,  the,  celebrated  by  the  Jews 
on  the  same  day  that  the  Heathens 
celebrated  the  resurrections  of  their 
Gods,  226;  the  Jews  used  eggs  in  the 
feast  of,  228. 

Patriarchs,  the,  all  stories  of,  unhis- 
torical,  54. 

Paul,  St.,  a minister  of  the  Gospel 
which  had  been  preached  to  every 
creature  under  heaven,  514. 

Pentateuch,  the,  never  ascribed  to 
Moses  in  the  inscriptions  of  Hebrew 
manuscripts,  92;  ascribed  to  Moses 
after  the  Babylonian  captivity,  92; 
origin  of,  93,  96. 

Perictione,  a Virgin  mother,  127. 

Perseus,  shut  up  in  a chest,  and  cast 
into  the  sea,  89;  the  son  of  Jupiter 
by  the  Virgin  Danae,  124;  a temple 


erected  to  him  in  Athens,  124;  a 
dangerous  child,  16). 

Persia,  pre-Christian  crosses  found  in, 
343,  344. 

Persians,  the,  denominate  the  first  man 
Adama,  7 ; had  a legend  of  creation 
corresponding  with  the  Hebrew,  8; 
had  a legend  of  the  war  in  heaven, 
387. 

Peru,  crosses  found  in,  349 ; worship  of 
a Trinity  found  in,  378. 

Peruvians,  the,  adored  the  cross,  349; 
worshiped  a Trinity,  378. 

Peter,  St.,  has  the  keys  of  Janus,  399. 

Phallic  tree,  the,  is  introduced  into  the 
narrative  in  Genesis,  47. 

Phallic  worship,  the  story  of  Jacob  set- 
ting up  a pillar  alludes  to,  46 ; prac- 
ticed by  the  nations  of  antiquity,  46, 
47. 

Phallic  Emblems,  in  Christian  churches, 
358. 

Phallus,  the,  a ‘ ‘ Hermes,  ” set  up  on  the 
road-side,  was  the  symbol  of,  46. 

Pamphylian  Sea,  the,  divided  by  Alex- 
ander, 55. 

Pharaoh,  his  dreams,  88;  parallel  to, 
89. 

Phenician  deity,  the  principal,  was  El, 
484. 

Philo,  considered  the  fictions  of  Gene- 
sis allegories,  100 ; says  nothing  about 
Jesus,  or  the  Christians,  564. 

Philosophers,  the,  of  ancient  Greece, 
called  Christians,  409. 

Philosophy,  the  Christian  religion  called 
a,  567. 

Phcedrus,  the  river,  dried  up  by  Isis,  55. 

Phoenicians,  the,  offered  the  fairest  of 
their  children  to  the  gods,  41. 

Phoenix,  the,  lived  600  years,  426. 

Phrygians,  the,  worshiped  the  god 
Atys,  190. 

Pilate,  pillaged  the  temple  treasury, 
521;  crucified  Jesus,  526. 

Pillars  of  Hercules,  the,  79. 

Pious  Frauds,  231. 

Pisces,  the  sign  of,  applied  to  Christ  Je- 
sus, 355-504. 

Plato,  believed  to  have  been  the  son  of 
a pure  virgin,  127. 

Platonists,  the,  believed  in  a Trinity, 
375. 


584 


INDEX. 


Pole,  or  Pillar,  a,  worshiped  by  the  an- 
cients, 46,  47. 

Polynesian  Mythology,  in,  a fish  is  em- 
blematic of  the  earth,  80. 

Pontius  Pilate  (see  Pilate). 

Poo-ta-la,  the  name  of  a Buddhist  mo 
nastery  found  in  China,  401. 

Pope,  the,  thrusts  out  his  foot  to  be 
kissed  as  the  Roman  Emperors  were 
in  the  habit  of  doing,  400. 

Portuguese,  the,  call  the  mountain  in 
Ceylon,  Peco  d’  Adama,  _3. 

Porus,  the  troops  of,  carried  on  their 
standards  the  figure  of  a man,  198. 

Prayers,  for  the  dead,  made  by  Budd- 
hist priests,  401. 

Priests,  the  Buddhist,  have  fasting, 
prayers  for  the  dead,  holy  water,  ro- 
saries of  beads,  the  worship  of  relics, 
and  a monastic  habit  resembling  the 
Franciscans,  401. 

Priestesses,  among  the  ancients,  similar 
to  the  modern  nuns,  403,  404. 

Primeval  male,  the,  offered  himself  a 
sacrifice  for  the  gods,  181. 

Pritliivi,  the  Earth  worshiped  under 
the  name  of,  by  the  Hindoos,  477. 

Prometheus,  a deity  who  united  the  di- 
vine and  human  nature  in  one  per- 
son, 124;  a crucified  Saviour,  192; 
an  earthquake  happened  at  the  time 
of  the  death  of,  207 ; the  story  of  the 
crucifixion  of,  allegorical,  484;  a title 
of  the  Sun,  484. 

Prophet,  the,  of  the  Beatitudes,  does 
but  repeat  the  words  of  others,  526. 

Protogenia,  mother  of  iEthlius,  125. 

Ptolemy  (Soter),  believed  to  have  been 
of  divine  origin,  127. 

Puvanas,  the,  451. 

Purgatory,  the  doctrine  of,  of  pre- 
Christian  origin,  389. 

Purim,  the  feast  of,  44;  the  book  of 
Esther  written  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
scribing, 44. 

Pyrrha,  the  wife  of  Deucalion,  26;  was 
saved  from  the  Deluge  by  entering 
an  ark  with  her  husband,  26. 

Pythagoras,  taught  that  souls  dwelt  in 
the  Galaxy,  45;  had  divine  honors 
paid  to  him,  128;  his  mother  impreg- 
nated through  a spectre,  128. 


Q. 

Quetzalcoatle,  the  Virgin-born  Saviour, 
129;  was  tempted  and  fasted,  178; 
was  crucified,  199;  rose  from  the 
dead,  225;  will  come  again,  239;  is  a 
personification  of  the  Sun,  489. 

Queen  of  Heaven,  the,  was  worshiped 
by  all  nations  of  antiquity  before 
the  Christian  era,  326-336. 

Quirinius,  a name  of  Romulus,  126; 
educated  among  shepherds,  208;  torn 
to  pieces  at  his  death,  208;  ascended 
into  heaven,  208;  the  Sun  darkened 
at  his  death,  208. 

R. 

Rd,  the  Egyptian  God,  born  from  the 
side  of  his  mothe. , 122. 

Raam-sees,  king  of  Egypt,  123;  means 
“Son  of  the  Sun,”  123. 

Rabbis,  the,  taught  the  allegorical  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture,  100;  per- 
formed miracles,  267;  taught  the 
mystery  of  the  Trinity,  376. 

Rakshasas,  the,  of  our  Aryan  ancestors, 
the  originals  of  all  giants,  ogres  or 
demons,  19;  are  personifications  of 
the  dark  clouds,  19;  fought  despe- 
rate battles  with  Indrea,  and  his 
spirits  of  light,  387. 

Ram  or  Lamb,  the,  used  as  a symbol  of 
Christ  Jesus,  202;  a symbol  of  the 
Sun,  503,  504. 

Rama,  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  143; 
a star  at  his  birth,  143;  is  hailed  by 
aged  saints,  152. 

Rayme,  a Mexican  festival  held  in  the 
month  of,  answering  to  our  Christ- 
mas celebration,  366. 

Rays  of  glory,  surround  the  heads  of 
all  the  Gods,  505. 

Real  Presence,  the,  in  the  Eucharist, 
borrowed  from  Paganism,  305-312. 

Red- Riding- Hood,  the  story  of,  ex- 
plained, 80. 

Red  Sea,  the,  divided  by  Moses,  50; 
divided  by  Bacchus,  51. 

Religion,  the,  of  Paganism,  compared 
with  Christianity,  384. 

Religions,  the,  of  all  nations,  formerly 
a worship  of  the  sun,  moon,  stars 
and  elements,  544. 


INDEX. 


585 


Resurrection,  the,  of  Jesus,  215;  paral- 
lels to,  216,  226. 

Rhea- Sylvia,  the  Virgin  mother  of 
Romulus,  126. 

Rivers,  divided  by  the  command  of 
Bacchus,  51. 

Rivers  (sacred),  318. 

Romans,  the,  deified  their  emperors, 
125. 

Rome,  the  Pantheon  of,  dedicated  to 
“Jove  and  all  the  Gods,”  and  recon- 
secrated to  ‘ ‘ the  Mother  of  God  and 
all  the  Saints,”  396. 

Romulus,  son  of  the  Virgin  Rhea-Syl- 
via,  126;  called  Quirinius,  126;  a 
dangerous  child,  172;  put  to  death, 
208;  the  sun  darkened  at  time  of  his 
death,  208. 

Rosary,  the  Buddhist  priests  count 
their  prayers  with  a,  401 ; found  on 
an  ancient  medal  of  the  Phenicians, 
504. 

Rose,  the,  of  Sharon,  Jesus  called,  487. 

Rosi-crucians,  the,  jewel  of,  a crucified 
rose,  487. 

Rujfinus,  the  “Apostles’  creed”  first 
known  in  the  days  of,  385. 

Russia,  adherents  of  the  old  religion  of, 
persecuted,  444. 

S. 

Sabbath,  the,  kept  holy  by  the  ancients, 
392,  393. 

Sacrament,  the,  of  the  Lord’s  Supper 
instituted  many  centuries  before  the 
Christian  era,  305-312. 

Sacred  Books,  among  heathen  nations, 
61. 

Sacred  Heart,  the,  a great  mystery 
among  the  ancients,  404. 

Sacrifices,  or  offerings  to  the  Gods,  at 
one  time,  almost  universal,  40,  41; 
human,  for  atonement,  was  general, 
182. 

Saints,  the,  of  the  Christians,  are 
Pagan  Gods  worshiped  under  other 
names,  398,  399. 

Sais,  the  “Feast  of  Lamps,”  held  at, 
392. 

Saktideva,  swallowed  by  a fish  and 
came  out  unhurt,  77 

Sakya-Muni,  a name  of  Buddha,  300. 


Sahvahana,  the  ancient  inhabitants  of 
Cape  Comorin  worshiped  a Virgin- 
born  Saviour  called,  118,119. 

Salvation,  from  the  death  of  another, 
of  great  antiquity,  181 ; by  faith,  ex- 
isted among  the  Hindoos,  184. 

Sammael,  the  proper  name  of  Satan  ac- 
cording to  the  Talmud,  386. 

Samothracian  mysteries,  in  the.  Heav- 
en and  Earth  were  worshiped,  479. 

Samson,  his  exploits,  62-66;  compared 
with  Hercules,  66-76;  a solar  god, 
71-73. 

Satan,  the  proper  name  of,  is  Sammael, 
386 ; a personification  of  storm-clouds 
and  darkness,  482. 

Saturday,  or  the  seventh  day,  kept 
holy  by  the  ancients,  393. 

Saturn,  worshiped  by  the  ancients,  393, 

Saturnalia,  the,  of  the  ancient  Romans. 
365. 

Satyavrata,  saved  from  the  deluge  in 
an  ark,  according  to  the  Hindoo  leg- 
end, 24,25. 

Scandinavians,  the,  worshiped  a “Be- 
nificent  Saviour,”  called  Baldur,  129; 
the  heaven  of,  described,  390;  con- 
secrated one  day  in  the  week  to  Odin,. 
393 ; worshiped  Frey,  the  deity  of  the 
Sun,  489. 

Scriptures,  the,  of  the  Essenes,  the 
ground-work  of  the  gospels,  443-460. 

Seb,  a personification  of  the  Earth,  477. 

Second  Coming,  the,  of  Jesus,  233 ; 
of  Vishnu,  236;  of  Buddha,  237;  of 
Bacchus,  238;  of  Kalewipeog,  238; 
of  Arthur,  238;  of  Quetzalcoatle,  239. 

Seed  of  the  Woman,  the,  bruised  the 
head  of  the  Serpent,  according  to  the 
mythology  of  all  nations,  482. 

Semele,  the  mother  of  Bacchus,  124. 

Semi-ramis,  the  Supreme  Dove  cruci- 
fied, 486. 

Senators,  the  Cardinals  of  Roman  Chris- 
tianity wear  the  robes  once  worn  by 
Romans,  400. 

Serapis,  the  god,  worshiped  in  Alexan- 
dria in  Egypt,  342 ; a cross  found  iD 
the  temple  of,  342. 

Serpent,  the,  seduced  the  first  woman, 
3;  in  Eden,  an  Aryan  story,  99;  an 
emblem  of  Christ  Jesus,  355;  Moses 
set  up,  as  an  object  of  worship,  355; 


586 


INDEX. 


worshiped  by  the  ChriEtians,  855; 
symbolized  the  Sun,  490;  called  the 
Word,  or  Divine  Wisdom,  490. 

Seven,  the  number,  sacred  among  all 
nations  of  antiquity,  31. 

Seventh-day,  the,  kept  sacred  by  the 
ancients,  392,  393. 

Seventy-two,  Confucius  had,  disciples, 

121. 

“ Shams-on ,”  the  Sun  in  Arabic,  73. 

Sharon,  the  Rose  of,  Jesus  called,  486. 

Shepherds,  the  infant  Jesus  worshiped 
by,  150. 

Shoo -king,  the,  a sacred  book  of  the 
Chinese,  25;  speaks  of  the  deluge,  25. 

Siamese,  the,  had  a virgin-born  god, 
118. 

Simon  Magus,  believed  (o  be  a god,  129; 
his  picture  placed  among  the  gods 
in  Rome,  129;  professed  to  be  the 
“Word  of  God;”  the  “Paraclete,” 
or  “Comforter,”  164;  performed 
great  miracles,  125. 

Sin-Becvrer,  the,  Bacchus  called,  193. 

Sin,  Original,  the  doctrine  of,  believed 
in  by  Heathen  nations,  181,  184. 

Siva,  the  third  god  in  the  Hindoo  Trin- 
ity, 369;  the  Hindoos  held  a festival 
in  honor  of,  392. 

Skylla  delivers  Nisos  into  the  power  of 
his  enemies,  72 ; a Solar  Myth,  72. 

Slaughter,  the,  of  the  innocents  at  the 
time  of  Jesus,  165;  parallels  to,  166- 
172. 

Sochiquetzal,  mother  of  Quetzal coatle, 
129;  a Virgin  Mother,  129;  called  the 
“ Queen  of  Heaven,”  129. 

Socrates,  visited  at  his  birth  by  Wise 
Men,  and  presented  with  gifts,  152. 

Sol,  crucified  in  the  heavens,  484. 

Soma,  a god  of  the  Hindoos,  306;  gave 
his  body  and  blood  to  man,  306. 

Sommona  Godom  (see  Codom). 

Son  of  a Star  (see  Bar-Cochba). 

Son  of  God,  the  Heathen  worshiped  a 
mediating  deity  who  had  the  title  of, 
111-129. 

Son  of  the  Sun,  the  name  Raam-ses 
means,  123. 

* ‘Sons  of  Heaven,”  the  virgin-born  men 
of  China  called,  122. 

Song,  the,  of  the  Heavenly  Host,  147; 
parallels  to,  148-150. 


Soul,  the,  immortality  of,  believed  in 
by  nations  of  antiquity,  385. 

Sosiosh,  the  virgin-born  Messiah,  146; 
yet  to  come,  146. 

Space,  crucifixion  in,  488. 

Spanish  monks,  the  first,  who  went  to 
Mexico  were  surprised  to  find  the 
crucifix  there,  199. 

Spirit,  the  Hebrew  word  for,  of  femi- 
nine gender,  134. 

Standards,  the,  of  the  ancient  Romans, 
were  crosses  gilt  and  beautiful,  345. 

Star,  the,  of  Bethlehem,  140;  parallels 
to,  142-145. 

Staurobates,  the  King  by  whom  Semi- 
ramis  was  overpowered,  486. 

Stone  pillars,  set  up  by  the  Hebrews 
were  emblems  of  the  Phallus,  46. 

“ Strong  Rama,”  the,  of  the  Hindoos,  a 
counterpart  of  Samson,  73. 

Suddho-dana,  the  dreams  of,  compared 
with  Pharaoh’s  two  dreams,  88. 

Sun,  the,  nearly  all  the  Pagan  deities 
were  personifications  of,  467 ; Christ 
Jesus  said  to  have  been  born  on  the 
birth-day  of,  473;  Christ  Jesus  a per- 
sonification of,  500;  universally  wor- 
shiped, 507. 

Sun-day,  a pagan  holiday  adopted  by 
the  Christians,  394-396. 

Sun-gods,  Samson  and  Hercules  are, 
71-73. 

Sun-myth,  the,  added  to  the  histories  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  Buddha,  Cyrus, 
Alexandria  and  others,  506. 

Sweden,  the  famous  temple  at  Upsal  in, 
dedicated  to  a triune  deity,  377. 

Symbolical,  the  history  of  the  gods,  466. 

Synoptic  Gospels,  the  discrepancies  be- 
tween the  fourth  and  the,  numerous, 
457. 

T. 

Tacitus,  the  allusion  to  Jesus  in,  a for- 
gery. 

Tables  of  Stone,  the,  of  Moses,  58;  of 
Bacchus,  59. 

Talmud,  the  books  containing  Jewish 
tradition,  95;  in  the,  Jesus  is  called 
the  “hanged  one,”  516. 

Tammuz,  the  Saviour,  after  being  put 
to  death,  rose  from  the  dead,  217; 


INDEX. 


587 


worshiped  in  the  temple  of  the  Lord 
at  Jerusalem,  222. 

Tanga-tanga , the  “Three  in  One,  and 
One  in  Three,”  or  the  Trinity  of  the 
ancient  Penmans,  378. 

Tao,  the  “one  god”  supreme,  wor- 
shiped by  Lao-Kiun,  the  Chinese 
sage,  120. 

Tao-tse,  the,  or  “Sect  of  Reason,” 
formed  by  Lao-Kuin,  120. 

Tau , the  cross,  worshiped  by  the  Egyp- 
tians, 341. 

Temples,  all  the  oldest,  were  in  caves, 
286. 

Temptation,  the,  of  Jesus,  175;  of  Budd- 
ha, 176;  of  Zoroaster,  177;  of  Quet- 
zalcoatle,  177;  meaning  of,  482. 

Temples,  Pagan,  changed  into  Christian 
churches,  396,  397. 

Ten  Commandments,  the,  of  Moses,  59 ; 
of  Buddha,  59. 

Ten,  the,  Zodiac  gods  of  the  Chaldeans, 

102. 

Tenth,  the,  Xisuthrus,  King  of  the 
Chaldeans,  23;  Noah,  patriarch,  23. 

Tezcatlipoca,  the  Supreme  God  of  the 
Mexicans,  60. 

Testament,  the  New,  written  many 
years  later  than  generally  supposed, 
454. 

Therapeutce,  the,  and  Essenes  the  same, 
423. 

Thoi',  a Scandinavian  god,  75;  consid- 
ered the  “Defender” and  “Avenger,” 
75;  the  Hercules  of  the  Northern  na- 
tions, 76;  the  Sun  personified,  76; 
compared  with  David,  90,  91;  the 
son  of  Odin,  129. 

Thoth,  the  deity  itself,  speaks  and  re- 
veals to  his  elect  among  men  the  will 
of  God,  60. 

Thibet,  the  religion  of,  similar  to  Chris- 
tianity, 400. 

Three,  a sacred  number  among  all  na- 
tions of  antiquity,  368-378. 

Thursday,  sacred  to  the  Scandinavian 
god,  Thor,  32. 

Tibet,  the  religion  of,  similar  to  Roman 
Christianity,  400. 

Tien,  the  name  of  the  Supreme  Power 
among  the  Chinese,  476. 

Titans,  the,  struggled  against  Jupiter, 
388. 


Tombs,  the,  of  persons  who  never  lived 
in  the  flesh  were  to  be  seen  at  differ- 
ent places,  510. 

Tower,  the,  of  Babel,  33  ; parallels  to, 
35-37 ; story  of,  borrowed  from  Chal- 
dean sources,  102  ; nowhere  alluded 
to  outside  of  Genesis,  103. 

Transmigration  of  Souls,  the,  represent- 
ed on  Egyptian  sculptures,  45 ; taught 
by  all  nations  of  antiquity,  42-45. 

Transubstantiation,  the  Heathen  doc- 
trine of,  became  a tenet  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  313,  314. 

Tree,  the,  of  Knowledge,  2,  3;  parallels 
to,  3-16;  a Phallic  tree,  101;  Zoroas- 
ter hung  upon  the,  195. 

Trefoil,  the,  a sacred  plant  among  the 
Druids  of  Britain,  353. 

Trimurti,  the,  of  the  Hindoos,  369 ; the 
same  as  the  Christian  Trinity,  369, 
370. 

Trinity,  the,  doctrine  of,  the  most  mys- 
terious of  the  Christian  church,  368  ; 
adored  by  the  Brahmins  of  India, 
369;  the  inhabitants  of  China  and 
Japan,  371;  the  Egyptians,  373;  and 
many  other  nations  of  antiquity,*  373- 
378;  can  be  explained  by  allegory 
only,  561. 

Twelve,  the  number  which  applies  to 
the  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  to  be 
found  in  all  religions  of  antiquity, 
498. 

Twins,  the  Mexican  Eve  the  mother  of, 
15. 

Types  of  Christ  Jesus,  Crishna,  Budd- 
ha, Bacchus,  Hercules,  Adonis,  Osi- 
ris, Horus,  &c.,  all  of  them  were, 
408  ; all  the  sun-gods  of  Paganism 
were,  500. 

Typhon,  the  destroying  principle  in  the 
Egyptian  Trinity,  corresponding  to 
the  Siva  of  the  Hindoos,  561. 

U. 

Upright  Emblem,  the,  or  the  “Ashera,” 
stood  in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  47. 

Uriel,  the  angel,  borrowed  from  Chal- 
dean sources,  109. 

TJshas,  the  flame-red  chariot  of,  com- 
pared to  the  fiery  chariot  of  Elijah, 
90. 

Utsthala,  the  island  of,  78. 


588 


INDEX. 


Y. 

Valentine,  St.,  formerly  the  Scandina- 
vian god  Vila,  399. 

Valhalla,  the  Scandinavian  Paradise, 
390. 

Vasudeva,  a name  of  Crishna,  114. 

Vedas,  the,  antiquity  of,  450. 

Vedic  Poems,  the,  show  the  origin  and 
growth  of  Greek  and  Teutonic  my- 
thology, 468. 

Venus,  the  Dove  was  sacred  to  the  god- 
dess, 357. 

Vernal  equinox,  the,  festivals  held  at  the 
time  of,  by  the  nations  of  antiqnity, 

392. 

Vespasian,  the.  Miracles  of,  268,  269. 

Vestal  Virgins,  the,  were  bound  by  a 
solemn  vow  to  preserve  their  chasti- 
ty for  a space  of  thirty  years,  403. 

Vicar  of  God  on  Earth,  the  Grand  La- 
ma of  the  Tartars  considered  to  be 
the,  118. 

Vila,  the  god,  of  the  Scandinavians, 
changed  to  St.  Valentine,  399. 

Virgin,  the  worship  of  a,  before  the 
Christian  era,  326. 

Virgo,  the,  of  the  Zodiac  personified  as 
a Virgin  Mother. 

Vishnu,  appeared  as  a fish,  at  the  time 
of  the  Deluge,  25;  the  mediating  or 
preserving  God  in  the  Hindoo  Trini- 
ty, 369. 

Votan,  of  Guatemala,  130. 

Votive  offerings,  given  by  the  Heathen 
to  their  gods,  and  now  practiced  by 
the  Christians,  258,  259. 

Vows  of  Chastity,  taken  by  the  males 
and  females  who  entered  Pagan  mo- 
nasteries, 402,  403. 

W. 

War  in  Heaven,  the,  believed  in  by  the 
principal  nations  of  antiquity,  368. 

Wasi,  the  priest  and  law-giver  of  the 
Cherokees,  130. 

Water,  purification  from  sin  by,  a Pa- 
gan ceremony,  317-323. 

Wednesday,  Woden’s  or  Odin’s  day, 

393. 

Welsh,  the,  as  late  as  the  seventeenth 
century,  during  eclipses,  ran  about 
beating  kettles  and  pans,  536. 


West,  the  sun-gods  die  in  the,  493. 

Wisdom,  Ganesa  the  god  of,  117. 

Wise  Men,  worshiped  tlie  infant  Jesus, 
150;  worshiped  the  infant  Crishna, 
151 ; worshiped  the  infant  Buddha, 
151;  and  others,  151,  152. 

Wittoba,  the  god,  crucified,  185. 

Wodin,  or  Odin,  the  supreme  god  of 
the  Scandinavians,  393. 

Wolf,  the,  an  emblem  of  the  Destroy- 
ing power,  80. 

Word,  or  Logos,  the,  of  John’s  Gospel, 
of  Pagan  origin,  374. 

World,  the,  destroy  by  a deluge,  when- 
ever all  the  planets  met  in  the  sign 
of  Capricorn,  103. 

X. 

Xaca,  born  of  a Virgin,  119. 

Xelhua,  one  of  the  seven  giants  rescued 
from  the  flood,  37. 

Xerxes,  the  god  of,  is  the  devil  of  to- 
day, 391 ; the  Zend-avesta  older  than 
the  inscriptions  of,  452. 

Xisuthrus,  the  deluge  happened  in  the 
days  of,  22;  was  the  tenth  King  of 
the  Chaldeans,  23;  had  three  sons, 
23;  was  translated  to  heaven,  90. 

X-P,  the,  was  formerly  a monogram  of 
the  Egyptian  Saviour  Osiris,  but  now 
the  monogram  of  Christ  Jesus,  350. 

Y. 

Tadu,  Vishna  became  incarnate  in  the 
House  of,  113. 

Too,  or  Jao,  a sacred  name,  49. 

ITm-hwuy,  the  favorite  disciples  of 
Confucius,  121. 

Yar,  the  angel,  borrowed  from  Chal 
dean  sources,  109. 

Yen-she,  the  mother  of  Confucius,  121. 

Y-ha-ho,  a name  esteemed  sacred  among 
the  Egyptians,  48;  the  same  as  Jeho- 
vah, 48. 

Yezua,  the  name  Jesus  is  pronounced 
in  Hebrew,  196. 

Yoni,  the,  attached  to  the  head  of  the 
crucified  Crishna,  185;  symbolized 
nature,  496. 

Yoser,  the  term  (Creator)  first  brought 
into  use  by  the  prophets  of  the  Cap- 
tivity, 99. 


INDEX. 


589 


Yu,  a virgin-born  Chinese  sage,  120. 

Yucatan,  the  Mayas  of,  worshiped  a 
virgin-born  god,  130;  crosses  found 
in,  201. 

Yule,  the  old  name  for  Christmas,  365. 

Yumna,  the  riverr,  divided  by  Crishna, 
57. 

Z. 

Zama,  the  only-begotton  Son  of  the  Su- 
preme God,  according  to  the  Mayas 
of  Yucatan,  130. 

Zarathrustra  (see  Zoroaster). 

Zend-Avesta,  the  sacred  writings  of  the 
Parsees,  7 ; signifies  the  ‘ ‘ Living 
W ord 59 ; older  than  the  cuneiform 
inscriptions  of  Cyrus,  452. 

Zephyrinus,  the  truth  corrupted  by, 
135. 


Zeru-akerene,  the  Supreme  God  of  the 
Persians,  245. 

Zeru-babel,  supposed  to  be  the  Messiah, 
432. 

Zeu-pater,  the  Dyans-pitar  of  Asia,  be- 
came the,  of  the  Greeks,  477. 

Zeus,  the  Supreme  God  of  the  Greeks, 
477 ; visited  Danae  in  a golden  show- 
er, 481. 

Zome,  a supernatural  being  worshiped 
in  Brazil,  130. 

Zoroaster,  the  Law-giver  of  the  Per- 
sians, 59;  receives  the  “ Book  of  the 
Law  ” from  Orrnuzd,  59 ; the  Son  of 
Ormuzd,  123  ; a dangerous  child, 
169;  a “ Divine  Messenger,”  194;  the 
‘‘First-born  of  the  Eternal  One,” 
195;  performed  miracles,  256;  the 
religion  of  the  Persians  established 
by,  451. 


